Motorbikes, Cars, SSV, Trucks, the European Baja (Moto), the Italian Cross Country (Cars) and Raid TT (Moto). The first stage of the Sardegna Rally Race unleashes a whirlwind of competition and nature in a blissful headache of racing emotions.
Abstract
Rally scenario and structure. The Sardegna Rally Raid takes place in a changing environment (sun, rain, wind) that enhances the variety of the mostly forest tracks. Competitors follow the road book directions by Tiziano Siviero, as different competitions intersect: Moto and Cars (European Baja Moto, Motorally, Italian Cross Country) in a mechanism of refined clockwork.
Races and protagonists. In the European Baja Moto, showcase of the “Italian Dakar riders,” the clash is between Jacopo Cerutti (Aprilia twin-cylinder) and Paolo Lucci (Husqvarna single-cylinder), but Andrea Gava wins the first 190 km stage. In the Italian Raid TT, Tommaso Montanari wins two specials, while Pietro De Giacomi (KTM) closes the day in the lead with a slim margin of just 11 seconds.
Cars and stage conclusion. In the Cross Country Cars category, Lorenzo Codecà on Suzuki wins the first stage, with Cristina Giampaoli “GZ” Zonca as a protagonist. The evening, dedicated to San Simplicio, marks the end of the bad weather before Stage Two: 65 km of transfers and 180 km of selective sector, set in the Monte Acuto landscape.
Olbia, May 15, 2026. Suddenly the scene fills up. And even the good Lord feels compelled to do his part. So the background colors change and complete each other. Sun and wind, gray and rain, like a leopard’s spots, the backdrop of the Sardegna Rally Raid changes and flows continuously, rapidly. After all, if you think about it, this is the celebration of the palette of environmental and competitive colors that is fundamental to Rally-Raid, never the same from one kilometer to the next.
The competitors swarm along routes they do not know, paths they discover from the road book notes. They are guided by the directions written by Tiziano Siviero. The roads cross, ideally bringing together the competitors of the European Baja Moto, the Motorally, and the Italian Cross Country. Such a well-conceived interlocking of “pieces” has never been seen; it is like the refined mechanism of a watch (and a monumental effort for the Master Watchmaker).
The European Baja Moto aspires to one of the very few spots in the Rally-Raid World Championship. It is only natural that it is the Main Event of the Sardegna Rally Raid. There are few riders, but exceptional ones, a showcase of “Dakarians Made in Italy,” and the focus immediately centers on the direct clash between Jacopo Cerutti on the Aprilia Tuareg Rally twin-cylinder and Paolo Lucci on the Husqvarna Rally Replica single-cylinder. But it is the third wheel, the talented and somewhat cheeky Andrea Gava, who satisfies everyone and wins the opening stage. The endless special stage, 190 kilometers long, brings together legendary WRC names: Coiluna, Loelle, the magical forest of Fiorentini. Cerutti is second, Lucci third.
On the other side of the bracket, the parallel Italian Raid TT has started, three days on the tracks of Antonio Scanu. The race is harsh, the confrontation a wide battlefield, with 3 shorter and “edgy” specials. Tommaso Montanari (Husqvarna Team Solarys) wins the first and the second; Pietro De Giacomi (KTM), reigning Rally Champion, wins the third, closing the day at the top of the overall standings with a derisory margin of 11 seconds. On the twin-cylinder front, Thomas Marini (Aprilia) beats the Giant of Lumezzane, Alessandro Botturi (Yamaha). Spectacular!
Action returns to the main monitor of the Sardegna Rally Raid on the world tracks of Cross Country Cars. The favorites immediately come out into the open. Codecà-Menetti’s Suzuki is first at the Coiluna-Loelle intermediate point; the charming Cristina Giampaoli “GZ” Zonca, racing with navigation ace Pablo Moreno, takes the finish line, but the winner of the first stage is Lorenzo Codecà. On the first podium in Olbia for Cars are also an outsider, the Trivini brothers’ crew (Can-Am), and another favorite, Benko-Sikora, in a T3 Taurus.
The Sardegna Rally Raid once again immerses itself in the celebrations of San Simplicio, patron saint of the City and the Region, carrying the Rally’s torch from Olbia to all of Gallura. The evening sweeps away the last clouds. Should this be interpreted as the end of the weather hostilities for Stage Two, with 65 kilometers of transfers and 180 kilometers of selective sector, this time designed on the Monte Acuto landscapes?
UPDATE. Tiziano Siviero, the “Designer,” had been clear about maximum attention to the road book, but it wasn’t enough. In the competitive limbo between one stage and the next, penalties abounded, mostly for missing waypoints. The winner of the car stage, for example, Lorenzo Codecà, had 73 “jumps” added to his penalty list, dropping from first to 22nd. The winner of the car race, therefore, was the Can-Am crew of the Trivini Bellini cousins.
Thank You!
Sardegna Rally Raid Press Office
Piero Batini (pbatini@gmail.com)
BIkes Results
Cars Results
Motorally, Raid TT Results
Sardegna Rally Raid. FIA-FIM Rally-Raid World Championship Candidate
Auto: Campionato Italiano Cross Country e SSV
Moto: Campionati Italiani MotoRally e Raid-TT, Europeo Baja
Epicentro: Olbia
Organization:
Automobile Club Sassari and the support of Moto Club Insolita Sardegna
Con il sostegno dell’Automobile Club d’Italia e della Regione Autonoma della Sardegna
www.sardegnarallyraid.com
info@sardegnarallyraid.com
press@sardegnarallyraid.com
Sportity: S2R26FIA, S2R26FIME
© Photo Credits Sardegna Rally Raid
