What the Azores Rally is doing right

With a burgeoning entry and growing reputation, mn investigates if Rally azores has substance behind its stunning exterior.

The European Rally Championship’s reigning Junior Under 28 champion, Marijan Griebel bangs in another gear while tearing along the city streets of Ponta Delgada.

It’s not the brutal acceleration of the Peugeot 208 T16 that leaves the greatest impression from the passenger seat. Instead, it’s the countless flashes of cameras from the thousands of locals lining the city streets.

The ERC’S season-opening Azores Rally is the annual blue ribband event for the island of Sao Miguel in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. So much so that Acoriano Oriental, the daily newspaper, dedicates five pages – including both front and back covers – to the first day of action as eventual winner Alexey Lukyanuk leads 72 entries.

“It’s always massively popular because obviously the island is small, so any big sporting event that’s on here is something they all dive onto,” says Citroen World Rally driver and 2015 Azores winner Craig Breen, as he watches on from the finish line of the qualifying stage.

The fans lining the stages are rightly proud of their picturesque country and they cite tourism as a fundamental asset to the economy if they are to achieve desired independence from Portugal. As such, the tourism office is heavily involved in organising the event.

“Rallying’s biggest asset is that you’re crossing a landscape,” explains head of the ERC JeanBaptiste Ley. “It’s perfect for tourism and that’s why most of the relationship we have with the organisers and the country is very strong.

“For instance, in Azores, the tourism office is the organiser of the rally and is receiving strong support from the government. Through an amazing, spectacular sporting event you can show how beautiful the landscape is because the cars are running on roads where you can see the houses, scenery – the whole geography of the country.

“The biggest comparison is to be made with cycling and the Tour de France. It’s very famous because it was an opportunity for everyone to see the different regions of France. In rallying it’s exactly the same only with something more spectacular than bicycles! It’s an indirect way to promote the country.”

In terms of distance, the island sits approximately one-third of the way from Lisbon and two-thirds from New York. Arguably that pushes the definition of a European round but, to comply with an agreement with the FIA, the ERC must not dock in more than five countries that also hold a round of the World Rally Championship. That’s why Azores and the Canary Islands are chosen as compromises for the Portuguese and Spanish venues.

But to pull off such a remote event presents something of a logistical nightmare. It only becomes possible courtesy of backing from title sponsor Azores Airlines which rents a ferry to ship the cars for three-and-a-half days across the water. Enough space remains on the boat for the helicopter needed by Eurosport Events to film the stunning volcano passes of Sete Cidades and Tronqueira.

For Marc Minari, the network’s executive producer of the coverage of the ERC, it’s worth the hassle. “I think Azores produces the best images of the year because it’s so beautiful, certainly. On each rally we have some specific very nice pictures but here it’s so incredible because you have the fog, the sun, the sea. You have the lake when you see it in the volcano and it can be green, it can be blue, it can be black. Sometimes jumps as well. Honestly, it’s one of the best on the calendar.”

Between the ERC, tourism office and airline, there is a decent support package in place for teams that aims to reduce the estimated £13,000 in costs. But as CA1 Sport boss Martin Wilkinson points out, there’s still reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“It’s quite difficult [to get our cars out here],” he says. “The organisers have put a really good package together for foreign competitors so we get a good discount on the entry fee which enables you to put that money a little bit more into the logistics. They also give you a free ferry, but as in the crossing of the Atlantic part.

“But you need to get the car to Lisbon, which isn’t difficult, but there is a cost: fuel, road tolls, drivers, hotels. They said they’d pay for eight people per car and that seemed quite good but they provide your flights from set airports and at certain times. So when we applied we had to try and coordinate with flights coming from the UK.

“They were so late in letting me know what flights we’d go on that fares had increased more than the cost of flying over from Lisbon itself. It ended up costing us more money. You need to keep things fully flexible too because if all three cars retired on the first day then you’re stuck.

“I think the experience is phenomenal [for drivers], the stages are really technical so drivers learn the hard way.”

After five days in Azores it becomes clear that frequently used labels such as “paradise” are not mere hyperbole. While its credentials as a European round geographically are more open to debate, the challenging stages, scenery and fan engagement tick all the right boxes for Britain’s Chris Ingram.

The 2017 ERC Under 27 champion is fortunate enough to have experienced the Azores Rally four times before. But even this year, on his way to fourth overall upon his R5 debut in a Skoda Fabia, none of the event’s charm has been lost.

“I can feel the atmosphere when I’m in the car,” he says. “We got stopped on the road section on the way back to service by about a thousand people wanting us to do a launch [start]. It was unbelievable!”

“It’s unique, isn’t it? It’s like being in another world.” ■