Kris Meeke will sport the number 1 on his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 at the 67th edition of Rali da Madeira, which takes place on the road in a week’s time. The British driver tops the list of 86 entrants revealed this afternoon by Club Sports da Madeira, the club responsible for organising the event since its first edition in 1959. The list made public today features not only a large number but also an excellent line-up of drivers and cars, which will undoubtedly make this latest edition a success, as has been the case for decades both nationally and internationally.

The list released today includes 25 teams with RC2 (Rally2 or R5) cars, 5 with RGT cars and a further 22 in Rally4, which, under normal conditions, will allow the many spectators to watch for around an hour as teams compete in the best cars currently available at international competitive level. Rali da Madeira will feature international stars as well as drivers competing for the top positions in the national and regional championships, and also those from other competitions in whose calendar the event is included.

As well as Meeke, the line-up for the event will include Giandomenico Basso, a four-time winner of the race, and Diego Ruiloba, the driver who has won the last two editions of the race organised by Filipe Sousa. Alongside them, names such as Armindo Araújo, Miguel Nunes, Rúben Rodrigues, Pedro Almeida, José Pedro Fontes, Alexandre Camacho, the rally’s all-time wins’ record holder João Silva, Gonçalo Henriques, Miguel Caires, Ricardo Teodósio and Hugo Lopes promise fierce competition for a coveted place in the top ten. These and other competitors will be behind the wheel of almost every make represented in the RC2 group: Škoda, with various versions of the Fabia Rally2 and R5; the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2; the Citroën C3 Rally2; the Hyundai i20N Rally2; and the latest Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale.

Filipe Freitas, Gil Freitas and Paulo Mendes are leading figures in the sleek, noisy and highly efficient RGTs built by Porsche and Alpine. The battle for supremacy amongst front-wheel-drive drivers will also be thrilling. With the drivers who set the pace in this category at both national and regional levels, Rali da Madeira will feature a balance between the RC4 cars and the speed of drivers such as João Rodrigues, Hélder Miranda, Pedro Silva, Sandro Teixeira, Emanuel Martins, Nuno Ferreira, Carlos Ferreira, Tiago Nunes, Pedro Câmara and Martim Nunes to keep the excitement going throughout the long convoy.

The event, organised by Club Sports da Madeira, will also feature many other drivers in older cars or stars of the show such as Cláudio Nóbrega in a Datsun 1200, Miguel Gouveia in a BMW E36, José Jarimba in a Toyota Starlet and Mário Oliveira in a Ford Escort RS Mk II, ensuring the atmosphere is electric on each run through the 15 special stages on the programme. There are plenty of reasons why a community passionate about rallying – and the many visitors who make a point of attending – are counting down the hours until the start of the next Rali da Madeira.

The entry list is available here.