Toyota Yaris Proto debuts in Madeira

The next edition of Rali Vinho da Madeira will be the stage for the first evolution on the island of several models. One of them is the Toyota Yaris Proto. The car that will be at the event is prepared based on a kit from the Polish company Dytko and is based on a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X mechanic. The specifications, except for the dimensions, are similar to those of the Japanese car in its NR4 version. The car has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine of around 2,000 cc and is transmitted to all four wheels via a Samsonas sequential gearbox. In its configuration and on tarmac, the suspensions are from Reiger and the weight is around 1,300kg. This car will be on the island by the hands of João Sousa, who is teamed up with Helena Maia. This will be "my debut in Madeira and I will try to enjoy the fulfilment of a dream I have had since I was a kid. I'm not going to worry about results, trying, of course, to do the best I can. I wanted to take my Peugeot 306 Maxi to the island but its restoration is not yet complete. This participation is also the fulfilment of a "joke", a challenge made by Nuno Figueira last year. I can only thank my sponsors for this opportunity". The driver is 34 years old and has already been through various aspects of motorsport. He won the national VSH title in 2013.

Winning the Peugeot Cup

Spanish driver Sergi Perez is one of the young drivers coming to Madeira to compete in the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup. For what will be his first appearance on the island, Perez says that "I have heard that it is a very beautiful race but also very hard for the cars and drivers, especially on their debut. I'm really looking forward to it. Our goal is to win the Cup, we will be there for that. We are fighting for the championship and this result is very important for the team. There are riders with much better knowledge of the terrain but, in essence, we all have two arms and two legs..." Sergi Perez is 19 years old and made his rally debut in 2020 with a Peugeot 106 Rallye. With the exception of very few occasions, he has always been behind the wheel of the French brand's cars, as he switched from the initial vehicle in 2022 to the current one. In his short career, he won the Catalunya junior title in 2021 and the Volant RACC last year. At the start of Rali Vinho da Madeira, he is third in the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup.

Maximum driving

The Azorean Luis Pimentel returns to Rali Vinho da Madeira with a Porsche 997 GT3. The goal is, "first of all, to be present in what is the best rally in Europe. It is a unique event, always very well organised, with fabulous timed sections and where the public's affection is fantastic. I want to compete in more events in Madeira and this is the ideal event to start. Sportingly we will have 4 Porsche and another RGT, it will be very nice. I'll have the problem of less knowledge but I mainly want to drive and do kilometres. The rallies in the Azores are small and here I will have the opportunity to get to know the Porsche better, which still has a lot to explore." Pimentel is 58 years old and made his first rally in 1983 with a Fiat 124 Spider. Throughout his career he has been behind the wheel of mythical cars such as Renault 5 Turbo, Lancia Delta Integrale, Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD, Ford Escort RS Cosworth, Subaru Impreza or Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. The driver who was absolute Azorean champion in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998 has been at the controls of the current vehicle since 2018.  

Rali Vinho da Madeira with phased transport

The huge number of teams from outside the island that will be at the start of the next edition of Rali Vinho da Madeira means that in 2023 the transport of competition vehicles and other support vehicles will have to be carried out in several phases and on several occasions. The first shipment takes place today, 21 July, in Leixões and the disembarkation is scheduled for the port of Caniçal, in Madeira, next Monday, 24 July. Vehicles from the Sports & You teams, of Bernardo Sousa, Kris Meeke, Pedro and Paulo Meireles and Diego Ruiloba, and Racing4You, of Ernesto Cunha and Rafael Cardeira, will be transported in this first phase.

Prioritising Madeira Championship

Renato Pita will line up in Rali Vinho da Madeira with the usual Peugeot 208 Rally4 and, "as defined at the beginning of the year, our goal will be the Madeira two-wheel drive championship. We want to fight again with Artur Quintal, Pedro Macedo and Dinarte Baptista to keep the second position in that competition, since João Silva has been unreachable. We ended up not including the Iberian Cup but it will be good to have many opponents in similar cars to see where we position ourselves, never running away from what is planned. This is a long rally and we have chosen to change some mechanical components. I will enjoy the experience of 2022 with the excellent rapport, in a good environment, with my co-driver, Rubina Gonçalves, an asset to the project ". Born in 1976, Renato Pita started rallying in 2005 with a Peugeot 106 Rallye. Since then he has been behind the wheel of cars as different as a Nissan Micra 1.3, several versions of Mitsubishi Lancer Evo or Renault Clio R3. Since 2012, he has crewed front-wheel drive cars and was a regular presence in the ERC and TER with Peugeot 208 R2 and Ford Fiesta R2. In these participations, he won the 2RM title in Ter 2017. In partnership with BP, he has been raising awareness in the field of road safety for many years.

Top ten first

Pedro Mendes Gomes returns to Rali Vinho da Madeira with a VW Polo Rally2 and wants to "have as much fun as possible. I can't imagine where we'll get to because it will be very difficult to get ahead of the competition. We've been off for three years and the pace of the top drivers is very strong at the moment. We'll take advantage of the experience. We did a test in Spain, where we even tried two types of tyres, and the car felt very good. We were surprised. Now we will have to adapt it to the local roads. It would be great to repeat a top ten finish." The driver turns 45 next week and made his rallying debut in 1998 in a Fiat Cinquecento. He also drove a Toyota Starlet and a Citroën Saxo. He won mono-brand competitions with these three models. He then had two variants of the VW Golf, III and IV, Kit-Car with which he regularly took podiums in local rallies. In 2005 he competed in the national championship with a Skoda Fabia TDi RS and the following year he returned to the Madeira championship with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII. He was practically at a standstill until 2018 when he competed for a trophy with a Citroën DS3 R1. His last participations date back to 2019 with a Peugeot 208 T16 R5.

Enjoying as much as we can

Dinarte Baptista will line up for Rali Vinho da Madeira "with the same goals as always in such a long race. We want to finish showing a good pace. In this rally we will be visited by many drivers in our class but we will not enter into fights at that level. We don't have the capacity to do that yet because we don't have the means. Our reality is different. We'll concentrate on the Madeira championship and drive as much as we can on mythical stages. Even to get to know the car better. Above all, we want to enjoy the whole week, as much as we can". Baptista is 46 years old and took his first steps in the sport in 2000 with an Opel Corsa A GSi. Since then he has been behind the wheel of models such as the Toyota Starlet, Citroën Saxo, Citroën C2 R2 and, more recently, Renault Clio R3. For the 2023 season, the driver acquired the Renault Clio Rally4 with which he has lined up in the events already disputed in the Madeiran rally championship and in which, three times, he was fourth in the class. He has never won a title but has been regularly in the top positions of the competitions in which he is in.

Continue the evolution

Miguel Caires starts the Skoda Fabia R5 for a Rali Vinho da Madeira in which he aims, "first of all, to enjoy this true gala of motorsport. This is a special year, with a fantastic list, where four or five drivers can fight for victory and where there should be interesting fights in the various classes. We will concentrate on continuing our learning and evolution path, which we have been doing race by race. Rali Vinho da Madeira is very long and, as such, we have greater possibilities to learn. Even more so with so many competitors. On a personal level, it would be a victory to get our car into the top ten". At the age of 41, Miguel Caires started rallying in 2019 with a Peugeot 208 R2. The following year he took over the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally4 and last year, with a Renault Clio Rally4, he was champion of the class. In 2023 he is driving a Skoda Fabia R5 and is third in the Madeira championship. In preparation for Vinho Madeira, he will compete next week in the Rally di Roma Capitale, an Italian ERC event.

Two wheel drive podium

Artur Quintal will line up in Rali Vinho da Madeira with the usual Peugeot 208 Rally4, with which he intends to "be in the fight for the podium of the competitors with two-wheel drive vehicles. As I think the Rally4s will lead the category, I would also like to be in the top three of the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup, in which we will be part. We are curious and eager to be part of a mono-brand competition with so many competitors. The Madeirans will have the advantage of knowledge of the roads, which is important here and has proven to be an important asset whenever someone visits us. We will work on the set-up and the discovery of the car to be faster, which we have been lacking". Quintal is 33 years old and started rallying in 2014 with a Toyota Starlet. He kept that car until 2016, when he moved to the wheel of a Citroën C2 R2. In 2018 he switched to a Peugeot 208 R2 and was always in the top places in the class until 2019. Last year he switched to a newer Peugeot 208 Rally4 and has been on the podium of the class in regional rallies.

Always have goals in life

Duarte Abreu returns, with a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, to the sport in Rali Vinho da Madeira, a race in which the goal is " to finish, and to forget the last one in which I participated. I start without any sporting or classification goals. Above all, I want to make everyone realise that, even though I'm ill and after 16 years I've known about it, I'm going to do the Rali Vinho da Madeira. I managed to set up this project with the help of Delta Rally and Vespas, among other companies, and I also want to show the younger ones that things can always be done tomorrow. I have been away for 14 years and I know the difficulties that await me. People must always have goals. This is not a farewell and I intend to return to this race in 10 years' time."  Duarte Abreu is 61 years old and, after karting, started rallying in 1990 with a Renault 5 GT Turbo. He has driven cars such as the Peugeot 205 GTi, Citroën Saxo, Peugeot 306 Maxi, Ford Escort Maxi Kit-Car, Peugeot 206 S1600 and Fiat Punto S1600. He was one of the great promoters of rallies in Madeira with the creation of mono-brand competitions such as those disputed with the Fiat Cinquecento, Toyota Starlet and, later, Toyota Yaris, as well as serving as a link between local drivers and major international preparers.

Alpine A110 RGT debuts in Madeira

Rali Vinho da Madeira will be, with Gil Freitas behind the wheel, the stage for the first competitive kilometres of the Alpine A110 RGT on the island. The model from the French house is very efficient on tarmac and, developed in partnership with Signatech, was publicly presented in mid-2019. Since then, it has shone in mono-brand competitions but also in international championships within the framework of the grouping and has regained the spirit of a brand that won the first world championship in the speciality in 1973. Measuring 4.18 metres long, 1.80 metres wide and 1.25 metres high, the car weighs 1,080 kg. The engine used, which is centrally located at the rear, is a turbocharged in-line four-cylinder of around 1,800 cc and delivers around 300 horsepower. Transmission is to the rear wheels via a 6-speed sequential gearbox. With a specially developed suspension based on 3-way dampers, the Alpine uses Brembo 4-piston brakes at the front and single-piston at the rear. The wheels are 18-inch.  

84 entries for Rali Vinho da Madeira

84 competitors have already formalised their registration for the next edition of Rali Vinho da Madeira, which will be on the road between 3rd and 5th August. The entry list, to be revealed on 26th July, should include 8 foreign drivers and 76 Portuguese, divided into 23 continental, 52 Madeiran and 1 Azorean. The competition will be lively because that list will bring together names such as Kris Meeke, Giandomenico Basso, Simone Campedelli, Diego Ruiloba, José Pedro Fontes, Ricardo Teodósio, Miguel Correia, Ricardo Teodósio, Armindo Araújo or the Madeirans Bernardo Sousa, Alexandre Camacho and Miguel Nunes, among others. The quality of the vehicles present on the island is also a guarantee as 22 teams are registered in Rally2, also known as R5, in models such as the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, which makes its debut in the archipelago, Ford Fiesta Rally2, Citroën C3 Rally2, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo or VW Polo Rally2. There will be 5 RGTs at the start, 4 Porsche 991 GT3s and the Alpine 110 RGT that Gil Freitas will debut on Madeiran soil. The emotion will be transversal to the entire list of entries and the 24 competitors with Rally4 vehicles, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio and Ford Fiesta will contribute to it. The Club Sports da Madeira organisation is part of the FIA European Rally Trophy, a competition that was remodelled this year and now includes only 19 events, the Portuguese Rally Championship and the Madeira Coral Rally Championship. In addition to these, the event directed by Pedro Melvill Araújo is also part of the Peugeot Iberian Rally Cup, a mono-brand competition disputed with Peugeot 208 Rally4 and which brings 11 teams to Madeira. The number of entries, higher than the maximum of 75, may lead to some logistical changes in the event.

RVM 2023 Press Conference

The Rali Vinho d Madeira Organizing Committee hereby invites your media to the Press Conference on the RVM 2023 Program, including the presentation of the registered competitors. This Press Conference will take place at the Club Sports da Madeira Headquarters at Av. Arriaga, 43, next Monday, July 17th, at 3 p.m. Thank you in advance for your presence.

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