Organization and GNR reinforce call for safety at the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal

More than 50 years after being one of the founding events of the FIA World Rally Championship in 1973, the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal continues to maintain the appeal that makes it a unique event in the world motorsport panorama. Confirming this is the fact that the Automóvel Club de Portugal race has the largest list of entries in the WRC to date, including World champions such as Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä, who are currently competing in the season on a part-time basis and, even therefore, they insist on competing in Portugal; and the fact that this Tuesday, on the first day of mandatory recognition, Portuguese (and Spanish) fans have already involved the big stars of the WRC and the Portuguese Rally Championship, in the sections of the Central region. Sections that, today, have some muddy surfaces, but which tend to present somewhat different conditions from Friday onwards, due to the predictable increase in temperatures.

The (good) weather conditions also predict new flooding throughout the 22 stages of the route, in a rally that, in 2023, attracted around one million people over the four days of competition.

Today, at the usual joint press conference, those responsible for the Automóvel Club de Portugal and the Guarda Nacional Republicana appealed to guarantee all security conditions.

“Our rally is a global benchmark in terms of safety and we want it to continue that way. We ask fans who will be on the sections to respect all instructions from the GNR and the race commissioners and to watch the rally only in areas designated for the public, which were designed to guarantee all conditions of accessibility and safety. Only in this way will we be able to guarantee the normal course of the race”, highlighted Horácio Rodrigues, the director of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal.

The GNR, through Lieutenant Colonel Mafalda Almeida, confirmed the importance of spectator collaboration. “It will be one of the fundamental pillars for the success of this operation. We have a complex operation, which requires a lot of planning on our part, and we want to guarantee the safety of all spectators and participants in the event. We will have adverse weather conditions, with high temperatures and dry weather. As we are in forest areas, we reinforce the call for everyone to collaborate, also to prevent fires”, stated the Head of the Communication and Public Relations Division of the GNR.

The Vodafone Rally de Portugal also hosts the premiere of the long-awaited film about the duel between Audi and Lancia in the 1983 World Rally Championship season, one of the most emblematic in the WRC’s fifty-year history. Stars such as Hanu Mikkola and Michèle Mouton, driving the revolutionary Audi Quattro A1, and Walter Röhl and Markku Alén, driving the agile and impressive Lancia 037 Rally, led a duel of styles and philosophies that fell in love with millions of fans around the world.

The premiere of the film, directed by the Italian Stefano Mordini, will take place tomorrow, at 6pm, in the Exponor auditorium, in a session for guests and which will be attended by several of the current WRC drivers.
Throughout Wednesday, the race teams will also reconnoitre sections of the North region, in preparation for the official start of the race, scheduled for Thursday, in Coimbra.