Rally Italy forced to move from Sardinia DAVID EVANS

GROUP RALLYING EDITOR “The 2017 silly season is well underway”

The president of the Italian motorsport federation has admitted the World Rally Championship’s stay in Sardinia has come to an end.

Angelo Sticchi Damiani said funding for the Alghero-based event had become harder to find and would likely bring world championship action to an end on the Italian island.

Sticchi Damiani told Italian media: “Not only did we not have positive signals [from local government about the rally], we had political attacks and negative signals, so we can say that this wonderful time is coming to an end. There are not the conditions to carry on this experience.”

The Automobile Club Italy president said he was adamant there were no wider-reaching implications for Italy’s WRC round.

“This is a painful decision [to leave Sardinia],” he added, “but the race remains in the world championship and moves back to the mainland. We are working on a project involving a number of regions in central Italy.”