2014 RallyRACC Rally de Espana - Preview

20.10.14
World Rally Championship contenders head to Spain for the only dual surface event of the season.


Rally de España, the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship, is based in the tourist resort of Salou, south of Barcelona, and is the only event on the calendar featuring gravel and asphalt stages. This year is also the 50th running of the event and various celebrations will be taking place to mark this historic occasion.

After the curtain-raising stage in Barcelona on Thursday evening, the first full day of competition on Friday will be run predominantly on gravel stages in the hills of Tarragona. Overnight, the teams will swap the cars from gravel to Tarmac specification during a longer service period to run Saturday and Sunday entirely on asphalt roads.

The battle for the World Championship will continue in Spain with Sébastien Ogier looking to secure a second consecutive title and Jari-Matti Latvala fighting for his first. The FIA WRC 2 Championship contenders are also out in force, with no fewer than 18 crews on the entry list as the fight for this support Championship title also nears its conclusion. Just two FIA WRC 3 Championship crews are on the entry list for Rally de España.

Stage 1 (Barcelona) and Stage 17 (Riudecanyes), which is also the closing Power Stage, will be broadcast live on the international feed. 

RALLY DE ESPAÑA – ROUTE GRAPHICS

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THE 2014 ROUTE

The 2014 route will be largely familiar to the crews with identical stages being run to those in 2012 and 2013, some with minor modifications. The 50 kilometre Escaladei stage celebrates the rally’s 50th edition and is the longest in the event’s history featuring some roads not used since 2002. The only totally new stage is in Barcelona on Thursday. This all-asphalt 3.20 kilometre street stage will run in the Montjuïc area of the Catalan city.

RALLY DATA

Total distance:
Stage distance:
Number of stages:

1,391.53 km
372.96 km (26.80%)
17

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The accreditation centre is located at the PortAventura Resort – Convention Centre, Av. Alcalde Pere Molas Km 2 - 43480 Vilaseca – Salou. The opening hours are:

Tuesday 21 October
Wednesday 22 October
Thursday 23 October
Friday 24 October

14:00 - 19:00 hrs 
08:00 - 19:00 hrs
07:00 - 20:00 hrs
07:00 - 14:00 hrs

RALLY DE ESPAÑA TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

Wednesday 22 October
Mandatory rally by rally photographers briefing,
Photographers’ Room

Thursday 23 October
Shakedown (P1 & P2 drivers)
Shakedown (P3 drivers)
Rally Start, Salou
Reconnaissance of SS1, Barcelona
Autograph session, Barcelona
FIA Press Conference, Fira de Barcelona
Official photo-shoot (P1 & P2 drivers), Barcelona
SS1

Friday 24 October
First car arrives for mid-day service and Media Zone
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone
End of day ‘Meet the Crews’, WRC Stage, Service Park

Saturday 25 October
First car arrives for mid-day service and Media Zone
Regroup, Salou
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone
End of day ‘Meet the Crews’, WRC Stage, Service Park

Sunday 26 October
First car arrives for mid-day service and Media Zone
Regroup, Les Borges del Camp
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone
Prize-Giving and podium ceremony, Passeig Jaume 1, Salou
FIA Press Conference, Media Centre


18:00 hrs



08:00-09:30 hrs
09:45-12:00 hrs
13:00 hrs
From 14:00 hrs
16:00 hrs
16:45 hrs
17:30 hrs
18:08 hrs


11:46 hrs
17:12 hrs
During the 75' service


12:21 hrs
16:44 hrs
17:22 hrs hrs
During the 45' service


09:05 hrs
11:20 hrs
12:53 hrs
From 13:30 hrs
15:00 hrs

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday 23 October







Sunday 26 October

Mohamed Al Mutawaa, FIA WRC 3 Championship
Nasser Al-Attiyah, FIA WRC 2 Championship
Karl Kruuda, FIA WRC 2 Championship
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Motorsport
Dani Sordo, Hyundai Motorsport 
Robert Kubica, RK M-Sport World Rally Team
Yves Matton, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Winning FIA WRC 3 Championship crew
Winning FIA WRC 2 Championship crew
Top three crews in the overall classification
Representative of the winning entrant

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES 

‘Meet the Crews’: On Friday and Saturday the top three drivers will attend a ‘Meet the Crews’ session for media and fans. This will take place on the Michelin Experience WRC Stage at the earliest opportunity during the 75' and 45’ service.

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.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found on the following link:

http://www.fia.com/championship/world-rally-championship/2014/classifications

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:

http://www.fia.com/championship/world-rally-championship/2014/rally-de-espa-stage-chart