Countdown to the Rally of Great Britain
Rally of Great Britain
WRC round 12 of 12
Thursday 22 October - Sunday 25 October
The 2009 World Rally Championship reaches its climax next week when the teams and drivers take on one of the oldest rallies in the world, the Rally of Great Britain.
First run in 1932, Rally GB has been a qualifying and scoring round of the WRC since the series was established in 1973. This year's entirely Cardiff-based event will be its 65th running.
The event is one of the classic gravel challenges of the season, featuring a tough blend of gravel roads, strewn with slate and rocks, long road sections and the best of Wales's wild and rugged countryside.
The route remains similar to 2008 with the competition split between the forests of mid-and south Wales. The tree-lined stages of the region are fast and flowing and, when wet, can become as slippery as any in the world. In contrast, the event also features stages in the bleak and exposed military training areas north of Brecon.
Scheduled almost two months earlier in the calendar than the wintry 2008 event, this year's Rally GB has the potential to be a warmer challenge. But a country famed for its lush greenery needs rain - and in October that's a very real possibility. Fog is also a regular feature on the rally, and in gloomy conditions it hangs between the trees - making accurate pace notes absolutely vital.
Just as it has in recent years, Cardiff hosts the ceremonial start and the finish but now the Service Park, too - which has been moved from Swansea to Cardiff Bay - on all three days.
After Thursday's start, drivers journey 160km north on Friday for two loops of classic mid-Wales tests in the forests of Hafren and Myherin, split by a brief 15-minute service at the Royal Welsh Show Ground in Builth Wells. The Hafren stage (SS1 and SS4) is longer than it was last year and Sweet Lamb (SS2 and SS5) has also changed. Myherin (SS3 and SS6) has been re-routed to avoid a stream.
Saturday's route is the longest of the event and mixes the long Rhondda test in the Vale of Neath, including roads not used since 2003, with the traditional second day tests further north, near Brecon.
Sunday's final day is based in the south and includes two passes through the famous Walter's Arena section in Rheola Forest, as well as the Port Talbot stage (SS13 and SS15). In total drivers will tackle 16 stages covering 348.30km in a route of 1482.34km.
World Rally Championship - News - Countdown to the Rally of Great Britain
WRC round 12 of 12
Thursday 22 October - Sunday 25 October
The 2009 World Rally Championship reaches its climax next week when the teams and drivers take on one of the oldest rallies in the world, the Rally of Great Britain.
First run in 1932, Rally GB has been a qualifying and scoring round of the WRC since the series was established in 1973. This year's entirely Cardiff-based event will be its 65th running.
The event is one of the classic gravel challenges of the season, featuring a tough blend of gravel roads, strewn with slate and rocks, long road sections and the best of Wales's wild and rugged countryside.
The route remains similar to 2008 with the competition split between the forests of mid-and south Wales. The tree-lined stages of the region are fast and flowing and, when wet, can become as slippery as any in the world. In contrast, the event also features stages in the bleak and exposed military training areas north of Brecon.
Scheduled almost two months earlier in the calendar than the wintry 2008 event, this year's Rally GB has the potential to be a warmer challenge. But a country famed for its lush greenery needs rain - and in October that's a very real possibility. Fog is also a regular feature on the rally, and in gloomy conditions it hangs between the trees - making accurate pace notes absolutely vital.
Just as it has in recent years, Cardiff hosts the ceremonial start and the finish but now the Service Park, too - which has been moved from Swansea to Cardiff Bay - on all three days.
After Thursday's start, drivers journey 160km north on Friday for two loops of classic mid-Wales tests in the forests of Hafren and Myherin, split by a brief 15-minute service at the Royal Welsh Show Ground in Builth Wells. The Hafren stage (SS1 and SS4) is longer than it was last year and Sweet Lamb (SS2 and SS5) has also changed. Myherin (SS3 and SS6) has been re-routed to avoid a stream.
Saturday's route is the longest of the event and mixes the long Rhondda test in the Vale of Neath, including roads not used since 2003, with the traditional second day tests further north, near Brecon.
Sunday's final day is based in the south and includes two passes through the famous Walter's Arena section in Rheola Forest, as well as the Port Talbot stage (SS13 and SS15). In total drivers will tackle 16 stages covering 348.30km in a route of 1482.34km.
World Rally Championship - News - Countdown to the Rally of Great Britain
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