Rallye Sanremo is a

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

competition held in

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

schedule from

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

to the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. It was a round of 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 ...

and is currently a round of the Italian national rally championship.

History

The first "Rallye Internazionale di Sanremo" was held in 1928. The rally name's French word "rallye", as opposed to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

"rally", was inspired by

Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I, the rally was intended to demonstra ...

. After another successful rally in 1929, the event was given to new organisers who decided to set up a street race through the town of Sanremo instead. The first one, 1° Circuito Automobilistico Sanremo, was held in 1937 and won by Achille Varzi. Rallye Sanremo was restarted in 1961 as Rallye dei Fiori ("Rally of the Flowers") and has been held every year since. From 1970 to 1972, Rallye Sanremo was part of the International Championship for Manufacturers. From

, the rally was on the

schedule, except for 1995 when the event was only part of the FIA 2-Litre World Championship for Manufacturers. The rally became the centre of controversy in 1986 after the stewards disqualified the factory

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

team at the end of the third day for using illegal side skirts, handing the victory to

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

. Peugeot had used the same configuration in earlier rallies without any scrutineering problems and had also passed pre-rally scrutineering. Peugeot appealed but the organisers did not allow the team to continue the rally. FIA later confirmed that the exclusion had been illegal as the Peugeot cars were legal, and decided to annul the results of the whole event. Rallye Sanremo was originally a mixed surface event (tarmac and gravel) but from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

on it was organised as an all-tarmac rally. After being dropped from the WRC schedule (in favor of Rally di Sardegna in 2004), Rallye Sanremo has been part of the Italian Rally Championship. Since 2006, it has also been a round of the

. In 2015 the organizers and FIA decided to include Rallye Femminile Perla di Sanremo (from 1952 to 1956) as a part of Rallye Sanremo. The purpose for this decision was to honor Women's Italian Rally Series driven in Sanremo in the 1950s. Due to these changes 57° Rallye Sanremo in 2015 turned into 62° Rallye Sanremo and will continue with this numbering system.

Winners

: FIA later annulled the results of the 1986 event. : In 2015 the organizers and FIA included Rallye Femminile Perla (from 1952 to 1956) di Sanremo as a part of Rallye Sanremo and changed the numbering system from 57° to 62°.

Multiple winners

References

External links

Official website

Rallye Sanremo
at eWRC-results {{World rallies Sport in Liguria

Recurring sporting events established in 1928

1928 establishments in Italy