Revival for toughest rally

The Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, THOUGHT to be one of the toughest events in Europe, will be recreated in 2011 as a competitive event in the style of Tour Auto.

The RAC Belgium has unveiled plans to run an eight-day rally with up to 60km of special stages on closed public roads each day in a route that takes in Belgium, France and Italy.

The Liège-Rome-Liège Rally first ran in 1931 and by the ’50s it was little short of an all-out road race across Europe. The organisers set schedules designed to stop any car completing the route without time penalties. It had a fearsome reputation as the toughest rally on the international schedule.

Now, the famous rally is being recreated with an event for cars from 1950-74. While the main event will feature special stages on closed roads, a concurrent regularity event will follow the same route.

“Liège-Rome-Liège is a mythical event and we are proud to bring it back,” said event director Jean-François Chaumont. “It is the last big-name rally not to have an historic event.”

The route will cover around 500km on each of the eight days and may also take in Switzerland and Luxembourg. One of the special stages will be run over the Stelvio Pass, which will be closed to other traffic.

“It will be a tough rally,” added Chaumont, who hopes to attract 100 cars. The event will start in the old castle in the centre of Liège, just as events did in the 1950s.