ITALIAN SPRING BAJA – ALL RECORDS SHATTERED.
Pordenone, March 11, 2026. Unprecedented numbers are emerging at the Italian Spring Baja, ready to kick off the 2026 Italian Cross Country Championship organized by ACI Sport. Registration for the Artugna Race has closed with 62 crews registered, a huge satisfaction for the Fuoristrada Club 4x4 Pordenone.
In the running are the reigning 2024 and 2025 champion Manuele Mengozzi on Toyota Hilux Overdrive, the former champions Alfio Bordonaro on Suzuki Grand Vitara (2022 and 2023), Sergio Galletti on Pajero Wrc (2021), Elvis Borsoi with a Can Am Maverick, the only one to boast the cross country title (2017) and the ssv title (2021), Lorenzo Codecà also on Suzuki Grand Vitara, he who collected 11 championships from 2005 to 2020. But the rest of the company is still combative and motivated, counting drivers and navigators who have won various trophies among production vehicles, expired homologations, lightweight tubulars, and other contenders determined to shuffle the cards of a tricolor that puts the focus back on an overall classification with everyone in it, regardless of the Groups they belong to, for which there will still be dedicated cups.
The buzz on social media is evident in the enthusiasm of the insiders, as well as the surprise of discovering such a large and diverse participation, rekindling friendships, rivalries, banter, and a wealth of emotions to be unleashed at full throttle. On the dirt roads of the foothills between Aviano, Budoia, and Polcenigo, where the Piancavallo race used to take place, next Saturday the rally cars (18 in competition) will kick off the Artugna Race, awarding points for the ACI Sport TR National Trophy for drivers and navigators, the Open Historic Trophy, and the Open Rally Trophy.
The show is in top form, starting with the Skoda Fabias of Andrea De Luna and Alberto Carniello, already protagonists in the last edition.
The 26.94 km timed course will be repeated four times, with the first competitor starting at 8:30, 10:30, 1:30, and 3:30. The weather is uncertain for the weekend, a risk to be expected even for fans who want to follow the race. The awards ceremony will take place in Piazza Duomo in Aviano starting at 5:00 PM.
Italian Baja Press Office
photo Acisport
