2014 Rally Guanajuato Mexico - Preview

28.02.14
The third round of the FIA WRC takes the contenders to the Americas for the first gravel event of the season, Rally Guanajuato Mexico, which celebrates its 10th running in the series this year.
While a return to dirt will doubtless be welcomed after two specialised rallies in Monte-Carlo and Sweden, Mexico is also distinct in that the route reaches oxygen-sapping heights in the mountains above Guanajuato, León and Silao, providing yet another unique challenge for crews and cars alike. Also unique to Mexico is the colourful fiesta surrounding its traditional start ceremony in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Guanajuato, where tens of thousands of rally fans and spectators cram the narrow cobbled streets in the hope of catching a glimpse of their World Championship heroes.
 
Rally Guanajuato Mexico will be broadcast live on television, nationally and internationally, on all three days of the event; SS4 (Las Minas) on Friday, SS16 (El Brinco 1) on Saturday and the re-run of El Brinco as the all-important closing Power Stage on Sunday.
 
 
RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO – ROUTE GRAPHICS
 

 
THE 2014 ROUTE
 


The organiser of Rally Guanajuato Mexico has once again strived to retain the compact nature of its route and has in fact reduced the overall distance while managing to increase the special stage kilometres, resulting in 39% of the route being competitive. Seven stages remain the same as 2013 while the remaining six all have modifications. Another feature of Rally Mexico is the length of its stages; no fewer than four are between 43 and 56 kilometres in length.


 

RALLY DATA

Total distance:                                 1,038.19 km

Stage distance:                                399.93 km (39%)

Number of stages:                            22

 

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The Accreditation Centre is located at the Media Centre, Fairgrounds Expo Center Hall, Blvd. Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Esq. Blvd. Francisco Villa, León, Guanajuato 37510. The opening hours are:

Tuesday 4 March                            14:00 – 18:00 hrs

Wednesday 5 March                        08:00 – 18:00 hrs

Thursday 6 March                            08:00 – 18:00 hrs

 

RALLY GUANAJUATO MEXICO TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

Wednesday 5 March

 
Mandatory rally by rally photographers briefing, Photographers’ Room 17:00 hrs
Leon Welcome Cocktail, Explora Park 20:00 hrs

Thursday 6 March

 
Shakedown (P1 and P2)       09:00-13:00 hrs
Shakedown (P3) 11:00-13:00 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Media Centre   13:30 hrs
Promotional activities, Rally Campus 14:00-15:30 hrs
Ceremonial Start and SS1, Guanajuato City From 20:00 hrs

Friday 7 March

 
First car arrives for mid-day service and Media Zone, Rally Campus    11:51 hrs
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Rally Campus          18:22 hrs
End of day press conference, WRC Stage, Rally Campus During the 45’ service

Saturday 8 March

 
First car arrives for mid-day service and Media Zone, Rally Campus    12:36 hrs
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Rally Campus      18:53 hrs
End of day Press Conference, WRC Stage, Rally Campus  During 45’ service

Sunday 9 March                

 
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Rally Campus   13:23 hrs
Prize-Giving and podium ceremony, Foro del Lago 14:30 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Media Centre  15:30 hrs

 

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday 6 March Nicolas Fuchs, FIA WRC 2 Championship
  Ott Tanak, FIA WRC 2 Championship
  Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport
  Mikko Hirvonen, M-Sport World Rally Team
  Chris Atkinson, Hyundai Motorsport
  Kris Meeke, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
  Benito Guerra, M-Sport World Rally Team
Sunday 9 March Winning FIA WRC 2 Championship crew
  Top three crews in the overall classification
  Representative of the winning entrant

 

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day service at the teams’ service areas.

 

STAGE CHART

Shortly after the finish of the event, a downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally will be available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following link:

www.fia.com/championship/world-rally-championship/2014/rally-mexico-stage-chart