27/09/2007
A total of 84 teams will participate in the RallyRACC; the spaniards, favorites

The large number of entrants in this edition of the Rally de España reflects the interest and attractiveness of the Spanish round year after year. The huge variety of vehicles, including 23 World Rally Cars, 32 Group A-FWD cars (Super 1600 and 2.0 litres) and 29 Group N/A cars, will provide the colour, not only to the start and finish podium, but also to the selective stages they will be covering during the race. The entry list of the RallyRACC 2007 is headed by the six usual teams in the championship: Citroën Total (Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Sordo/Citroën C4 WRC), BP-Ford (Marcus Grönholm, Mikko Hirvonen and Khalid Al Qassimi/Ford Focus RS WRC 2007/2006), Subaru WRT (Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson and Xevi Pons/Subaru Impreza WRC2007), OMV Kronos Citroën (Manfred Stohl and François Duval/Citroën Xsara WRC), Stobart VK M-Sport (Jari-Matti Latvala, Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson/Ford Focus RS WRC 2006) and Munchi's Ford (Luis Pérez-Companc and Federico Villagra/Ford Focus RS WRC 2006).

Spaniards: Daniel Sordo, Xevi Pons, Dani Solà. up to 27

The Spanish participation in the 43 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España will be large (27 entrants) and very varied as regards sporting aims and machines. Many of the 27 participants were encourage by the facilities offered by RACC Motor Sport, i.e. a 50% discount on the entry fees for the race.

Daniel Sordo is facing the RallyRACC with the clear intention to equal (if not improve) last year's performance, when he managed to take the second overall position after taking one scratch, three second fastest times and six third fastest at the wheel of his Citroën Xsara WRC. This was one of the many good results he achieved in 2006 that awarded him the chance to enter the Citroën Total team. Sordo and his C4 WRC are currently 5th in the overall standings of the world championship, and have been three times on the podium so far: 2nd in Monte Carlo and 3rd in Portugal and Sardinia.

Another RACC driver, Xevi Pons, will be taking part in the Spanish round of the World Championship with a Subaru Impreza WRC2007. It will be fourth race of the Catalan driver with the Subaru WRT since his debut at the Rally Finland. Everything looks like Xevi being in top shape for a race in which is looking to finish among the top positions. His best result at the RallyRACC so far was the fourth position achieved in 2005 at the wheel of a Citroën Xsara WRC of the Kronos Team.

One of the most expected comebacks of the RallyRACC is that of the current Spanish Champion, Dani Solà, who will be driving the Honda Civic Type R he uses to take part in the European IRC (International Rally Challenge). Solà keeps very good memories of his participations in Catalunya, especially the 6th position achieved in 2004 (Mitsubishi Lancer WR04) and the scratch achieved in 2005 at the wheel of a Focus RS WRC.

20-year-old Yeray Lemes from the Canary Islands will be having his debut in the world championship with a Citroën C2 S1600 in the Junior class as a wild card driver, while other drivers such as Manuel Rueda (Renault Clio R3), Jordi Zurita (Peugeot 307 WRC), Sergio Pérez (Renault Clio S1600), Albert Orriols (Subaru Impreza Spec-C), Manuel Córdoba (Subaru Impreza WRX) or Joan Font (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), among many other, have also wanted to be part of the Catalan race.

50 years since the first Rally Catalunya

The 43 RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España, will be commemorating the 50 years since the organisation of the first edition of the race, staged in 1957 under the name of Rallye Catalunya, which was won by Sebastià Salvadó (Alfa Romeo), current President of the Real Automóvil Club de Catalunya (RACC), with Guillermo Bas as his co-driver. After an eight-year parenthesis starting from 1965, the event came back in 1973 counting towards the national championship and from 1981, towards the European Championship. In 1988 it merged with the Rallye Costa Brava. The Rally Catalunya became a scoring round of the World Championship in 1991.

Movistar, Würth and SEAT, main sponsors

The RallyRACC 2007 will be counting, for the tenth season in a row, on the main sponsorship of movistar, the leading mobile telephone provider who will be supporting once again the rally, providing it with an important technological stability as regards communications. On the other hand, there is Würth, leading brand in professional tooling and equipment who will be co-sponsoring the event, as it did in 2005 and 2006, thanks to the global agreement it has with the RACC, leading autoclub in Spain.

SEAT, the RallyRACC mobility ally

For another year, the Spanish company SEAT, will become the mobility ally of the RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA and, together with movistar and Würth, one of the big technological partners of the race. With 82 vehicles of their extensive car range (Ibiza, León, Córdoba and Alhambra) Seat will cover all mobility needs of the 12th scoring round of the World Rally Championship, thus becoming the official car of the event. Moreover, the Martorell-based brand will provide the 0 and 00 cars with the corresponding technical assistance. The Andorran driver of the RACC, Joan Vinyes, will take over the task of driving the Seat 0 car, making the last stage passage before the participants.