This year’s World Rally Championship schedule will take place in Catalunya between the 20th and 23rd October and will be held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Catalonia.
We are keen to see whether Sébastien Loeb will manage to keep his title for the 7th year running. See what Sébastien has to say about the race below –
“It’s a good, quick, tarmac based rally, and a very special in some parts. It’s important to use the correct trajectories. I appreciate this element and it’s one of the rare rallies where it is the case. As all tarmac rallies, it tends to suit me well. The Spanish public are always there to cheer us on and you can see their love of the sport.”
A whole host of award winning drivers will be taking part in this year’s rally – in addition to Sébastien, two World Champions are part of the entry list, Kimi Räikkönen and Petter Solberg – as well as eight drivers who have won the Junior World Championship (Daniel Sordo, Sébastien Ogier, Martin Prokop and Aaron Burkart, and the already mentioned Sébastien Loeb), the Production world championship (Nasser Al-Attiyah, Armindo Araújo and Hayden Paddon) and the Super 2000 world championship (Xevi Pons).
As a consequence of the preceding scoring round of the World Rally championship, this year’s rally begins with two drivers tied in points in the lead, namely Sébastien Loeb (Citroën DS3) and Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Fiesta), who will with no doubt be fighting head to head for the title. Set to be the RACC Catalunya’s best year to date with 62 teams entering (9 more than in 2010) and over 20 WRCars, 17 Super 2000 and 19 production vehicles involved – we can’t wait to see who comes out on top!
Have any of you been to visit the Catalunya World Rally Championship before? Do share your tips for finding the best places to view the race!