The penultimate test of the FIA World Rally Championship arrives in Spain from October 24 to 27, with the possibility that both the title of pilots and that of builders are decided on Spanish soil.
The fight for the title
The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Ott Tänak, from Estonia, arrives at the RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally of Spain with the need to add at least two points more than Sébastien Ogier, of Citroën Total, to win his first world title in the absence of a test to the end of the championship (Rally of Australia, November 14-17).
However, not everything is lost for the Frenchman who could still have options for the title. Having won the previous six titles, Ogier is only 28 points from Tänak. The Belgian Thierry Neuville, pilot of the Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, also continues in the fight and needs to add 12 points more than Tänak to keep his options alive to the title. Each driver can add up to 30 points in Spain.
Also in the search for its first title is Hyundai Shell Mobis in the Constructors' Championship. You can get it here, if you finish the rally with a difference of 36 points, which would give you an advantage of 44 points overall, enough to get the title of builders.
They have not left any detail in their search for the championship, along with Neuville will be the nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb and the local favorite, Dani Sordo. Surprisingly, the Frenchman Loeb has achieved victory in his nine participations in Spain (2005 to 2012 and 2018). Deaf, meanwhile, has been second on three occasions and third on one.
This year's route follows its mixed surface format, practically identical to the one that led the exciting fight for the victory between Loeb and Ogier 12 months ago.
Loeb got his first victory in the WRC after more than five years during an intense final day in 2018, and a year later, there are few changes in the only mixed surface (asphalt and dirt) rally of the season.
The theme park of Port Aventura World in Salou will be the nerve center for the 15th season and the city's promenade will host the beginning of Thursday night's ceremony.
The action begins with land specifications for cars, for the first stage of Friday, the longest of the test with 129.70 km. A first short section on the dirt tracks of Gandesa (7.00 km) and the renovated Horta-Bot (19.00 km), leads to the difficult 38.85 km of La Fatarella-Vilalba.
The longest stretch of the rally mixes dirt and asphalt with frequent surface changes and those riders who can exceed 6.6 km of asphalt to the midpoint with tires in good condition, can gain time decisively.
The assistance in Salou precedes a repetition of the three previous specials, before an extended night assistance at 1 hour and 15 minutes, in which the teams compete against the clock to convert their cars to asphalt specifications.
Saturday is identical to 2018, with two loops around Savallà (14.08 km), Querol (21.26 km) and El Montmell (24.40 km) before the traditional and spectacular super special in Salou (2.24 km ).
The final day of Sunday begins with the popular Riudecanyes (16.35 km), with its famous roundabout, and the return of the twisted and technical La Mussara (20.72 km) for the first time since 2014.
Both will be played on two occasions, separated by a mid-morning assistance in Salou, with the second pass through La Mussara that will be the Wolf Power Stage and will bonus extra points to the five fastest drivers.
The pilots face 17 sections totaling 325.56 km before the podium ceremony on the Salou seafront.
Spanish protagonism
As for the Spanish participation in the home rally, there will be 15 drivers and 16 co-drivers, whose main protagonist will be the winner of the 2019 Sardinia Rally Italy 2019, recently renewed for the next season, Dani Sordo, at the controls of his Hyundai i20 WRC Coupe The Cantabrian is always a candidate for victory in a rally in which he has occupied 7-place podium, but never tasted the honeys of triumph.
Among the WRC 2, the proclaimed JWRC champion, Jan Solans, has found enough support to debut in the category at the controls of a vehicle identical to the one he will drive next season, a Ford Fiesta R5.
In this rally Nil Solans reappears with a Volkswagen Polo R5, a different mount than we saw in his recent appearances, which will surely have time to continue supporting his younger brother, who for the first time will also be a rival. Also in the same category are the experienced José Antonio 'Rocket' Suarez with a Skoda Fabia R5, and with a Ford Fiesta R5 but not scoring for the championship, Francisco López in his first appearance in the World Cup rally.
The day on Friday will have the young talents of the future, with the dispute of the penultimate test of the Iberian Peugeot Rally Cup, where Daniel Berdomás is a leading leader against Pep Bassas, and who can decide the title in Salou. And in regards to the BKR2 promoted by the Royal Spanish Automobile Federation (RFEDA), of which Jan Solans won last year, Bassas himself leads the event followed by Sergi Francolí, both winning talents of the editions previous Volant RACC.
Program
Drop down
Thursday October 24
09:00: Shakedown (live on Facebook.com/wrc)
Friday, October 25
09:23: TC1 Gandesa 1
10:03: TC2 Horta - Bot 1
11:13: TC3 La Fatarella - Villaiba 1
15:26: TC4 Gandesa 2
16:06: TC5 Horta - Bot 2
17:16: TC6 La Fatarella - Villaiba 1
Saturday October 26
09:00: TC7 Savalla 1
09:41: TC8 Querol 1
10:38: TC9 The Montmell 1
14:01: TC10 Savalla 2
14:42: TC11 Querol 2
15:38: TC12 The Montmell 2
17:30: TC13 - Salou
Sunday October 27
07:41: TC14 Ruidecanyes 1
08:38: TC15 La Mussara 1
10:54: TC16 Ruidecanyes 2
12:18 TC17 The Mussara 2
How can the event be followed?
Throughout the weekend, fans can follow every second of the action in Spanish, on WRC +, the popular OTT platform that offers live coverage of the 17 sections of the weekend. To follow all the live times and the latest news, visit WRC.com.
At 09:50 on Friday morning, the WRC promoter invites the media present there, to see behind the cameras of the latest generation WRC + TV, offering an idea of the solutions that have been found, demonstrating the work that is done in the production of WRC +.
DAZN will also broadcast two tranches on Saturday (TC9, TC12) and two other sections on Sunday, (TC15 and TC17) including the decisive Wolf Power Stage, while the mentioned sections will also be broadcast on TV3, TVE and Red Bull TV.
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