The 54 RallyRACC is presented

18/10/2018

• The World Rally Championship (WRC) arrives in Spain at a moment of top expectation
• Comeback of two World Champions: Sébastien Loeb and Petter Solberg
• World debut of the new WRC2 Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
• Urban stage in Barcelona is back as the opening stage on Thursday
• Salou continues to host a stage, the last stage on Saturday
• Costa Daurada, Salou and PortAventura World, nerve centres for the 14th consecutive time
• New design of the longest stage of the rally: La Fatarella-Vilalba (38.,85 km)
The only event in the world championship with a mixed gravel-tarmac layout
• 4 race days and 18 special stages (10 different), with a total of 331.58 timed km
• RallyRACC introduces measures to reduce the carbon footprint

The penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the RallyRACC CATALUNYA-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España 2018, will be staged from 25 to 28 October, with several organizational novelties and sports attractions that will turn this 54th edition into one of the most interesting events of the recent seasons. Today the official presentation of this 54 edition of the RallyRACC has taken place in Madrid and Barcelona, with the attendance of authorities, sponsors, drivers, collaborating companies, volunteers and the media.

The event is organised by the RACC and the itinerary is made up of 1,495.73 km, 331.58 of which are timed, distributed into 18 special stages (10 of them different). The rally runs along the roads of the province of Tarragona, framed by the triangle made-up of Costa Daurada, Salou and PortAventura World, with a stopover in Barcelona to race the opening stage of the event, in the heart of the city, on Thursday 25, in the afternoon. For many years, the RallyRACC has been a synthesis of the best of the World Rally Championship, offering a mixed gravel-tarmac route, unique in the calendar, in addition to a comfortable and welcoming infrastructure both for participants and spectators.

In its 14th consecutive edition staged at the Costa Daurada, the Spanish event is a combination of innovation and show, which this year is boosted by the excitement of the uncertainty as regards the leadership in the championship, with three drivers fighting for the title after the results in Wales: Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), Sébastien Ogier (Ford) and Ott Tänak (Toyota), the first two separated by only 7 points. Moreover, the particular circumstances and the fact that the RallyRACC is one of the favourite events of the crews, took the most laureate driver in the history of rallying, Sébastien Loeb, to choose the Spanish race to close his mini-campaign in 2018 at the wheel of his Citroën C3 WRC.

There will also be a worldwide launch at the RallyRACC, with the new Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, a latest generation car that will join the group of favourites of the well-stocked WRC2 series. This vehicle will be taking part for the first time in a race, with a driver who is also a big novelty in the current WRC, no other than former World Rally Champion and two-time Rallycross World Champion Petter Solberg, joined by Frenchman Éric Camilli.

And if this should not be enough, the RallyRACC will be having another outstanding participant, North American driver Ken Block, the king of acrobatics at the wheel and star at the Global Rallycross, who will be performing his only participation in the WRC this season at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta WRC.

All details of this 54 edition in the press dossier attached.