Salou. Costa Dorada. 10 October 2018. The increase of competitors in the RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada, Rally of Spain 2018, confirms the success of this test at the international level. In this edition, the 54th, 76 teams have been registered, 14 are from the category WRC and 25 are R5, majority of category WRC2. The World Championship will arrive in Barcelona in a moment of maximum expectation and will have a nourished Spanish representation, headed by Dani Sordo-Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai). The test will have representatives from 24 countries: 47 Spanish participants, 19 French and 13 Finns and British The World Champions Sébastien Loeb and Petter Solberg come back to compete in Spain
The current edition will have four more teams than a year ago and six more than two years ago, confirming the Spanish race as one of the preferred teams and drivers. The International Automobile Federation has today approved the list of entries for the event, which will be held from October 25 to 28.
The 152 registered pilots and co-drivers represent a total of 24 countries, with Spain as the most contributing (47 pilots and co-pilots), followed by France (19), Finland and Great Britain (13), Italy and Portugal (10). Pilots and co-pilots come from all over the world as, in addition to Europeans, participants from the United States, Central America, South America, the Middle East and Japan will also compete.
In this edition, the teams will represent 9 brands with majority of Peugeot (27 units), followed by Ford (16), Škoda (11), Citroën (9), Hyundai (6), Toyota (3), Volkswagen (2) and Mitsubishi and Renault (1 each). The official list of entries is headed by 14 World Rally Car units, 13 of them of last generation, of which 12 are official cars. The category of vehicles R5 is, without doubt, one of the most interesting and dynamic of the world, and is demonstrated in the RallyRACC with the presence of 25 cars, 21 of which fight for the points of the WRC2 world.
WRC: Quality and emotion
The current World Champion team, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, will present the efficient trio of Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (No. 1), Elfyn Evans-Daniel Barritt (No. 2) and Teemu Suninen-Mikko Markkula (No. 3), all aboard the Ford Fiesta WRC. Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT will line up three Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC units by Andreas Mikkelsen-Anders Jaeger (No. 4), Thierry Neuville-Nicolas Gilsoul (No. 5) and Dani Sordo-Carlos del Barrio (No. 6). Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT will also be present with three Toyota Yaris WRCs by Jari-Matti Latvala-Miikka Anttila (number 7), Ott Tänak Martín Järveoja (number 8) and Esapekka Lappi-Janne Firme (number 9). Finally, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT has registered its three official teams for this rally: Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena (No. 10), Craig Breen-Scott Martin (No. 11) and Khalid Al Qassimi-Chris Patterson (No. ), all three with Citroën C3 WRC.
Two more WRC vehicles will be present, the most prominent being the Ford Fiesta WRC they will drive, in their only participation in a rally throughout the year, the Americans Ken Block-Alex Gelsomino. The second unit is a Citroën DS3 WRC of the French Jean-Michel Raoux Lorenzo behind him.
WRC2: Fight and quantity
The category WRC2 maintains an extraordinary interest that in the RallyRACC is manifested with the inscription of 21 vehicles of the R5 category, all hunting for points, to which are added another 4 identical units but with no option to score. The main favorite will be the outstanding leader of this world championship, Jan Kopecky-Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5), although the most interesting will be to see in action a series of pilots that for different reasons will attract attention, as is the case of the Spanish Nilo Solans-Marc Marti (Ford Fiesta R5), José Antonio Suárez-Cándido Carrera (Hyundai i20 R5) and Pepe López-Borja Rozada (Citroën C3 R5), all of them in their last World Cup performance of the season.
The two drivers of the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 will also be in the news, a car that will debut globally in the RallyRACC and which will lead Eric Camilli and the former World Champion, Petter Solberg. Finally, the performances of the three Citroën C3 R5, that of the aforementioned Pepe López and that of the private Simone Tempestini, but mainly the official who will drive Stéphane Lefebvre will be very followed.
WRC2 also serves to launch fame for talented drivers, as is the case of two names that will have to speak: Finland's Kalle Rovanperä and Bolivian Marco Bulacia, both with Skoda Fabia R5. There is the curious case that both will reach the age of majority a few days before the RallyRACC, so it will allow them to drive on an open road in Spain, which until now had to do their respective co-drivers. Rovanpera is the son of the former Seat official driver, while Bulacia won a test in Spain a few weeks ago.
47 Spanish pilots and co-pilots
Dani Sordo-Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC No. 6) are the only Spanish tandem that is part of an official team. Among the rest of Spanish duets, in addition to those already mentioned that compete in WRC2, the Catalan champion Albert Orriols-Lluís Pujolar (Skoda Fabia R5) stand out; the punctual return of the ex-Spain Champion Oriol Gómez (Peugeot 208 VTI R2); and the only female team in the race, Anna Tallada-Laura Campos (Ford Fiesta R2T), among others.
In this important list of national pilots stand out those who participate in the three championships for which the RallyRACC is scoring. The first of them is the Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica, in which the leading trio are Roberto Blach-José Murado (first) and Pep Bassas-Manel Muñoz, who will be seen with the Portuguese Diogo Gago-Miguel Ramalho, currently according to , among many other equipment.
Also stand out those enrolled in the Junior R2 Scholarship, a good part of those who also participate in the Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica. In this case, Jan Solans-Mauro Barreiro, already champions, will want to dismiss the season with a new triumph. Finally, the NMC RMC Cup will have its first three riders, Efrén Llarena-Sara Fernandez (Peugeot 308 N5), Francisco Cima-Diego San Juan (Renault Clio N5) and Roberto Rozada-Yeray Mújica (Ford Fiesta N5).
Summary program of the 54 RallyRACC:
- October 22 - Opening of the HQ (PortAventura Convention Center)
- October 23 and 24 - Recognition of the sections
- October 25 - Shakedown, exit ceremony (13.15h) and Barcelona section (18.08h)
- October 26 - 1st day of rally (between 8.00 and 20.35)
- October 27 - 2nd rally day (between 6.45 and 6.15)
- October 28 - 3rd day of rally (between 6.45am and 2pm)
