Sport and Tourism: Automobile Club d’Italia is carrying on its plan for the Rally d’Italia Sardegna 2007
Less than two months before the Italian event with the WRC, already introduced during the BIT meeting in Milan, herewith the Project “Sardegna on the Road”

The Automobile Club d’Italia, the Organizer of the Rally d’Italia Sardegna, is also the promoter of wide-ranging projects that will involve local, national and international financial and tourist realities for years.
After the approval of the Rally budget 2006-2007 and the confirmation of the financial support from ACI, the project “Sardegna on the road” has been shown, by ACI itself, during the last edition of the BIT, Borsa Italiana del Turismo, in Milan. “Sardegna on the road” is a project of local and touristic marketing development in order to make the rally event e way to promote Sardinian tourism. The rally amateur will be able to find out of season tourist packages, gourmet rout, sport activities and the more unknown Sardinian places, as well as the more known ones, by simply clicking onto the official site www.rallyitaliasardegna.com or www.sardegnaontheroad.it .

The Italian stages of the world rally 2007 championship of the FIA will still be an international and a Sardinian event. in the rally directional offices situated in Olbia’s industrial port, the organizing committing as been working since November to prepare one the most important Sardinia’s sporting event. Thanks to collaboration of its partner, the Colony Group, which as the concession of Marina Vecchia, it will be possible to manage the opening and closing ceremonies, that will take place on the 17th and the 20th May, in Porto Cervo, Arzachena. In this famous location it will also be possible to set up the podium and parc fermè. The operative offices will be in Olbia, chosen because of its accommodation capabilities, the international service of the Costa Smeralda Airport and its touristic harbour “Isola Bianca”. The Headquarter and the Media Centre will be located at the Hotel Melià’s Conference Centre, whereas the Service Park will be in a large area of the Porto Cocciani’s dock in Cala Saccaia.

The rally will start on Thursday the 17 th in Monte Plebi, which is about ten kilometres from Olbia. The three Legs, divided into 18 Special Stages for a total length of 1,061.84 kilometres, 342.86 of which are timed, will cross the countryside of 15 municipal districts in Olbia-Tempio, Sassari and Nuoro provinces, alternating speed, driven and mixed stretches. Cars, driven by world best teams, will raise once again the dust of the Sardinian dirt trucks, between the Mediterranean scrub and the granit rocks. The Special Stages will maintain their traditional routes, such as the classical Terranova, Monte Olia, Filigosu, Monte Lerno, the picturesque passage near the nuraghe Loelle, on Saturday, May 19th. The third Leg has been partially modified, by putting on the new Special Stage San Giovanni.

The success of the 2006 rally and the appreciation received in the international circuit, leave no doubts: that Island is the land of the Rally. But the dirt packed roads, tipical of the race, are rare to find because of asphalted roads. Rally d’Italia Sardegna is committed to improve and protect the dirt packed roads used for the special stages, and therefore will support the initiative “Asfalto no grazie” launched by Sardinian Authorities, which aims at protecting the roads in their natural state. The aim is to make these roads been recognized as naturalistic treasure, as it already happens all around Europe; in France, for example, some patches of the Paris-Roubaix race, the Classic North-Europe international bicycle races, have been recognized as national naturalistic patrimony.

Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President of the Organising Committee and member of ACI Executive, has stated: “The effort of Automobile Club Italia becomes clear through its passion for sport and its organizing capabilities. Thus using the Rally as a means of developing local economy and touristic marketing, and a way to protect and safeguard environment”.