The 45th Rally Valle d’Aosta will start on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May. Inserted in the prestigious panorama of the Aci Sport Zone Rally Cup, which embraces the provinces of Turin, Novara, Vercelli, Biella, Cuneo and Verbania, the Valle d’Aosta Rally boasts a series of innovations that promise new emotions for all enthusiasts.
Ettore Vierin, president of the ACI Valle d’Aosta, explains that this year changes had to be made to the route. “We had to opt for the Saint Marcel – Fénis side, instead of the passage to Nus, and the Salassi special stage was shortened to limit inconvenience to the inhabitants”. He explains that the rally must also meet the needs of residents and minimize inconvenience due to road closures. Furthermore, he emphasizes the importance of monitoring all crews, who will be monitored continuously. The pilots themselves will be able to request any help, both medical and mechanical, in real time to ensure timely intervention.
Marco Fiorethe new president of Acva Sport, underlines the fact that it will be a high-level competition. “The conditions are perfect and the landscapes are unique,” he says, thanks to the great consensus among the competitors. He goes on to say: “I have to thank my predecessors who did an extraordinary job.” Thus, the new president, after his experiences as a pilot, moves on to the organizational part of an event and is satisfied with the approval of the Aosta Valley crews registered so far.
What’s new for 2024
Between main news this yearstands out collaboration with the organizers of Rallye du Chablais, Rallye du Mont-Blanc Morzine and Rally International du Valais. This cooperation gave birth to the “1st Trophée Alpin“, dedicated to two-wheel drive cars, which will unfold through four events divided between Italy, France and Switzerland. The winner of this competition will not only win a prestigious trophy, but also a cash prize of around 4-5 thousand euros and tourist prizes, such as stays or guided tours both in the Aosta Valley, French and Swiss territories.
Another novelty is thesupported by Panathlon Valle d’Aostawhich from this year is also approaching the rally. Pier Carlo Lunardipresident of Panathlon Valle d’Aosta, announces that they will assign the fair play awardunderlining that respect for the rules and opponents must be at the center of the entire sporting world.
The program
So, the classic Rally Valle d’Aosta is scheduled for the weekend of 4 and 5 May. On 24 April, in the Conference Room of the BCC Valdostana, the numbers of this edition were revealed during the official presentation of the event: the There are 140 registered crewsof which 51 Aosta Valley residents And 12 “unpaired”. There is no shortage of female quotas this year either, which for now are 4 registered crews and the same number of foreigners. The end of Registration date has been extended until midnight on Monday 29 April.
The program includes the delivery of road book on April 28th and May 3rd, giving crews the chance to scout the route in advance. The competitive atmosphere will come to life already on Friday May 3 with the verification session reserved for crews registered for the Shakedown. Saturday 4 May instead it will be the highlight, with the engines roaring from 10am to 4pm during the test in racing trim, which will mark the beginning of the real challenges. The route of this edition of the Valle d’Aosta Rally confirms its technical character with three special teststo be repeated twice: PS 1/4 “Bloodletting” 10.10km, SS 2/5 “Arvier-Introd” 10km, SS 3/6 “Saint Marcel-Fenis” 14.80km.
The raceTherefore, it will start on Sunday 5th at 8.01am from the suggestive Piazza Arco d’Augusto in Aosta, with the competitors who will do return at 5.35pm for the arrival and awards ceremony.
The logistics of the race remain unchanged compared to the previous year, with the spaces set up in the square of the Pila cable car which will welcome drivers, teams and enthusiasts.
The awards and memories of the past
Many prizes up for grabs in memory of many friends of the Val d’Aosta Rally: Baseli Cup to the first Valle d’Aosta crew in the overall ranking, Zilio Cup to the first Aosta Valley navigator in the overall ranking. Subsequently also special prizes: Remo Celesia Award, Ettore Bettega Award, Ciccio Rossi Award And Cristiano Guasti (for best shakedown time).
Among those present were many protagonists of past editions: Orlando Tanino, Federico “Tito” Canewho remembers the Valle d’Aosta Rally as the best race of his life, then Flavio Paganin with the memory of the 1980 test in Pila and the tie with the crew made up of Bettega and Celesia and again Roberto Bettanin who tells some anecdotes.
Announcements and awards
The return of Simone Goldoni who will return to racing after a year’s break and participation as one of the protagonists in the film “Race for Glory”. He will be at her side Liliana Armand, certainly not new as a navigator, she has several Italian, European and World Championships under her belt, in 1991 she was awarded as the best Italian co-pilot. Simone and Liliana, defined as “The strange couple”, they will certainly drive with an eye on the stopwatch but also for a good cause regarding oncological diseases.
Finally, the ACI Valle d’Aosta awards for Patrick Durant, Simone Millet and Elwis Chentre, closed the press conference.
So theThe driver to beat this year will be Elwis Chentrewinner of the last two editions aboard the Skoda Fabia of Team D’Ambra, who will certainly not fail to test his skills on his home roads, naturally together with Igor D’Hérin.
