Getting the show back on the road
How the European Rally Championship got rallying back underway in Italy
T he rally that for weeks and months wasn’t expected to happen, happened. And the driver who wasn’t expected to make the start, won. International rallying returned in
Italy late last month when Rally di
Roma Capitale hosted round one of the delayed 2020 European Rally Championship season.
Amid fist pumps, elbow bumps, face masks, hand sanitiser, temperature checks and social distancing, the first post-lockdown FIA rally went largely without a hitch.
While hefty crashes for Andrea Crugnola (SS1) and Adrien Fourmaux (SS2) resulted in two hours of delay on leg one as organisers battled to remove bashed-up rally cars from narrow country lanes, organiser Motorsport Italia more than delivered when it came to its Covid- 19 protocol, which was key to the rally going ahead in the first place.
In a country devastated by the coronavirus pandemic only a few months previously, rally bosses were able convince local and national authorities that bringing together people from 24 different countries was, in fact, not really a problem.
Of course, it took plenty of convincing and effort.
A track and trace app, a barcode system for entering the service park that was deep cleaned each night, multiple temperature checks and hand-sanitiser points, compulsory mask wearing, restricted access to key areas, scrapping the spectator superspecials and other fan activities represented rallying’s new normal and made the difference between the rally going ahead and it not.
Paul Nagle, who co-drove Craig Breen to fourth overall, says: “You feel very safe and it’s been like that from the moment we got to the hotel. The service park is one way in, one way out, there’s temperature checks, everyone is wearing masks and everyone is behaving and it’s great to see everybody cooperating during these difficult times.
“This is the first big rally and all the world will be looking to see what’s gone on here. For me, the protocol and procedures put in place is something that all rallies at local level, national level, even world level need to look at seriously for consideration.”
The measures implemented weren’t cheap with organisers spending a six- figure sum on getting the rally over the line. Bruno De Pianto, one of the driving forces behind the event, says: “It wasn’t easy when we decided to go ahead three or four months ago. But it’s like a dream coming true. We work a lot. The team has created a lot of protocols and applications, has put in place a system in order for the drivers and the crew and the teams to be safe during the rally. We wanted to have a sports event, but a safe sports event.”
As well as convincing the government and local authorities, plus Italy’s ASN, ACI Sport, De Pianto needed the FIA to be on board with the plan.
The FIA’s regional rally boss Jerome Roussel says: “It’s a challenge, because the situation was changing almost every day, so the FIA showed some flexibility, the organisers showed a big willingness to organise the event. “Even without the Covid stuff, being here in one of the most iconic cities in the world, on this place, with this entry list would be a success. So, in this context, it’s more than a success, it’s a great signal for all the motorsport community.”
It’s Rally Liepaja’s turn next with organisers in Latvia planning a no-frills event. As in Rome, the service park will be a no-go for fans, the ceremonial start and finish have been axed, the superspecial stages in the cities of Liepaja and Talsi have been cancelled and special quarantine arrangements, including three mandatory Covid-19 tests, put in place for those coming from countries identified as being high risk. Welcome to rallying’s new normal.