At the top of rallying’s hierarchy is the World Rally Championship (WRC). It not only draws the best rally drivers, co-drivers and technicians, but also of the world’s most dedicated and loyal supporters. This weekend’s WRC round takes place in the north east of Spain for what is an eagerly anticipated white-knuckle rally.
For 2010 the WRC Rally Spain’s organisers have staged set the demanding route over 16 stages, 355.30km and three days of competition. Opening this event’s proper stages on Friday will be mixed-surface speed tests, while traditional all-asphalt stages on Days Two and Three are familiar to the crews.
With Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena earlier this month having wrapped up the 2010 Drivers’ and Co-drivers World Rally Championship titles for a record-breaking seventh time, and with the assistance of Dani Sordo/Diego Vallejo and Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassi (both piloting factory-backed Citroen C4 WRCs) Citroen also claimed the Manufacturers’ title in France too. This removes all pressure off the shoulders of their drivers and with a resurgent Dani Sordo gaining in confidence it is expected that he will set the pace all weekend on his home event.
Aiming to clinch another WRC victory this season is youngster Ogier. With the speed and courage, this The Other Frenchman has been able to challenge and defeat Loeb in a straight fight. His determination will see him hunting for a podium position, at the least.
Petter Solberg has proved his 2003 World Rally Champion status this year, pushing his privateer Citroen C4 WRC to its limits and beyond in a bid to leapfrog his factory rivals. He is not known for his asphalt prowess, but with this being the penultimate round of the 2010 calendar, he is hoping for another podium placing. His driving skills are better suited to the WRC Rally Wales GB, the final round of the season next month, and one wonders whether he will be considering driving for a strong points finish in Spain and going hell-for-leather for a win in Wales…
As was evidenced in WRC Rally Bulgaria and WRC Rally Germany this year, the Ford Focus RS WRC crews are not up to the speed of their Citroen rivals. This, however, will not hold back Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala from trying. The factory Ford Finns will never throw the towel in, and with Loeb already Champion they might attempt to capitalize on the Citroen driver’s more cautious pace now.
Former Formula One champ Kimi Raikkonen’s first season of rallying has shown some promise, but he has not been able to keep his Citroen C4 WRCs wheels on the road enough to convert his speed into points. After a disheartening WRC Rally France, in which he did not restart on Day Three of the event, it will be interesting to see if his asphalt pace in Spain will worry the top eight WRC crews this weekend.
Also, this event marks the final round of the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC), so expect a flurry of activity on the leaderboard as these youngsters jostle for the JWRC crown.
The rally stages are traditionally sweeping and high-speed affairs. This is the closest rallying comes to circuit racing, and the driver who hits the brakes the latest into a corner will climb onto the top step of the podium come Sunday afternoon.