Less than a month to turn on the engines, to challenge the stopwatch, for the second edition of the Coppa Liburna, scheduled for 8-10 May, valid as the third round of the Italian Medium Regularity Championship.
Last year, after 56 years since the first edition, the medium regularity only competition for historic cars, returned to offer the same special stages of the past, those of the golden years of one of the most iconic races in Italy. A great return, then, that of a name that recalls moments of great sporting history, an appointment that Scuderia Falesia returns to propose with the collaboration of ACI Livorno, aiming to offer historic car enthusiasts an event solely dedicated to Medium Regularity, a speciality that counts a large and growing number of Italian sports enthusiasts.
The official moment took place with the presentation of the event last Friday 12 May, in Suvereto, at the Cloister of San Francesco, where the book 'Senti come muglia', written by Andrea Cordovani, director of Autosprint and superlative pen, was presented, a work that recalls the golden times of the Coppa Liburna with stories, anecdotes, memories. An evening defined by all those present as unforgettable.
Registration for the event has been set for 31 May and the big news, besides being promoted to the 'tricolour' rank, will be the new headquarters, planned at the 'Paradu Ecovillage Resort' and with the start and finish confirmed at Bolgheri. Aiming high last year, we look even further ahead now, with the Coppa Liburna 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 also this year certainly cannot fail to arouse the desire to "be there", as the main "names" and the most prominent Italian teams in the speciality have already anticipated.
The Coppa Liburna, like all medium regularity competitions, is an important opportunity for collectors and enthusiasts who own historic cars (registered up to and including 1990) to be able to put their 'jewels' on the road, have them admired, and at the same time also participate in a sporting activity that is on the rise and easy to access. In fact, all it takes is just a 'non-competitive' medical certificate drawn up by one's attending physician, then acquiring an Aci Sport licence and then having in the car, for participation, a wieldable fire extinguisher of what is an immense 2 kg. Occasions of sport, certainly of culture with the historic cars, and opportunities also to visit exciting places, as in this case the 'Etruscan Coast', the Livorno area, the Pisan hills and the upper Maremma, in a mix of unique sensations and flavours.
The overall race route is no joke: 454.820 km in two stages with 13 special stages on average (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 will be 54.820 km of average special stages on the trials of "Sassetta" (starting from Suvereto, Km. 12.290), "Castello di Segalari" (Km. 9.480) and "Volpaiola" (Km. 5.640).
The second, longer stage, of about 303.510 km, from 9.00 a.m. will take the competitors north to the Livorno-Pisa area to contest the seven longest trials (up to 25 km), before returning to Bolgheri at the end of the afternoon for the finish line scheduled for 5.00 p.m. with the prize-giving ceremony in the splendid medieval village. For the second stage, there will be about 102.37 km of medium special stages. It will go on other roads ascribed to myth, from the "Vaiolo Traversa" (Km. 17.750), to "Montevaso" (Km. 24.860), to "Riperbella" (Km. 6.660), not to mention the famous "Circuito di Montenero" (Km. 3.830).
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.
