Playing catch-up will be key when the FIA European Rally Championship heads back to Cyprus for the first time since 1999 next week. With three scoring opportunities remaining before the all-action 2014 ERC season reaches its climax in Corsica, Craig Breen and Zoltán Bessenyey will both be anxious to score strong points on the CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally from 19-21 September.

Based in Nicosia and using mixed-surface stages, the legendary event represents an enormous opportunity for Irishman Breen and Hungarian Bessenyey to make inroads in their pursuit of the overall ERC drivers’ crown and the ERC 2WD title respectively.

Following last month’s Barum Czech Rally Zlín, Breen is 53 points behind Esapekka Lappi in the race to become 2014 European champion, while Bessenyey trails Stéphane Lefebvre by 15 points in the ERC 2WD standings.

With neither Lappi nor Lefebvre including the Cyprus Rally on their schedules for 2014, Breen (Peugeot Rally Academy 208T16) and Bessenyey (Eurosol Racing Team Hungary Honda Civic Type R) are well placed to capitalise with a maximum of 39 points up for grabs for both drivers.

However, they won’t just be facing serious competition ahead but a tough challenge too, with drivers required to master the art of competing against the clock on a combination of asphalt and gravel roads on the same special stage, and with a compromised car set-up. While a move away from the famous Troodos Mountains due to the risk of forest fires means faster and less punishing stages, high ambient and ground temperatures will provide a big test for car and crew.

Following Free Practice and the Qualifying Stage on Thursday 18 September, the action begins in earnest with a landmark test through the streets of the Cypriot capital Nicosia on Friday 19 September. Part of the route runs through the United Nations-controlled buffer zone between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish areas of the historic city. Saturday’s action consists of four repeated stages south of Nicosia with three visits to the permanent service park in the capital. Sunday’s route features three repeated stages, including two west of Nicosia. There will be another three service park visits ahead of the finish in Nicosia at 18:30hrs local time.

A game of percentages in the ERC

Round nine of the FIA European Rally Championship will be an event like no other with mixed-surface stages featuring extensively on the CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally. Although the event is designated a gravel rally, which will require crews to use gravel settings and tyres, 35.76 per cent of the competitive route – or rather 82.98 kilometres – will run on asphalt with the remaining 64.24 per cent (149.04 kilometres) on loose-surface roads. However, the 14.25-kilometre Tseri stage, which is used twice on Sunday, uses gravel roads only.

CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally stage surface breakdown

CNP Asfalistiki SSS: Asphalt 82 per cent, Gravel 18 per cent

Kotsiatis: Asphalt 21%, Gravel 79%

Lythrodontas: Asphalt 86%, Gravel 14%

Lefkara: Asphalt 26%, Gravel: 74%

Klavdia: Asphalt 62%, Gravel 38%

Tseri: Gravel 100%

Asinou: Asphalt 4%, Gravel 96%

Xerarkaka: Asphalt 25%, Gravel 75%

Showroom showdown in Cyprus

A single point separates FIA ERC Production Car Cup contenders Martin Hudec (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX) and Vitaliy Pushkar (Lancer Evolution X) starting the CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally. Hudec, from Czech Republic, holds the showroom class lead following his podium finish on his home event last time out. However, Ukrainian Pushkar was victorious when the ERC visited Greece for the Acropolis Rally in late March, which featured a day on asphalt and a day on gravel. Hudec and Pushkar will face strong opposition from several leading Cypriot drivers, plus ERC Ladies’ Trophy contender Inessa Tushkanova.

Breen versus Kajetanowicz in ERC Gravel Masters

Craig Breen and Kajetan Kajetanowicz will face off to become the inaugural ERC Gravel Master on the CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally. The event marks the fourth and final scoring opportunity for ERC drivers to chase ERC Gravel Masters points. With current leader Ott Tänak not competing on the Nicosia-based event, Peugeot Rally Academy’s Craig Breen is the driver in the ascendancy with 108 points compared to the 81 scored by LOTOS Rally Team’s Kajetanowicz. Introduced for the 2014 season, the ERC Masters recognises the achievements of surface specialists competing in the European championship. Robert Kubica clinched the ERC Ice Master award in February. Esapekka Lappi heads the ERC Asphalt Master table with two events remaining. Points are awarded on a 10-6-4-2-1 scale to the fastest five ERC drivers on each stage.

One rally, two FIA championships

The CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally will not only host round nine of the FIA European Rally Championship, it also marks the penultimate event in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship season. While there will only be one overall classification for the rally, drivers will register for the ERC or MERC championship and will score points in their respective series due to a slight variation in the sporting regulations concerning the distribution of points and restart rules in the event of a retirement. Several MERC drivers will be competing in Cyprus including multiple champion and three-time Cyprus Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, Khalid Al-Qassimi, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

Happy hunting ground for Consani

While Robert Consani has no experience of the stages included on this year’s CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally, the ERC regular has competed in Cyprus before when the country hosted the Intercontinental Rally Challenge finale in 2012. Although gearbox failure forced his exit from the then Pafos-based event, the Frenchman did enough to clinch the IRC Production Car Cup spoils. He will return in a Delta Racing Peugeot 207 S2000.

New-generation cars set for Cyprus action

Three new-generation R5 cars will be competing on the CNP Asfalistiki Cyprus Rally: Craig Breen and Bruno Magalhães will contest the ERC qualifier in a brace of Peugeot 208T16s, while Kajetan Kajetanowicz will compete in a Ford Fiesta R5. Breen gave the Peugeot a debut ERC victory on the Acropolis Rally in March, while Magalhães used the car in the ERC for the first time in Czech Republic last month, finishing 10th overall. Kajetanowicz became the first driver to win a round of the ERC in an R5 car when he triumphed on Rally Poland last September.

FIVE FACTS

*The Cyprus Rally’s links with the ERC date back to 1978 when a coefficient 3 event was run. It achieved full coefficient 20 status in 1988 but has never appeared on the calendar since the restructuring in 2004 until now.

*Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean – only Sicily and Sardinia are bigger. It has a population just short of one million people.

*The capitol Nicosia, or Lefkosia in Greek, is situated roughly in the centre of the island in the Mesaoria Plain.

*Unlike the majority of member states in the European Union, traffic moves on the left-hand side of the road, not on the right.

*A visit to Cyprus wouldn’t be complete without a meal of meze – a collection of more than 20 different appetisers and savoury dishes. But if you’re in a hurry, like the ERC drivers, then souvlaki (small chunks of charcoal grilled pork or chicken served in pitta bread with salad) is highly recommended.

EVENT ESSENTIALS (all timings local)

Starts: 17:30hrs, Friday 19 September, Ministry of Finance, Nicosia

Finishes: 18:30hrs, Sunday 21 September, Service Park, Nicosia

Headquarters: Filoxenia Conference Centre, 17 Thrakis Street, CY-1311 Nicosia

Service park: Lieutenant-General Evangelos Florakis Street, Nicosia

ERC appearances (since the restructuring in 2004): None

Stages: 15

Stage distance: 232.02 kilometres (138.38 kilometres leg one, 93.64 kilometres leg two)

Liaison: 541.32 kilometres

Total: 773.34 kilometres

Surface: Asphalt (82.98km/35.76%) and gravel (149.04km/64.24%)