The entry lists for Rallylegend 2026 are official, published on the event’s website and social media channels. Among the latest confirmations completing the entry list is the return of Antonio “Tony” Cairoli, one of the greatest champions in the history of motocross: nine world titles won between 2005 and 2017, two in MX2, in 2005 and 2007, and seven in MX1, from 2009 to 2014 and in 2017. Cairoli will start in the Rally2 category, at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia, alongside co-driver Longo.
Ole Christian Veiby also returns, the Norwegian rally and rallycross driver, already a fan favorite in past editions. He will start with the Volkswagen Polo RX1 of the Kristoffersson Motorsport team, alongside co-driver Jonas Andersson.
Among the entrants, alongside Cairoli, are also the official drivers of the great names of world rallying. Martins Sesks will drive the M-Sport team’s Ford Puma Rally1, while Dani Sordo will be at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team. Nicolay Gryazin will instead drive the Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 of the Lancia Corse HF team, which will also field a second car entrusted to Rachele Somaschini. A further chapter in the bond between the great car manufacturers and the San Marino event.
GROUP B CELEBRATES FORTY YEARS
2026 also marks the fortieth anniversary of the “stop” to Group B, the category that wrote one of the most legendary chapters in the history of rallying between 1982 and 1986. Rallylegend celebrates the anniversary with a parade of important original cars that will accompany the entire race weekend, from Thursday’s Legend Expo through to Sunday’s “The Legend” special stage. Among the drivers taking part are Stig Blomqvist, Swedish, 1984 world rally champion, at the wheel of an Audi Sport Quattro S1 E1, Marco Gramenzi with the Lancia Delta S4, Liam Doran, English driver, with the Ford RS200, Dutchmen Sjoerd Van der Putten and Piet Hein Van der Heijden, both on Audi Sport Quattro, and Edoardo Valente with the Lancia Rally 037.
THE PROGRAM: FROM THURSDAY TO SUNDAY’S GROUP B AND MEMORIAL BETTEGA
The Rallylegend 2026 program kicks off on Thursday, October 8 with the opening press conference, at 3:00 pm, and with the Sprint Legend Race in the evening. After Friday’s and Saturday’s stages, Sunday, October 11 will be the day of the weekend’s two big challenges: the Group B races, celebrating their fortieth anniversary, and the Memorial Bettega, the head to head elimination challenge between WRC, Group B, Trofeo Gruppo A and Rally2 already told in the previous press release. All information, updated schedules and program details are available on the official website rallylegend.com.
VALSECCHI AND VILLANI ON THE MICROPHONE, CLAUDIA PERONI TELLS THE STORY OF THE TRIBUTE TO ALEX FIORIO
On the microphone at Rallylegend 2026 will be Davide Valsecchi and Nicola Villani. Valsecchi, GP2 champion in 2012 and Lotus test driver in Formula 1 in 2013, after ten years as an F1 commentator for Sky Sport, is today part of the F1 commentary team of Swiss broadcaster RSI and was chosen by the FIA for driver interviews after races and qualifying: he will follow the Memorial Bettega and the event’s most spectacular moments. Alongside him, Nicola Villani, journalist, commentator and deep connoisseur of motorsport, a familiar voice also for Eurosport covering rallies and endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans: he will be the one telling the more institutional side of the event.
Telling the moments dedicated to Alex Fiorio will instead be Claudia Peroni, sports journalist and rally driver, a leading figure in Formula 1 pit lanes in the 1990s and the voice of rally for Mediaset since 2016.
MIKI BIASION, TWO TIME RALLY WORLD CHAMPION, LIAM DORAN, LORIS ROSATI: GREAT SPECTACLE AT RALLYLEGEND
Also returning this year, as a well established tradition, is Miki Biasion, two time rally world champion, in 1988 and 1989 with the Lancia Delta Integrale. Biasion will be at the wheel of the Lancia Delta S4 with which he claimed his first win in the world rally championship, in Argentina in 1986: an original Group B car, brought by a Swiss collector, that enriches the celebrations for Group B’s fortieth anniversary. Alongside Biasion, also part of the Group B tribute, will be Markku Alén, 1978 rally world champion and one of the leading figures of the category in the 1980s at the wheel of the Lancia 037 and Delta S4, with more than eight hundred stage wins in his career.
Providing spectacle, among others, will also be Liam Doran and Loris Rosati. Doran, English rallycross driver, X Games gold medalist in 2011 and a leading figure in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, will start in Group B with his Ford RS200. Rosati, from Fano in the Marche region, is instead the face of the Ape Proto Evolution: five consecutive time Italian champion of the discipline aboard his Honda Hornet 600 powered Ape, a fixture at Rallylegend since its earliest editions.
SOFIA VALLERI, GODMOTHER OF RALLYLEGEND 2026
Sofia Valleri will be the godmother of Rallylegend 2026. A Greek Italian model, actress and television host, testimonial for the Brosway brand since 2013, she is a well known face of Italian and international television, having appeared on programs such as Chiambretti Supermarket and All Together Now and hosted the Monte Carlo Fashion Week. In motorsport, she created and hosts the format Meet the Driver, dedicated to drivers’ stories.
ENERLIGHT AND RALLYLEGEND: MOTORSPORT AND SUSTAINABILITY
Enerlight renews its collaboration with Rallylegend, a dynamic company in the energy sector with a vision geared toward the future and the environment, built on knowledge and technical expertise. A leader in the design and construction of electrical and photovoltaic systems, it becomes a long term partner: it has designed and built a photovoltaic plant that produces clean, renewable energy and feeds it into San Marino’s electricity distribution grid, thereby offsetting the electricity needed to power the Rallylegend Village. An important synergy between local businesses, for the local area. A meeting point between motorsport and sustainability. Close technical collaboration also comes from the Azienda Autonoma di Stato per i Servizi Pubblici (AASS), in support of the event.
NOT JUST SPONSORS, BUT PASSIONATE PARTNERS
Rallylegend is supported by many important sponsors, some of them for a long time now, all of whom share the trait of becoming passionate partners, concretely involved through their presence at the Rallylegend Village and through various initiatives around the event. With Pirelli, Sparco, Eberhard & Co., Liqui Moly, Foss Marai, Lauretana, Mocali, Gazebo Flash, Valpet, Titanstuc, Gualandi Racing, Gruppo AT, TIS, Dahua Technology and Omada there is a well established collaboration. Also within the Republic of San Marino, the heart of Rallylegend, there are companies and partners who believe in the strength and visibility of the event: a prestigious list that includes Repubblica di San Marino, TIM San Marino, San Marino Outlet, Giochi del Titano, Caffè SM and DHC.
PAOLO VALLI
Rallylegend Event manager
“We are now in the final stretch, in just a few days Rallylegend will get underway. I’m happy with the entry list, which confirms a great quality of drivers and cars. We now have the last few days left to fine tune the organizational machine and sort out the final details, so we can enjoy an edition that is safe and well cared for in every detail.”
VITO PIARULLI
Rallylegend Event manager
“We are truly delighted with the latest confirmations completing the entry list for Rallylegend 2026: the return of Tony Cairoli, one of the greatest champions in Italian sport, and of Ole Christian Veiby, a driver always closely followed by our fans, raises the level of an already extraordinary field even further.”
PRESS OFFICE
Leo Todisco Grande
Cell.+39.335.8298326
E-mail leotodisco@rallylegend.com
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Alen Bollini
Cell.+39.338.6601713
E-mail media@rallylegend.com
