The Sibiu Rally Romania, known originally as the Raliul Sibiului, is an international rallying event based in Transylvania in central Romania. The event is a round of the European Rally Championship, the Romanian Rally Championship and the Bulgarian Rally Championship. Previously the event had been a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and has been a predominantly gravel event since inception with some stages held on tarmac.

Raul Badiu driving a Dacia Logan during the 2012 Sibiu Rally Romania

First run in 2001 as a round of the Romanian championship held in the middle of the year, originally in August before settling into a July date. The event became an international event for the first time in 2012 when it was added to the Intercontinental Challenge and Romania was added to the event name as Sibiului Raliul Romania. It was one of four events added to the calendar and slid into a mid-season gap when Atlantic Ocean island event Rallye Açores was moved to the start of the season. The event survived the merger of the Intercontinental Challenge and the European Championship into 2013 when the rally acquired its current name.

Romanian drivers dominated the events early history, the first foreign victor was Finn Jarkko Miettinen in 2008. Simone Tempestini is the most successful driver in the events history, winning five times in total. Norwegian driver Andreas Mikkelsen won the first international event in 2012, with Czech driver Jan Kopecký winning the first European championship round.

List of winners

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Year Winner Car Series
2001   Mihai Leu Ford Escort RS Cosworth Romanian Rally Championship
2002   Constantin Aur SEAT Córdoba WRC
2003   Constantin Aur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
2004   Bogdan Marisca Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
2005   Constantin Aur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
2006   Constantin Aur Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2007   Bogdan Marisca Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2008   Jarkko Miettinen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2009   Jarkko Miettinen Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2010   Gergely Szabó Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2011   Gergely Szabó Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2012   Andreas Mikkelsen Škoda Fabia S2000 Intercontinental Rally Challenge
Romanian Rally Championship
2013   Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 European Rally Championship
Romanian Rally Championship
2014 cancelled European Rally Championship
2015   Simone Tempestini Ford Fiesta R5 Romanian Rally Championship
2016   Dan Gritofan Škoda Fabia R5 Romanian Rally Championship
Bulgarian Rally Championship
2017   Dan Gritofan Škoda Fabia R5 Romanian Rally Championship
2018   Bogdan Marisca Ford Fiesta R5
2019   Sebastian Barbu Škoda Fabia R5
2020   Simone Tempestini Škoda Fabia R5
2021   Simone Tempestini Škoda Fabia R5
2022   Simone Tempestini Škoda Fabia R5
2023   Simone Tempestini Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo
Sources:[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ "Rally Guide 2013" (PDF). raliulsibiului.ro. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04.
  2. ^ "Raliul Sibiului". eWRC-results.com.
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