Gigi Galli returns to Rallylegend

A Rallylegend fan favourite and a spectacular driver, Gigi Galli is one of the Italian names who came to the fore in World Rally in the early 2000s. An M-Sport factory driver, he competed in 66 world championship races, scoring two podiums and winning 23 special stages. He created indelible memories and amassed so many fans who never forgot him. Fans who were excited to see him return, at Rallylegend 2021, where he put on a brilliant show for the crowd with the 600 hp rallycross Kia Rio complete with studded snow tyres.

And the emotions are only heightened if, as is the case at this year’s event, Gigi Galli pays tribute to the memory of a great friend and champion like Ken Block, a long-time Rallylegend fan who passed too soon, in January 2023. Especially because American Alex Gelsomino, navigator to Ken Block in more than 130 rallies, will be alongside Gigi Galli in San Marino, on the notes. A Rallylegend tribute to Ken Block, an unforgettable friend.

The duo will enliven Rallylegend by lining up among the Legend Stars, aboard a Citroen C3 WRC Plus by Gino Motorsport, while in Thursday evening’s Sprint Legend Race, the Gigi Galli-Alex Gelsomino pairing will climb aboard the very Ford Fiesta RS WRC with which Block-Gelsomino did such great things in the 2011 World Rally Championship.

Gigi Galli is already looking forward to it: “I’m excited just thinking about this wonderful initiative arranged by the Rallylegend organisers. Being in the car with Alex Gelsomino as we remember Ken Block and doing at the wheel of his own Ford Fiesta WRC and with the Citroen C3 WRC Plus, a fantastic vehicle that I can’t wait to drive, will make for a truly wonderful occasion. My friendship with Ken Block and the amazing show we put on six years ago around the Rallylegend “roundabouts” will never be forgotten”.

Alex Gelsomino doesn’t hide his emotion: “Returning to Rallylegend is a fantastic opportunity. My driver and friend Ken Block just loved this event and saw it as something truly unique. It will be very special to be back among so many rallying fans, and to be alongside a driver of the calibre of Gigi Galli, a true hero of national and international rallying and the master of drift, his extreme driving style even influencing and inspiring Ken himself. And we’ll be driving the Ford Fiesta WRC that Ken and I used in 2011. I want to thank the organisers of Rallylegend, and particularly Vito Piarulli, along with the car’s owner, Alessandro Gino”