The success of the mythical Lancia 037 Rally at the Rally Costa Brava-Lloret this winter follows the one achieved exactly 25 years ago by this very same model in the same race. On that occasion – 1985 – it took the three podium places with Massimo Biasion, Dario Cerrato and Salvador Servià. This anniversary enhances the fact that Lloret de Mar is the perfect place to recall the history of rallying, being the oldest rally in Spain.

The first leg, which took place on Friday night and was attended by a huge amount of spectators, had humidity and fog as the main protagonist, making life difficult for the drivers. The Cladells and Collsaplana stages, at the Montseny and Guilleries area, was a difficult challenge for everyone. Nevertheless, Marco Bianchini (Lancia 037) set a fast pace that allowed him to get a good margin over Norway’s Valter Ch. Jensen (Porsche 911 Carrera RS) and Spanish Antonio Sainz, who drove the same car as Jensen.

The worst luck was for Jesús M. Ferreiro (Porsche 911 Carrera RS), who suffered problems with the gearbox and the fuel pump; Jean Ragnotti (Renault Alpine A110), who had trouble with his pace notes; and England's Ernie Graham (Ford Escort RS), who suffered a spin at Cladells, which caused the engine to stop for four minutes. At Regularity, Carles Miró (Porsche 911 SC) dominated the FIA Class and Joaquín Vilatarsana (Renault 5 Copa Turbo) was the man to beat in the Spanish and Catalan classifications of Regularity Sport.During Saturday's leg, three stages were run twice: Tossa-St Feliu, Madremanya and Circuit de Sils, where the public gathered along the track.

The excellent weather and visibility contrasted to those of the day before, in a very nice day that enhanced the multi-coloured show on the road. Bianchini won the majority of the stages except the second pass over Madremanya and the two Sils stages, won by inspired Ragnotti. Sainz finished on the third podium position while Pierangelo Rossi (Porsche) achieved the most spectacular recovery of the day, by finishing fourth ahead of Ernst Harrach (Mitsubishi) and Ferran Font (Ford). The latter ended just ahead of Jean Ragnotti, who had a great performance during the whole day and won three stages. Pierangelo Rossi is the new European Champion of the class 3.

Bianchini said afterwards: “Competing with the Lancia 037 was a dream I had since when I was child, and also, having the opportunity to take part in the Rally Costa Brava, win it and come to Lloret to receive the prize is something really impressive. I will remember it forever”.Carles Miró-Jesús Arriezu (Porsche 911 SC), winner of Regularity FIA - 58 Rally Costa Brava-Lloret: “The lack of grip in the night leg complicated everything for us, but that made the rally more fun. It is an excellent round and I am very happy to have won in my class”.

RallyClassics made it possible one more year another really memorable edition of the Costa Brava. Betting on the classic and historic cars, the organizer had the support of the sector with 112 cars at the start. It was a unprecedented success of the class in our country. 40 of the cars took part in the FIA-Sport class and 72 in the different Regularity classes.