15.03.2024
The partnership between the Italian Federation and the Turin company has been confirmed, once again “title sponsor” of the Italian Absolute Rally Championship, “sponsor” of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship and “Partner” of the Rally Italia Sardegna.
At the beginning of the new 2024 Italian season, the renewal of the agreement between ACI Sport and SPARCO was presented, a leading Italian company in components, accessories and technical clothing for motorsport which wanted to confirm itself alongside the Italian Automobile Federation and its promoter for a further three years of success.
This new handshake is in fact timely to relaunch a path of support undertaken as early as 2021, when the Sparco name joined the top national rally series for the first time, laying the foundations for current events.
Live on ACI Sport TV, the federal channel on which the entire press conference was broadcast live, the President of the Automobile Club of Italy Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the SPARCO Brand Manager Niccolò Bellazzini, the Central Director for the Motor Sports Department of ACI Marco Ferrari and the General Director of ACI Sport Marco Rogano.
The conference took place in the rooms of the splendid “Renaissance Tuscany il Ciocco Resort & Spa”, in the Tenuta del Ciocco in the province of Lucca, on the occasion of the 47th Rally Il Ciocco and Valle del Serchio, inaugural race of the 2024 Sparco Italian Rally Championship .
In particular, as the speakers illustrated, SPARCO will still be alongside ACI Sport as “title sponsor” of the Italian Absolute Rally Sparco Championship, will be the “official partner” of the Rally Italia Sardegna and will also support the Italian Grand Rally Championship as a “sponsor”. Tourism.
To complete the synergy, the co-branding activity with the Targa Florio brand is also renewed, another excellence signed by ACI, in relation to the leisure products already marketed and distributed by Sparco, highly appreciated by the competitors of the classic in 2023 ACI Sport, in exchange for the support provided by the Piedmontese brand – which reiterates its motoring passion and believes it is profitable to gain visibility in motorsport, through the Championships and the World Rally Championship event – will undertake to promote and enhance the SPARCO brand through its national and international visibility.
Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President of the Automobile Club of Italy: “The constant commitment and work of ACI also for this new season have allowed us to give very concrete answers that have brought Italy into the Grand Prix and World Rallies. In our long sporting history it is important to have a brand like Sparco at our side, a point of reference in motorsport and I am very pleased to celebrate this renewed collaboration. For the Automobile Club of Italy, having a brand with such international resonance is a combination of absolute importance.”
Niccolò Bellazzini, Brand Manager of SPARCO: “The partnership between Sparco and Aci Sport continues for another three years and is consolidated. We are pleased to associate our brand with the two most important national championships and the world stage of the WRC in Sardinia. Right here at Ciocco, as title sponsor, we kick off the top Italian rally series which, this year, shows a record number of entries and a level of quality in terms of crews and cars without equal. The vitality of Italian motorsport, also on an international level, is manifested thanks to the foresight of the ACI (primarily its president, Angelo Sticchi Damiani) and the presence of Italian companies that gravitate around it, making Italy the cradle of this discipline . Among these, Sparco also figures fully, present in all the world championships, starting from F1 with the technical partnerships with Red Bull and McLaren, providing drivers and teams with technical equipment solutions that constitute the perfect synthesis between safety and technology at the service of performance”.
Marco Ferrari, Central Director for the ACI Motor Sports Directorate: “SPARCO and ACI Sport share the same objectives in terms of safety and excellence, thus becoming together a bastion of Italianness in the world. Behind the external image of these two realities there is the work of many professionals united by the passion for motorsport, a passion that allows us to have stages of all the most important international championships in Italy, a passion that enhances the great representatives of our country in the world. We are sure that in the next three years new synergies can be activated to support national motorsport, in which the Federation and SPARCO have never stopped investing and believing.”
Marco Rogano, General Director of ACI Sport: “A strongly desired project that looks towards another important three-year period, sealed with an important company that will continue to qualify our races and our prominent events. On the track as sponsor of the Italian GT Championship, in rallies as title sponsor of the Italian Rally Championship and alongside major events such as the Rally Italia Sardegna and the Targa Florio. This agreement confirms the investments aimed at expanding media coverage and the promotion of our championships which are preparing to start with high numbers, as demonstrated by the participation in this edition of the Ciocco Rally”.
Four realities, a single mission of excellence in motorsport
SPARCO Founded in 1977, SPARCO has established itself as a symbol of innovation, safety and performance, becoming a point of reference for drivers and motoring enthusiasts all over the world. With a range of products that includes racing suits, gloves, shoes, seats and much more, SPARCO is synonymous with an incessant search for quality and a distinctive style that fits perfectly with the spirit and adrenaline of the Rally Italia Sardegna. This continuous growth in the quality and performance of the products offered has led Sparco to today be a brand of global excellence, with important partnerships that also involve F1, FIA WRC and any other type of competition teams.
RALLY ITALY SARDINIAThe Rally Italia Sardinia will take place from 30 May to 2 June 2024 and will be the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Italian stage of the FIA World Rally Championship series. Celebrating 20 editions, since 2004 the RIS has been one of the most popular and spectacular, difficult and hard-fought rounds of the WRC. The Rally Italia Sardegna is now an icon for Italian motorsport, with its land and its views that attract tens of thousands of fans and spectators every year.
SPARCO ABSOLUTE ITALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPThe SPARCO Absolute Italian Rally Championship, the top Italian rally series, in 2024 will be made up of 7 of the most legendary and iconic sporting events in the Bel Paese, all on asphalt surfaces. With a parterre of drivers and champions ready to challenge for the title never seen in recent years, the CIAR Sparco 2024 promises spectacle and sparks at every stage. One of the most loved sporting realities not only by Italians; in its history developed over 62 editions it has been a point of reference for international motorsport, with car manufacturers and some of the greatest champions of the discipline who have launched themselves in search of the title. This year, with two official manufacturers and promoters of their single-brand trophy, Toyota and Suzuki; with two official teams, Toyota and Hyundai; with the renewed presence of the reigning champions on Citroen, Andrea Crugnola and Pietro Ometto, wearing Sparco; with the return of several high-level protagonists and private teams, the 2024 Italian Absolute Rally Sparco Championship is ready to attract the attention of world motorsport once again.
ITALIAN GRAN TURISMO CHAMPIONSHIPThe Italian Gran Turismo Championship has been a staple in the international automotive scene since the first edition in 2003. The 22nd edition of the Gran Turismo, the championship reserved for fascinating GT cars derived from series models, is still animated by the series Sprint and Endurance which since 2019 have constituted two distinct championships. The traditional one held with two races of 50 minutes + 1 lap has been joined by the endurance series which is run with a 3 hour race. The Italian series, in which gentleman drivers and fierce professionals compete, some of whom are former Formula 1 drivers, in recent editions has represented a springboard for young people coming from karting, and an excellent alternative to their careers with formula cars . For the 2024 season, divided into GT3 and GT Cup cars, important innovations have been made for both series which have attracted additional teams and new drivers, setting yet another record of entries.