TheSibiu Rally Romania, known originally as theRaliul Sibiului, is an internationalrallying event based inTransylvania in centralRomania. The event is a round of theEuropean Rally Championship, theRomanian Rally Championship and theBulgarian Rally Championship. Previously the event had been a round of theIntercontinental Rally Challenge and has been a predominantly gravel event since inception with some stages held on tarmac.
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 eventRallye 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 driverAndreas Mikkelsen won the first international event in 2012, with Czech driverJan Kopecký winning the first European championship round.
