Next Thursday, 5th August, by the end of the presentation of the drivers and parade of the vehicles on the podium at Praça do Povo, the motorsport enthusiast photographer Filipe Ferraz, the former co-driver, Duarte Coelho, the Observer of Portuguese Federation of Auto racing and Karting – FPAK, Claudino Romeiro and  Noel Deberdt, Leper Rally Organizer, in Belgium, the dearest Madeiran driver  Janica Clemente and Joaquim Sá e Sousa, who shared a few rallies with Janica, becoming, later on, part of the Organizing Committee of RVM, are the six posthumous tributes, in the public ceremony.   In the descriptive memory of his master piece, the sculptor Ricardo Veloza, sees it as a piece of “an iron wall, with an orifice where a metal tape coated in golden leaf crosses to the other side, representing life, as the golden element represents the passage to the other side. The orifice switches according to the time they lived. Being so, and according to their age, the orifice can be on the top of the iron wall, as those who passed away when they were younger, is below.”  

FIA European Rally Trophy was born in 2014 and has succeed the European Rally Cup. Nowadays, it is the European Trophy of rallies that is divided in eight geographical regions. It happens in the Alps, with countries such as France, Italy and Switzerland, near the Alps; Balkan, with countries as Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey  and Servia, throughout the Balkans; Baltic, for countries like Latvia, Estonia e Lithuania, through the Baltic; Benelux for Belgium and Luxemburg; Celtic, limited to Ireland and united Kingdom; Central, for central countries as Austria, Checks Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland or Germany;  Iberian for Portugal and Spain and finally Scandinavian for Sweden, Finland and Denmark. In every area there are champions not only according to the absolute standings (ERT1) but also for vehicles with two driving wheels (ERT2) e Junior, for drivers under the age of 26. From all areas, the top ten standings of each category are also set for the finale. It is in that finale that the title for each category is given. In 2021 this finale will take place in the International ADMV, Lausitz Rallye fighting for Germany, between the 4th and 6th November. this finale was staged in 2017 and 18 at the Casinos do Algarve Rally, in Portugal.  

PE 1 and 5 – CAMPO DE GOLFE This Special Stage begins at ER 207, after the local Golf Court entrance, and includes a small sequence of quite straight lanes up to Santo da Serra. From there, and up to Fonte de Santo António, the route is quite sinuous and narrow. After a very fast evolution to Ribeira de Machico and Portela, which precedes another flat zone until Serragem, in Santo da Serra. Accesses: Via Santo da Serra: at the crossroads with Fonte de Santo António Road, and, by Municipal Road Caramachão and Municipal Road Lombo das Faias.  Via Machico: At the Ribeira de Machico, (Pay attention to the Emergency Exit), and Portela by Caminho Fajã dos Rolos. Via Porto da Cruz: By Municipal Road 108 (Pay attention to the Emergency Exit). PE 2 and 6 – PALHEIRO FERREIRO   The Regional Road (ER 201), usually named as Caminho dos Pretos, is the “Cathedral” of Madeiran Rallies and, in the past, few were the competitions that didn’t include this route. It is driven up between Palheiro Ferreiro and Terreiro da Luta, with an almost perfect combination of a route that mixes fast areas with the ones that demand more technical skills. Accesses: Via Funchal: Through São João Latrão Road, through Nova Curral dos Romeiros Road and in Choupana, through Caminho Meio e Caminho Terço.   PE 3 and 7 – BOAVENTURA   Boaventura was, for many years the only special stage, meaning with a timed section, competed in the north of the Island. For many years, it was also absent from the Rali Vinho da Madeira itinerary. It demands a lot of technical skills going up and down, as well as fast and slow in a route often narrow between Boaventura and Arco de São Jorge. Accesses: Without an alternative route, it is recommended to get there earlier for the stage’s start and finish.   PE 4 and 8 – CITY OF SANTANA    A part of the Rali Vinho da Madeira itinerary 13 years ago, it begins close to the centre of the Ilha Municipality and all the way to the Eiras Road it is driven mostly up, except some very fast and straight lanes. In its route, there are many technical areas with “hooks”. Its race is often featured by the weather conditions different than the rest of the Island. Accesses: Via Santana: Through Queimadas Road, by Padre Agostinho J. Cardoso Road, Joaquim Road (Pay attention to the Emergency Exit) e through Feiteira do Nuno Road.  

Rally fans can follow the evolution of Rali vinho da Madeira 2021 edition through their mobile equipment. The information and results of the competition are available in two mobile apps: IOS and Android. On Rali vinho da Madeira app, the users can check the news, watch footage and pictures of the different special stages, service park, as well as the start and finish podium. The whole information is updated by the minute and it is possible to check the competitors’ performances in the different stages. On the AMAWEB App, the timing of each driver and its absolute standings after each special stage can be checked, also being able to verify the outcome of the Regional, National and European Championships. It is even possible to have access to all statistic and historical data of previous championships. The app has an update for this year: the addition of the official boards. The users who already have the previous version installed, should update it in order to have access to these updates.  Both apps can be downloaded on the official website: www.ralivm.com  

For personal reasons, the Observer nominated by the FIA to accompany the RVM 2021 edition, Jordi Parro (Spanish) was replaced by the Observer Kostyantyn Bevz (Ukrananian) 

From today and until next Wednesday, there will be many private test sessions that will happen around the Island. In these tests the teams try to replicate to the maximum the characteristics of the roads that they will find in the competition itself and, in these circumstances, look for the best possible setup for suspensions, alignments, transmission relations as well as the electronic management of the engines. As these sessions could be considered as training, which is nowadays forbidden by the regulation, the tests are happening in roads that are not used during the Rali Vinho da Madeira. Although last year these tests were under covered, in the last few years these tests have been authorized by the municipalities and controlled by the authorities who guarantee the closed roads and the safety of its users and population.  

Pedro Paixão will be driving in Rali Vinho da Madeira “as fast as possible. Nevertheless, the most important is to finish. Of course I would like to win this rally, as it is a childhood dream, but my main rivals are quite strong. I think, above all, in my main opponents in the regional competition. If will be a difficult task, as they have a lot more experience than we do in a competition that such fact may be crucial. Despite that, our speed can stand out.” Pedro Paixão is 26 years old and started the rallies five years ago. In 2016, the driver had his debut with a Toyota Yaris, but in the following championships he was behind the wheel of a Peugeot R2 and an Opel Adam R2. In that season, he also drove a Renault Clio R3, winning his class, and he was, for the first time, on the podium in 2017, in Machico. In 2019, he started driving a Skoda Fabia R5 and started bothering the main references of the Archipelago. In 2021, the driver is behind the wheel of a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and is the third in the Regional Championship, after having been the third in Ribeira Brava and fourth in Machico.