The Rallye Açores, known originally as the Volta à Ilha de São Miguel is an international

rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

event based on the Portuguese island of

São Miguel Island São Miguel Island (; ), nicknamed "The Green Island" (), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta D ...

in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

. The rally was first run in 1965 as locals gathered for a race called Volta à Ilha de São Miguel, which translated means ''Round the Island of São Miguel''. This was six years after the establishment of the

Rali Vinho da Madeira The Rali Vinho da Madeira is a tarmac Rallying, rally held in Madeira Island, Portugal, and it is the biggest annual sporting event of the island, bringing thousands of people into the roads to watch the drivers compete through the hilly terrain an ...

on the Portuguese island of Madeira, much closer to Africa. The event has been a long running round of the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champion ...

and the Portuguese Rally Championship as well as spawning its own championship in the Azores. Unlike other international events held on Atlantic Ocean islands that it is frequently paired with, the

and the Rally Islas Canarias it is a gravel event. Despite its isolated location, over 1500 kilometres from the coast of Portugal, it has since the early 1970s been a part of Portugal's national championship. It became an international event since 1992 when it was first included in the European Rally Championship. The rally was demoted to the European Rally Cup West in 2004 and dropped entirely in 2006. In 2008 the rally regained international standing with the European Rally Cup South series and the

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport, Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers ...

the following year. After the death of the IRC in 2012 the European Championship returned in 2013. Portuguese drivers have dominated the event. A non-Portuguese driver did not win the event until the first international event was won in 1992 by

Yves Loubet Yves Loubet (aka Publimmo), born on October 31, 1958, in Mostaganem (Mostaganem, former French Algeria), is a French retired rally driver . His son, Pierre-Louis Loubet is also a rally driver. Career He started racing in 1976 on an Opel Kade ...

. Portuguese drivers continued to dominate, though, with Fernando Peres winning the rally seven times in the international era. Carlos Bica has won the event four times.

List of winners

Sourced in part from:

References

External links

Official websiteEuropean Rally Championship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rallye Acores

Açores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atlan ...