Cyprus Rally to return after a year of absence

The Cyprus Rally will return on October 6-8, celebrating its 50^th year in the running, the Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA) announced on Tuesday.

This year’s rally will be the fifth round of the Middle East Rally Championship and at the same time the third and fourth rounds of the Pan-Cyprus Rally Championship, with each day counting as a separate round for the local championship.

According to an announcement, the race will be based in Nicosia, with its service park, headquarters and press centre located opposite the traffic training park by the police headquarters in Aglandjia.

The start on Friday and the finish on Sunday will take place at the old Nicosia town hall in Eleftheria square.

The 50th international Cyprus Rally will include twelve gravel special stages located in the mountainous region of Nicosia district and the outskirts of the capital.

On September 27, the organisers will announce the routes and unveil the maps of the special routes, as well as the final list of participants.

“Cyprus Rally has been entertaining participants and spectators since the 70s and that is what we aim to continue doing,” clerk of the course Nayia Kontopolou said.

“With over 50 years of experience and passion for the sport, we have all the resources we need to organise a successful rally,” she added.

In 2022, for the first time since 1974-1975, the Cyprus Rally was not held as the government refused to commit to funding four rallies from 2022 to 2025 that were offered by the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

This sparked a dispute between the government and the CAA regarding the management of the state grants they receive to organise and run the rally.