11/09/2008
79 entrants, 27 of them WRC and 17 Spaniards

Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford). Spain 07

RACC Motor Sport has published the official entry list of the 44 movistar RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España, twelfth (out of 15) scoring round of the FIA World Rally Championship and sixth (out of seven) of the Junior Championship, to be held from 2 to 5 October, having its epicentre in Salou and the PortAventura theme park.  A total of 79 vehicles have been admitted to take part in the race, 27 of which are World Rally Cars, showing the high quality of the participants the Spanish race will be counting on.

An outstanding feature of the entry list is the variety of vehicles among the 79 entrants, with 27 World Rally Cars (14 manufacturer and 2 manufacturer-supported), 18 participants of the J-WRC (Super 1600 and R3), 16 4x4-Production, 11 Group N TWD, including participants of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy - which is the only single-make series within the World Championship-, and 7 Group A participants. 

The currently best drivers of championship will be taking the start:  Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo (Citroën C4), Mikko Hirvonen, François Duval and Khalid Al Qassimi (Ford Focus), Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson and Brice Tirabassi (Subaru Impreza), Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson (Suzuki SX4), Matthew Wilson and Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus-Stobart), and Federico Villagra and Henning Solberg (Ford Focus-Munchi's). Estonian driver Urmo Aava and Conrad Rautenbach from Zimbabwe (Citroën C4) lead the list of P2 drivers, which also includes important names such as the Norwegian drivers Andreas Mikkelsen (Ford Focus) and Mads Ostberg (Subaru Impreza).

All J-WRC drivers will be taking the start, headed by the current leader, Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Citroën). A special highlight will be the participation of the Spaniard Sergio Pérez (Citroën) as wild-card entry with the same rights of the regular participants of the championship. Among the several Production vehicles (Group N) it is worth mentioning the presence of one of the leaders of the P-WRC, the Finn Juho Hänninen, recent winner of the Swedish and Findland Rally, as well as Norwegian driver Eyvind Brymildsen and Spaniard Yeray Lemes from the Canary Islands, all of them at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer.

17 Spanish teams
Headed obviously by Dani Sordo and Marc Martí (Citroën C4 no. 2), the list of Spanish drivers is completed by further 15 crews. At the wheel of WRCars will be Joan Ollé-Nicolás del Corral (no. 61) and Gorka Apalantza-Borja Aguado (no. 63), both with a Subaru Impreza, as well as Albert Orriols-Lluís Pujolar (Peugeot 206 no. 62). The Spanish representation in the J-WRC is made-up by Sergio Pérez-Oriol Julià (Citroën C2 no. 59), while the six Spanish participants in the Production class will be headed by Yeray Lemes-Rogelio Peñate (Mitsubishi Lancer no. 65).