The Cyprus Rally will kick off with a special starting ceremony this afternoon, ‘Cyprus Mail’ reports.
The starting ceremony will be held in front of the Ministry of Finance building and then will run through Nicosia, marking the beginning of a race that will stretch for a total of 774.34 km.
This also marks the first time in history that the Cyprus Rally will go through the north of Nicosia. The Nicosia Special Stage is a five kilometre course, starting at the finance ministry, going through the northern stretch of the city and ending up back in Nicosia.
Antonis Michaelides – head of the Cyprus Automobile Association- was asked by ‘Cyprus Mail’ whether he faced criticism on his decision to include a stage going through the “occupied areas”. Michaelides responded that the rally was a unique opportunity to bring people from both communities together, through their love of automobile racing.
A total of 44 Cypriot two-man crews are scheduled to take part at the rally, 12 of which are Turkish Cypriot
