On Friday 9 and Saturday 10 June, the Coppa Liburna returns to the roads of Livorno, bringing back the glorious past of the road rally race that wrote history. Everything is ready, therefore, for the second edition of the event, with the cars of the 28 entrants that will travel on the roads of Livorno and will also cross the province of Pisa and the territories of the Alta Maremma. An eighteen-carat event, which in 2022, 56 years after the first edition returned to offer the same roads, the special stages of the golden years of one of the most iconic races in Italy and not only on the continent. With this second edition there will be even more value, the value given by the tricolour title, proposing two days of competition between the best Italian specialists of Medium Regularity.
At the start, among the 28 entrants, the 'elite' of the speciality, who will challenge each other among dream landscapes, those of true and bewitching Tuscany. In search of an encore after the success of 2022, Marco Gandino, with Carlo Merenda at his side, on a Fiat Ritmo Abarth 130 TC. The 2021 Italian Champions (currently second in the standings) will certainly not have an easy time of it, with the challenge thrown down by the reigning Italian Champions, and this year's provisional classification leaders, Paolo Concari and Cristiano Aldrovandi on their Lancia Delta HF 4wd, and Paolo Marcattilj, a "name" of international stature, will certainly want to confirm his status as a great interpreter of regularity, flanked by Francesco Giammerino in a Porsche 2.0 T.
Twenty-eight entrants at the start, at the wheel also Maurizio Verini star of the rallies of the 1970s and 1980s Maurizio Verini, "star" of the rallies of the 1970s and 1980s, wanted to be at the start of the race again. The driver from Riolo Terme in Ravenna, already European and Italian Champion, won the Liburna in 1974 with a Fiat X1/9 prototype, the same type of car he will have at his disposal this year. Alfa Romeo Giulietta for Cristian and Elena Bonnet, currently third in the championship standings, ready to have their say in advancing positions, and same wavelength for Fabio and Paolo Verdona, with a Peugeot 205 GTI. The powerful Audi Quattro of Roberto Sommaruga and Patrizia Fumanelli will certainly be admired, determined to climb the classification, in which they are now in seventh place.
Then there will be to remember Giovanni Chiesa, entered in the race with the number 1: the bearer of the Scuderia Grifone of Genoa unfortunately died suddenly last Saturday, it was decided to keep him in the entry list to have a strong memory of him. And a strong memory on behalf of Scuderia Falesia and Aci Livorno certainly goes to Orlando Padovani, who also passed away prematurely a few days ago, a reference figure in the world of rallies not only Italian and one of the symbol men of the Liburna Cup. His memory as a great sportsman and a person of high human values will be the propellant to continue the history of what was and will be 'his' race.
Start and finish in Bolgheri, the overall route will be 454 kilometres The new headquarters will be at the "Paradu Ecovillage Resort" while the start and finish are confirmed in Bolgheri. Aiming high last year, we look even further ahead now, with the Liburna Cup being the only medium regularity event in Italy that takes place on its own, therefore not following other rally races, a unique value, to guarantee the competitors all the spotlight and a "tight" race pace on a road closed to traffic, counting no less than 13 special stages, 7 different. An eighteen-carat event, in short, that even this year certainly cannot fail to arouse the desire to 'be there', as the main 'names' and the most prominent Italian 'Scuderie' in the speciality have already anticipated.
The overall race route is no joke: 454.820 km in two stages with 13 special medium stages (PM) for almost 35% of the total km the competitors will be 'time trial'. The first stage, covering 151.310 km, will start right from the picturesque village of Bolgheri at 5.50 p.m. on Friday 8 June and will wind its way entirely through the Alta Maremma, therefore with part of the stage taking place at night, as the day will end at 11.00 p.m. For this first stage, there are 54.820 km of special average tests on the trials of "Sassetta" (starting from Suvereto, Km. 12.290), "Castello di Segalari" (Km. 9.480) and "Volpaiola" (Km. 5.640). The Coppa Liburna will again be part of the North-Centre HRR Slam, which includes other prestigious races such as the Coppa Attilio Bettega, Elba Graffiti and Insubria Classic Rally.
