Ducati MotoGP rider Enea Bastianini will be among the protagonists of this weekend’s Rallylegend. Currently third in the MotoGP World Championship, the Rimini native will be at the wheel of a Group B Audi Quattro S1 in the 22nd edition of the event which will take place in San Marino.
Sharing the cockpit with him will be Emanuele Zonzini, test driver for Lamborghini Research and Development, and it has already been anticipated that both should alternate in the driving seat over the weekend.
The Audi Quattro S1 was designed to compete in the WRC’s infamous Group B, generating around 450 horsepower from its 2.1-liter turbocharged engine. It made its debut towards the end of the 1984 season, helping the German brand to second place in the constructors’ title race behind Peugeot in 1985.
Walter Rohrl, Christian Geistdorfer, Audi Sport Quattro S1
Photo by: Motorsport Images
Bastianini is not the only star on the current MotoGP grid to take an interest in rallying. In 2020, the current Prima Pramac Racing driver, Franco Morbidelli, took part in the last round of the WRC at the Monza Rally driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, finishing in 39th place. Without forgetting Valentino Rossi’s past at the Monza Rally Show, in which he won seven times. The “Doctor” then also took part in three WRC races.
Rallylegend will also welcome a host of WRC stars, including current M-Sport-Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux, who will pilot the Ford Puma Rally1.
The Frenchman will have to contend with Formula 1 race winner-turned-rally driver Heikki Kovalainen, who will drive a 2017-spec Citroen C3 WRC, alongside Janne Ferm, who has announced his retirement as WRC co-driver alongside Esapekka Lappi at the beginning of the month.
Former world champion Stig Blomqvist will return behind the wheel of an Audi Quattro, as the event marks the 40th anniversary of the Swede’s success in 1984. Two-time world champion Miki Biasion will also be present driving a Lancia 037, while the 50th anniversary of the first Lancia Stratos World Championship (1974) will also be celebrated.
In addition to Blomqvist and Biasion, the rally’s stars will include six-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1983 Dakar, Jacky Ickx, and 1981 WRC champion and four-time Dakar winner, Ari Vatanen. The two will drive the respective Porsche 959 and Peugeot 405 T16 Dakar with which they raced in that period.
Former factory WRC driver Armin Schwarz will drive a Group A Audi Quattro Coupé, while son Fabio Schwarz will be in a Hyundai Accent WRC, an example of the car his father drove in the WRC in 2002-2003.
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