The World Rally Championship returns to the gravel roads of northern Sardinia. From 1 to 4 October, the Rally Italia Sardegna 2026, the twenty-third edition of Italy’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship, will take place, returning this year to Alghero as its operational base and offering four days of competition on some of the island’s most spectacular roads.
The rally will be the thirteenth and penultimate round of the 2026 WRC season and will also count towards WRC2 and WRC3. The updated route features 17 special stages and 307.02 timed kilometres, all on gravel, with the heart of the competition concentrated between Monte Acuto, Anglona and Nurra.
Highlights of the 2026 edition include the return of historic stages such as Tergu and Argentiera, the debut of the Solorché special stage, in the Pattada area, and the return of the service park to Alghero’s seafront.
Thursday 1 October: the event begins with Monte Baranta and the Ittiri Arena Show
Rally Italia Sardegna will begin on Thursday morning with the Monte Baranta shakedown, 3.27 kilometres long, with the first car expected at 9:01.
In the afternoon, the rally will officially get under way. The start from Alghero is scheduled for 15:00, while at 16:05 the first special stage will begin: the Ittiri Arena Show, a short 2.08-kilometre spectator stage designed to give the public the first direct contest between the crews.
Friday 2 October: six stages between Tula, Lerno and Alà dei Sardi
The first full day of competition will begin very early. On Friday 2 October, six special stages will be contested, with three routes tackled twice.
The day will start at 8:01 with Tula-Erula, covering 18.77 kilometres. At 9:01, it will be the turn of Su Filigosu-Lerno, covering 17.83 kilometres, while Monti di Alà-Sa Conchedda-Lerno, 23.23 kilometres long, will begin at 10:08.
After returning to Alghero for servicing, the same trio will be repeated in the afternoon, with starts at 14:31, 15:31 and 16:38 respectively. The day will thus feature 119.66 timed kilometres.
Saturday 3 October: Monte Acuto and the new Solorché
Saturday will be the longest day in terms of competitive distance, with 123.66 kilometres of special stages.
At 8:01, Lerno-Sa Conchedda-Monti di Alà will begin, a 24.14-kilometre stage that includes one of the iconic sections of Rally Italia Sardegna, the famous Micky’s Jump. It will be followed by Coiluna-Loelle, 24.83 kilometres long, and the major new feature of the 2026 edition: Solorché, a 12.86-kilometre special stage in the Pattada area.
The three stages will be repeated in the afternoon, before the cars return to Alghero.
Sunday 4 October: the grand finale between Tergu and Argentiera
The final day will bring the World Championship back to two stages eagerly awaited by fans.
At 8:31, the first Osilo-Tergu will begin, covering 23.71 kilometres, followed at 10:05 by Sassari-Argentiera, covering 7.10 kilometres. After the second run through Osilo-Tergu at 11:38, the crews will head to Porto Torres for the tyre-change zone.
The decisive moment will arrive at 14:15, when the second Sassari-Argentiera will host the concluding Wolf Power Stage. A finale of just 7.10 kilometres, but set against one of the most recognisable landscapes of the Sardinian rally, with the route reaching the coast at Argentiera before the final transfer to Alghero.
The final podium ceremony is scheduled for 17:00 in Alghero, bringing four days of competition and over 300 kilometres against the clock to a close.
With its return to the Catalan city, some of the stages most loved by fans and a route crossing areas deeply connected to the event’s history, Rally Italia Sardegna 2026 is once again set to transform the north of the island into one of international motorsport’s great stages.