The coastal resort of Salou, to the south of Barcelona, hosts the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship and the event is unique in that it is the only mixed surface rally on the calendar. The opening day, on Friday, is predominantly gravel and, because the following two days are on asphalt, teams will need to convert the specification of their cars in a longer than usual evening service on Friday night. Once the gravel stages are behind them, drivers will quickly have to adapt to the fast, smooth and sweeping roads in the Tarragona region where, if temperatures are high, they will also need to manage tyre wear carefully.

The event was first run in 1957 and made its debut in the FIA World Rally Championship in 1991 when it was based on the Costa Brava in Lloret de Mar. It moved to Salou in 2002, running as a pure tarmac event, but has been a mixed surface rally since 2010, adding a different dimension to the Championship.

With three rounds remaining, the battle for the various FIA Championship titles is hotting up. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia head to Spain with a second, more realistic chance of claiming their fourth consecutive world title, as does Volkswagen Motorsport. The FIA WRC 2 Championship fight continues and Teemu Suninen, who hasn’t been registered for points since his home round in Finland, needs to capitalise now that series leader Elfyn Evans has scored on all his nominated rounds. While the FIA Junior WRC Championship title has provisionally been secured by Simone Tempestini, the fight in the similar two-wheel drive FIA WRC 3 Championship continues and Michel Fabre, who hasn’t had an outing since April’s Rally Argentina, also needs to score maximum points to challenge Tempestini - who is not competing in Spain - for the win.

THE 2016 ROUTE

The 2016 route will be largely familiar and just two new stages, both run on Saturday, are new. The event opens on Thursday evening with the now familiar and popular street stage in the Montjuïc area of Barcelona. Friday’s leg is largely gravel, albeit with some asphalt sections, and with no mid-day service, crews will need to mix speed with caution. After the overnight switch to asphalt specification, Saturday heads to roads not used since 2013 and what are effectively two new stages - Vilaplana and Alcover-Capafonts - before rounding off the action on the Salou seafront stage. Sunday has just two stages, both repeated, the event closing with the 12.10 kilometre Duesaigűes Power Stage. This, and the opening Barcelona street stage, will be broadcast live.

RALLY DATA

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

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

RALLY DE ESPAÑA TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, RALLY DE ESPAÑA

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 WRC Stage in the service park at the earliest opportunity during the final 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/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/standings

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/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/stage-chart-10