24/09/2009
Activities in PortAventura and Salou

Furius Baco, PortAventura

The Costa Daurada and especially the village of Salou and the PortAventura theme park experience the RallyRACC with special intensiveness as hosts to the Spanish round of the WRC. In the service area located in PortAventura, there will be a daily event called “Meet the team”, which will be attended by the top three drivers of the daily classification on the first and second day, right after their arrival. It is a special session for the media and spectators that will be held on the "ISC stage". Following this session, the drivers will be available for spectators in a 15-minute autograph session.

Another event that will be held during the rally days in a big tent located on the Salou promenade will be the seventeenth edition of the Rally Slot Ninco Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, which attracts true specialists from all over Spain and abroad.

Likewise, before the start on Thursday, at 19.00h, the official drivers will be signing autographs for 30 minutes on the Salou Promenade.

The RallyRACC has signed a collaboration agreement for this 45th edition of the RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España with the County Council of Tarragona, the Tarragona Chamber of Commerce, the Salou Town Council, the Tourism Board of the Costa Daurada and PortAventura.

RACC, groundbreaking proposals for the improvement of the WRC
With the new safety symbols for spectator areas, the RACC continues making new proposals with the main aim of improving the series and at the same time reducing costs.  Other proposals already made, and accepted by the WRC Commission, were the simplification of the participants’ Time Cards with the support of the available computerized control systems; the so-called Virtual Notice Board available at www.rallyracc.com, as a complement to the usual Notice Board; and the timing system which was the germ of the system provided by ISC to all the WRC rounds and which is still used by the RACC in its WRC round.

New Headquarters and Media Centre
The new “PortAventura Convention Centre”, which will be used for the first time on the occasion of the RallyRACC is a modern facility that offers an excellent alternative for corporate business, and that will turn PortAventura into a European benchmark destination as regards the organization of meetings, conventions and events of all kinds. With more than 6,000 m2 on two floors, part of the building will be hosting the headquarters and the media centre of the Rally. The Media Centre will be located in a multifunctional room in the first floor, next to the Headquarters. The RallyRACC, perfectly put up in PortAventura, is an excellent promotional platform for the theme park and for the whole area of the Costa Daurada.

Seat, Official Car of the RallyRACC
Since the RallyRACC became part of the World Rally Championship in 1991, the Spanish make SEAT, provides the vehicle fleet that makes up the safety caravan and offers mobility service to the organization. Moreover, SEAT, the Official Car of the RallyRACC, provides the “cero” cars that cover the stages a few minutes before the participants warning about the imminent passage of the rally cars. The crews of these “cero” cars will be Joan Vinyes-Jordi Mercader (SEAT Ibiza Cupra Bocanegra “0”), Daniel Balasch-Manel Casanova (SEAT León Cupra “00”) and David Colldecarrera-Jordi Parro (SEAT Exeo “000”). The whole SEAT range will be represented in the fleet of the Rally de España, from the Ibiza to the Alhambra.

Ona FM-Cadena SER, official radio broadcaster
Cadena SER and ONA FM will be the official radio broadcasters of the 45 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España. Radio ONA is dedicated to the world of sports and leisure, and it will be offering information throughout the event through two FM broadcasters: ONA Tarragona (97.1) and ONA Penedès (104.0), the latter broadcasting the El Querol and El Montmell stages.

Cadena SER will be broadcasting through Ràdio Reus (1026 OM), SER-Tarragona (97.7 FM) and Ràdio Móra d'Ebre (87.6 FM), and there will also be a large coverage of the race on a regional and national level. On the other hand, the official programme of the Rally de España, which will be edited by the Auto Sport Hebdo magazine (Grupo Zeta) will be included in their weekly edition, for sale at news stands.

Mestres, new official cava
Caves Mestres is the new official cava of the RallyRACC and it will be provided at all celebrations on the podium in Salou, as well as in different activities carried out by the organization, such as presentations, PR events, etc. Mestres is one of the cellars with the largest tradition in the region of El Penedès. They own two vineyards in which they grow the different varieties of the traditional grape of the Cava area: Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada. The origins of the Mestre family date back to 1312. Their headquarters are currently located in a historical building in the centre of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, in the heart of the cava capital.