The itinerary of the 54 RallyRACC, in detail
08/06/2018
The presentation of the itinerary of the 54 RallyRACC CATALUNYA-COSTA DAURADA reveals the main features of the 4 rally days of the penultimate round of the WRC, which shows as follows:
Thursday, 25 October: Shakedown and Start in Salou, Urban Stage in Barcelona
As every year, the Thursday before the race will be a very important day as it will be the day of the Shakedown (test stage) and the official start in Salou. In 2018, this opening day will also include the urban stage in Barcelona, to be precise in Montjuïc. After a one-year break, this stage will be generating large expectation again, and will be broadcasted live to nearly 100 countries.
The return of the RallyRACC to the Catalan capital is great news for this 54 edition. The official start of the race is scheduled for 13.00h, in order to allow the cars to reach Barcelona, where they are expected to arrive from 15.00h. The stage as such will start at 18.08h.
From 15.00h to 18.00h the cars will be under parc fermé conditions at Avenida María Cristina, and the drivers will be performing promotion activities, such as signing autographs and photo shoots. The format of the Barcelona stage will be almost identical to 2016, completely on tarmac, running along the halls of the Barcelona Trade Fair and with a total of 3.2 km. The Barcelona stage will also count on the previous participation of the Vehicles with History.
08.00h Shakedown (Emprius, 2.97 km)
13.00h Start (Podium on the Salou Promenade)
18.08h SS1 'Barcelona' (3.2 km, tarmac) * (live TV)
Friday, 26 October: Six gravel stages
The day is made-up of a loop of three stages run twice. Compared with the latest editions of the rally, the special stages of the first day are different, though not new at the RallyRACC, since both 'Gandesa' (7 km) and the long 'Pesells' (26.59 km) on gravel, were staged for the last time, exactly as they will be run this year, in 2014. The mixed stage 'La Fatarella-Vilalba' is completely new.
Despite using the final 23 km of the stage that was known last year as Terra Alta, they will be run in opposite direction, in addition to 12 new km that will take participants to Vilalba, which had been the location of the start so far.
It is a really difficult stage, with changes between gravel and tarmac, and quite long, almost 39 km. The cars will arrive at Vilalba del Arcs at high speed, at the area which was usually the start, so that there will be a large safe spectator area available, with great visibility.
The cars will have a 30' service at PortAventura World, in-between passages, in addition to four refuelling facilities, two of them in the theme park and two in Bot. The timed kilometres of that day are 145.08 km. This is the schedule:
08.00h Start from PortAventura World
09.33h SS2 'La Fatarella-Vilalba' (38.95 km, mixed)
10.38h SS3 'Gandesa' (7 km, gravel)
11.14h SS4 'Pesells' (26.59 km, gravel)
13.09h Regroup (15') and service (30') in PortAventura World
15.12h SS5 'La Fatarella-Vilalba' (38.95 km, mixed)
16.17h SS6 'Gandesa' (7 km, gravel)
16.53h SS7 'Pesells' (26.59 km, gravel)
18.52h Passage through the podium in Salou and parc fermé in PortAventura World (10')
19.02h Service Park in PortAventura World (1h.15')
20.17h Parc fermé in PortAventura World
Saturday, 27 October: Querol is back
Saturday and Sunday will be dedicated exclusively to tarmac stages. Three special stages will be run twice on Saturday, in opposite direction compared to last year, and with the inclusion of Querol. The day will start at 7.00h and the crews will begin the loop with 'Savallà' (14.12 km), which was staged for the first time in 2017, to continue with 'Querol' (21.26 km) and finish with 'El Montmell' (24.40 km). A 30-minute service in PortAventura World will allow them to set-up the machines to face the second passage of the loop. The day will finish with 'Salou' (2.24 km), the urban stage that will be identical to the stage raced in the two last years, arising huge interest among spectators.
Both in the morning and in the afternoon there will be a refuelling area in Santa Coloma de Queralt, in addition to the area in the service park. The timed kilometres of that day are 121.80 km. This is the schedule for Saturday:
07.00h Start from PortAventura World
08.33h SS8 'Savallà' (14.12 km)
09.19h SS9 'Querol' (21.26 km)
10.08h SS10 'El Montmell' (24,40 km) * (live TV)
11.47h Service in PortAventura World (30')
13.35h SS11 'Savallà' (14.12 km)
14.19h SS12 'Querol' (21.26 km)
15.08h SS13 'El Montmell' (24.40 km) * (live TV)
16.42h Regroup in Salou (20')
17.00h SS14 'Salou' (2.24 km)
17.20h Parc fermé in PortAventura World (10')
17.30h Service park in PortAventura World (45')
18.15h Parc fermé in PortAventura World
Sunday, 28 October: Two stages, Twice
Sunday is a decisive day; the structure of the itinerary consists of only two stages to be run twice. The last of them will be the Power Stage (special stage that grants extra points to the top five crews), with live TV, shortly after noon. The stages are 'Riudecanyes' (16.35 km) and 'Santa Marina' (14.50 km), with an identical configuration as last year. This time, however, there will be a stop at the service park in-between the two passages, to allow for a 30-minute service.
The day will have 61.70 timed km. This is the schedule:
06.45h Start from PortAventura World
07.35h SS15 'Riudecanyes' (16.35 km)
08.38h SS16 'Santa Marina' (14.50 km) * (live TV)
09.45h Service in PortAventura World (30')
10.50h SS17 'Riudecanyes' (16.35 km)
11.21h Regroup in Mont-roig del Camp (35')
12.18h SS18 'Santa Marina' (14.50 km), Power Stage * (live TV)
13.38h Parc fermé and Service Park in PortAventura World (3'+10')
14.01h Finish podium in Salou
