01/10/2008
Tomorrow, Shakedown, FIA press conference and ceremonial start of the RallyRACC

H. Solberg (Munchi's). Spain 07

Tomorrow will be the first eventful day of the 44 movistar RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España. From 08.00hrs to 14.30hrs the vehicles and their drivers will be playing the leading role at the Shakedown, which this year will be covering the road leading from Riudecanyes to Vilanova d’Escornalbou, with a total length of 2.3 km; only 21.8 km from the Service Park. From 08.00hrs to 12.00hrs the shakedown stage will be reserved for Priority 1 and 2 drivers (with Priority 3 drivers being able to join them from 10.00hrs to 12.00hrs), whilst the rest of the drivers will be able to do the shakedown from 12.30hrs to 14.30hrs.

On Thursday as well, the usual FIA pre-event press conference will be held in the Media Centre at Hotel PorAventura, with the attendance of all accredited journalists. The press conference will be divided into two parts, the first (at 13.30hrs) with two of the J-WRC drivers, namely Francesco Fanari and Michal Kosciuszko, and the second (at 13.30) with WRC drivers  Dani Sordo (Citroën), Mikko Hirvonen (Ford), Federico Villagra (Munchi's) and Per-Gunnar Andersson (Suzuki).

This press conference will be followed by a press conference to present the campaign Choose ESC! headed by the FIA, aimed at raising the awareness about the use of the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and increasing the implementation of this live-saving technology. This press conference will be held from 14.00hrs and will be attended by reigning rally world champion and Citroën driver, Sébastien Loeb, who after the conference will be making a live exhibition at the wheel of a C4, at 14.30hrs in a specially prepared area of the Service Park. In addition to making photographs and interviews, journalists will be able to experience the performance of ESC by themselves on the same area used by the French driver. Furthermore, all the official drivers are invited, at 16 pm, to get on the star attraction of PortAventura, Furius Baco, a roller-coaster of fast acceleration, from 0 to 135 km/h in only 3 seconds, higher to any race car.

Tomorrow will also be the day of the official ceremonial start, a compulsory event for all entered vehicles, at the podium on the Passeig Jaume I in Salou.  Participants will arrive from the Service Park and take the start of the rally from 20.00hrs in the order of the provisional standings of the World Championship, while the rest of the drivers will start in numerical order. Cars and crews will have to meet in an area adjacent to the podium from 19.00hrs in order to be organised for the start. After the ceremony, all cars will return to the service park, except for the Vehicles with History, which will remain in Salou to be exhibited.

Vehicles with History, a great additional appeal
The fact of including a carefully selected choice of rally vehicles with history that will be covering the stages between the two passages of the RallyRACC participants, is with no doubt one of the extra appeals offered by this year's race. It will not be a novelty in the WRC, since the presence of classic cars is usual in Germany, and it is the same organization that cares for them in Germany (Mcklein) who will be in charge of bringing to the Rally de España a selection of the best original vehicles that have played leading roles in the World Rally Championship of the last decades.

Classic vehicles are becoming more and more poplar in modern motor sports. History is extremely thankful when it is presented in the right atmosphere, and more so if the units shown were driven by the greatest drivers of all times. 35 units in perfect conditions will be there to delight the public, with a special highlight set by the Lancia Fulvia, Stratos and Rally 037, Porsche 911, Ford Escort RS and RS 200, Fiat 131, Triumph TR7, Mercedes 450, Talbot Lotus, Opel Manta, Audi Quattro, R5 Turbo, Peugeot 206 T16, MG Metro, Lancia Delta Integrale, etc.

On Thursday, 2nd October, 2008, these Vehicles with History (official name which has been given to them to make a difference to the classic cars participating in the respective world championship), will start from the podium in Salou at 19.00hrs and then follow a route that will take them around the city to return to the podium and remain exhibited in an adjacent area.