At the moment, you could say that Lithuania and Italy are in a race to see who has more N5 cars. In Lithuania there were 11 during the season, in Italy – 13. An increase is expected in both countries for the 2024 season. However, Lithuania are a little better off in terms of activity, because in Italy only about half of the cars are constantly and actively competing. They are driven both by the owners and by other drivers who want to try out the N5 and rent cars. The other half of the owners do not rent cars and rarely take part in competitions. There are currently more people in Italy who want to drive the N5 than there are cars available, but the Italians are trying to solve this situation by bringing more cars from Spain.
The Italians have two N5 championships/cups – Trofeo N5 Asfalto and Trofeo N5 Terra. One on asphalt, the other on gravel. The two championships are needed to partially solve the problem of the lack of cars, as one and the same car can compete in both championships. Another peculiarity is that some Italians want to race only on gravel or only on asphalt, so the format of two separate championships allows maximum use of the available vehicles and the number of participants has almost tripled this year. The car rental teams were also pleased with the significant increase in workload. Both the asphalt and gravel championships have four rounds each, but that’s not all.
This weekend sees the ACI Rally Monza, which has been on the WRC calendar for two years. This rally is also the closing event of the two N5 championships, where the gravel and asphalt championship competitors compete. This rally was chosen because it takes place on the Monza circuit and in the surrounding park, so it is a part-asphalt, part-gravel event. It is therefore the perfect place to determine the absolute champion of the N5 Italy. As far as Italian rallies are concerned, asphalt dominates over gravel. The most important Italian championship is held on asphalt, the second most important championship – Italy Tarmac – also takes place on asphalt and only in third place is the Italian gravel championship. The events of the last two championships are selected for the N5 Asphalt and Gravel Cup competitions. This is partly the instruction of the Italian federation and the decision of the organizers of the N5 Cup. In addition, the Italian federation has created a separate 4WD Cup for the N5, R4, S2000, Gr.N, Rally3 and Yaris GR cars, in which the N5 dominated.
Next year it looks like the format of the N5 championships will remain the same, but unfortunately there will be no more season-ending race at Monza. It is also expected that more cars will come from Spain and that competitors who want to drive the N5 will have more opportunities to rent cars. Yes, the future in Italy seems bright.
