The Rali Vinho da Madeira is a tarmac

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

held in

Madeira Island Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2011, Madeira had a total population of ...

, Portugal, and it is the biggest annual sporting event of the island, bringing thousands of people into the roads to watch the drivers compete through the hilly terrain and the natural landscapes. Its first edition was in 1959, having later entered the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has b ...

in 1979, and remained in its calendar until 2012. It has also been part of the

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international ral ...

since the championship was first held in 2006, which brought further exposure to the event as

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

broadcasts footage of this championship to many countries. The rally is traditionally run in the summer, in early August or late July. The stages of Chão da Lagoa,

Paul da Serra Paul da Serra in the municipal county of Ponta do Sol, Madeira, is the largest and most extensive plateau of Madeira, at about , with an altitude averaging about . Its highest point is the peak pico do Paul at from where the length of the entir ...

and the Encumeada downhill are known as its biggest driving challenges. Several drivers of international note such as

Ari Vatanen Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen (; born 27 April 1952) is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rall ...

Henri Toivonen Henri Pauli Toivonen (25 August 1956 – 2 May 1986) was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his brother, Harri, became a profes ...

Massimo Biasion Massimo "Miki" Biasion (born 7 January 1958) is an Italian rally driver, two-time World Rally champion. Career Biasion was born in Bassano del Grappa, Veneto. Biasion came to prominence in the early 1980s, winning both the Italian and Europea ...

and

Andrea Aghini Andrea Aghini Lombardi (born 29 December 1963 in Livorno, Tuscany) is an Italian rally driver. He won the 1992 Rallye Sanremo and took four other podium finishes in the World Rally Championship from 1992 to 1995. In 1992, he also won the Race of ...

have won this rally before going on to win

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

rounds and championships. Aghini is the most successful driver in the events history, winning four times between 1992 and 2002. In 2013

Giandomenico Basso Giandomenico Basso (born 15 September 1973, in Montebelluna) is an Italian rally driver. Rally career After competing in karting from 1981, Basso has been rallying since 1994. Basso has driven Fiats throughout his rallying career. He made his Wo ...

became the second driver to achieve a fourth victory, the same happened in 2015 with

Bruno Magalhães Bruno Magalhães (born 10 July 1980) is a Portuguese rally driver. He is a regular competitor in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 for Peugeot Sport Portugal. He is a twice-podium finisher on the Rali Vinho da Ma ...

. The event is named after the

Madeira wine Madeira is a fortified wine made on the Portuguese Madeira Islands, off the coast of Africa. Madeira is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own, as an apéritif, to sweet wines usually consu ...

Winners

References

External links

Official websiteRallybaseYoutube - onboard video of the Encumeada stage

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

Vinho Vinho {{rally-stub