R5s galore in Azores Rally

The FIA’s European Rally Championship returns to action after a gap of almost six months, with the Azores Airlines Rallye to be held in the Atlantic Ocean islands on March 30 - April 1.  

Fifty six cars have entered, 43 entered as registered ERC championship competitors and exactly half the entries are R5 cars.  

The R5 entry includes 12 Fiestas, 10 Skodas, three Citroens, two Peugeots and one Hyundai.  

The Junior championship category this year is divided into two parts, with nine under 28-year old drivers allowed to run R5 cars in Azores, and 10 under 27-year old drivers at the wheel of two-wheel drive R2 cars.  

The Azores Rally is run on the volcanic island of Sao Miguel and features a spectacular stage run around the rim of an old volcano (pictured above).  

It is to be held a month before the second ERC round in Canarias, with the Acropolis Rally in Greece the first of the events in mainland Europe in early June.  

The ERC is the world’s longest running international rally championship, first held in 1953.
 
- Martin Holmes 

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