Thirty-one crews submitted applications for participation in this year’s 52nd edition of Rally Bulgaria. The competition, which will be held on September 1-3, is the third round of the Bulgarian National Rally Championship and the fourteenth of the FIA European Rally Trophy.
Among the entrants are the 2016 WRC3 world champion Simone Tempestini (Porsche 997 RGT) with navigator Sergiu Itu, the winners of the last edition of Rally Bulgaria and three-time national champions Miroslav Angelov / Georgi Gadzhev (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), the winners of this year’s edition of the Old Capitals rally Martin Surilov / Zdravko Zdravkov (Citroen C3 Rally2) and the two-time national champions Plamen Staykov / Rafi Kadir (Skoda Fabia R5).
The national rally champions of Romania in the RC2 class, Sebastian Barbu / Bogdan Iancu (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) and those who participated last weekend in the Barum rally Anton Titov / Alexander Spirov (Skoda Fabia R5) will also face them in the battle for victory in the general classification, with which the list in class RC2 ends.
The fight for front-wheel drive cars will also be interesting, where the name of the three-time European women’s rally champion Ekaterina Stratieva (Opel Corsa Rally4), who will once again rely on Georgi Avramov as her co-driver, makes an impression. Serious competition awaits her in the face of Nikola Mishev / Petar Sivov (Peugeot 208 Rally4), Denis Stanchovski / Nedyalko Sivov (Peugeot 208 R2) and Hristo Atanasov / Marin Ivanov (Citroen C2 VTS), who are among the fastest FWD crews .
With front-wheel drive cars, the Greek crew of Ioannis Kostantinidis / Ioannis Saritsoglou (Citroen DS3 R3 MAX) and the Hungarian duo Adrienn Vogel / Miklos Maricsek (Peugeot 208 Rally4) have also submitted their entries, who will also contribute to the fight.
This year, Rally Bulgaria has a new route with a length of 150 racing kilometers divided into thirteen special stages in the regions of Veliko Tarnovo and Gabrovo. The opening ceremony will be held in front of the central gate of the Tsarevets fortress on Friday, September 1 at 8:30 p.m., which will bring the crews and fans closer to the unique history of Bulgaria.
Снимка: Ивайло Старчев