SKODA Italia Motorsport ready on the start line of the Rally Italia Sardegna

Gravel is back on the CIR 2014 roads for SKODA Italia Motorsport. This morning has been devoted to the shakedown, while the race will open this evening with the spectacle stage in Cagliari. Leg one tomorrow.

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The traditional appointment with the shakedown has seen SKODA Italia Motorsport's Umberto Scandola and Guido D'Amore going through a few loops. They have focused on confirming the complex work done in the previous days when the SKODA Fabia Super 2000 has been protagonist of an intense testing session.
After a series of races on the tarmac, gravel is back on the roads of the CIR 2014. This is going to be a "world championship” gravel as the round of the Italian Championship is a joint event with the WRC round. The two series will share the itinerary on a different schedule though.

The race is going to start this evening from Cagliari at 20:00 hrs (local time). A short spectacle stage will be the setting of the rally opener. The race will resume tomorrow early in the afternoon with four stages. Terranova Nord (20 km), Terranova Sud (12,40 km), Coiluna-Castrazza (20,29 km) and Loelle (27,30 km) will start delineating the classification.

Umberto Scandola shortly before of the race commented:"All went fine this morning. The pre race tests have been very important to get some confidence back on the gravel. I am very happy on being back in Sardinia and then the (indirect) comparison with the big guns of WRC is always quite exciting".

This edition of the Rally Italia Sardegna will reach its conclusion on Saturday with only one stage: Monte Lerno of 59,13 km. The race will finish around 14.30. This is quite a peculiar schedule for a CIR round but it is due to the needs of the WRC round.

(SKODA Italia Motorsport Press Release)