RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA 2011: More different and decisive than ever before
(17/10/2011) |
| Sébastien Loeb (Citroën). RallyRACC 2010 |
The position in the WRC calendar and the usual ups and downs of competition have turned the 47 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España 2011 (21 to 23 de October) into one of the most decisive events from the sporting point of view: two drivers, Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen, are tied in points on top of the championship and a third driver, Sébastien Ogier, is only 3 points behind. Except for the PWRC, the world championship titles are still at stake, so that the RallyRACC will not only get the drivers' championship ready for judgement, but will also be decisive for the manufacturers' title and definitive for the SWRC, as Catalunya will be the last round of their season.
The entry list includes the best drivers of the moment in all championships, with 62 cars entered, including 11 world champions, a total of 20 WRCars and 4 works teams: Citroën, Ford, Mini and VW, in addition to all of the teams scoring for the manufacturers' championship and for the support championships (SWRC and PWRC).
This special sporting interest is even increased by a series of changes introduced in the itinerary making the RallyRACC 2011 a top level evolution of the mixed character it adopted for the first time in 2010. The innovative first rally day will be made up by two loops of 3 different stages, one of them new and on gravel, and the other two mixed, i.e. gravel-tarmac. The last stage of the day will have an added difficulty as it will be run at night.
Regardless of this special feature, the RallyRACC continues to be a tarmac race, as this is the surface that will be used on the following two days, including two completely new stages, one changed stage and three which were left unchanged from 2010, thus creating a different Spanish round of the WRC.
To summarize, there will be three special stages covered twice per day, thus making-up a race of 406.52 timed km (9x2 stages), i.e. 25.57% of the 1,589.90 km which make up the complete rally itinerary.
The rally will be based as usual at the Costa Daurada, with Salou and the theme park PortAventura as the true nerve centre of the event. The shakedown will be staged on Thursday 20 October, with a mixed surface of 2.76 km almost in the city centre of Salou.
Organised by RACC, the RallyRACC 2011 is officially sponsored by Salou, Costa Daurada, PortAventura, Movistar and the Catalan Tourist Board through their brand "Catalunya".
The official partners of the event are the Tarragona Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation, Europcar, Seat (official vehicle) and Cava Mestres (official Cava).
The penultimate round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship has also four official media partners: Auto Sport, El Periódico, Sport and Catalunya Ràdio.
This support adds up to the support of the WRC sponsors: Abu Dhabi, Delphi, Edox, FxPro, Michelin and Nokia.
Provisional classification of the FIA World Rally Championship
Drivers
1- Sébastien Loeb (France/Citroën DS3), 196 points
1- Mikko Hirvonen (Finland/Ford Fiesta RS), 196 points
3- Sébastien Ogier (France/Citroën DS3), 193 points
4- Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland/Ford Fiesta RS), 131 points
5- Petter Solberg (Norway/Citroën DS3), 110 points
6- Mads Østberg (Norway/Ford Fiesta RS), 62 points
7- Matthew Wilson (Great Britain/Ford Fiesta RS), 53 points
8- Dani Sordo (Spain/Mini John Cooper Works), 43 points
9- Henning Solberg (Norway/Ford Fiesta RS), 40 points
10- Kimi Räikkönen (Finland/Citroën DS3), 34 points
Manufacturers
1- Citroën Total World Rally Team, 372 points
2- Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, 318 points
3- M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team, 133 points
4- Petter Solberg World Rally Team (Citroën), 98 points
5- Ferm Power Tools World Rally Team (Ford), 34 points
5- Team Abu Dhabi (Ford), 34 points
7- Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team, 32 points
8- Monster World Rally Team (Ford), 19 points
9- Van Merksteijn Motorsport (Citroën), 12 points
10- Brazil World Rally Team (Mini), 1 point
SWRC (Super 2000)
1- Juho Hänninen (Finland/Skoda Fabia), 108 points
2- Ott Tänak (Estonia/Ford Fiesta), 105 points
3- Martin Prokop (Czech Rep./Ford Fiesta), 91 points
4- Bernardo Sousa (Portugal/Ford Fiesta), 67 points
5- Karl Kruuda (Estonia/Skoda Fabia), 58 points
6- Hermann Gassner jr (Germany/Skoda Fabia), 55 points
7- Frigyes Turán (Hungary/Ford Fiesta), 46 points
8- Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar/Ford Fiesta), 38 points
9- Eyvind Brynildsen (Norway/Skoda Fabia), 34 points
10- Albert Llovera (Andorra/Fiat Grande Punto), 14 points
PWRC (Production)
1- Hayden Paddon (New Zealand/Subaru Impreza), 100 points
2- Martin Semerád (Czech Rep./Mitsubishi Lancer), 50 points
3- Valeriy Gorban (Ucrania/Mitsubishi Lancer), 38 points
4- Michal Kósciuszko (Poland/Mitsubishi Lancer), 35 points
5- Patrik Flodin (Sweden/Subaru Impreza), 34 points
6- Benito Guerra (Mexico/Mitsubishi Lancer), 32 points
7- Jukka Ketomaki (Finland/Mitsubishi Lancer), 30 points
8- Oleksandr Saliuk (Ucrania/Mitsubishi Lancer), 29 points
9- Nicolás Fuchs (Peru/Mitsubishi Lancer), 27 points
10- Dmitry Tagirov (Russia/Subaru Impreza), 25 points
Protagonists, facts and figures
Sébastien LOEB
•His 1st rally in the WRC: RallyRACC 1999 (Saxo)
•6 consecutive victories at the RallyRACC (2005 to 2010);
•1 second place (2003)
•The record he will be beating at the RallyRACC 2011: Stage wins:
1. Markku Alen 801
2. Sébastien Loeb 798
3. Carlos Sainz 756
Mikko HIRVONEN
•His first podium finish in the WRC: 3rd, RallyRACC 2005 (ford Focus)
•He is also bin 3rd at the RallyRACC in 2008 and 2009
Sébastien OGIER
•RallyRACC 2011 will be his no. 45 race in the world championship (4th participation in RallyRACC)
Jari-Matti LATVALA
•Never been on the RallyRACC podium (best result: 4th in 2010)
Petter SOLBERG
•He has participated already 10 times in RallyRACC (2nd in 2010)
Dani SORDO
•His 1st rally in the WRC: RallyRACC 2003 (Lancer)
•His figures in the FIA World Rally Championship:
v 88 races (8 RallyRACC, always finished)
v 18 times 2nd (4 RallyRACC)
v 13 times 3rd (1 RallyRACC)
v 35% of the races on the podium
Federico VILLAGRA
•RallyRACC 2011 will be his no. 45 race in the world championship (4th participation in RallyRACC)
Ott TÄNAK
•RallyRACC 2011 will be his no. 15 race in the world championship (1st participation in RallyRACC)
Hayden PADDON
•RallyRACC 2011 will be his no. 11 race in the world championship (1st participation in RallyRACC)
•RallyRACC will be his 3rd asphalt rally and the 1st as 2011PWRC world champion
Yeray LEMES
•Victory in the JWRC class at RallyRACC 2010
WINNERS OF THE RALLYRACC
•11 different winners in the 20 years it is part of the world championship
COSTA DAURADA
•7th years hosting RallyRACC (12 before sharing location with Costa Brava)
TYPOLOGY
•2011-2010, mixed stages and asphalt stages
•2009-1993, asphalt rally
•1992-1991, mixed rally (asphalt and gravel stages)