We’ve seen how the World Rally Championship’s new hybrid Rally1 cars perform on snow and asphalt. Now it’s time to see them on gravel for the first time, in Portugal.
The hugely popular event around the city of Porto is actually the first of five consecutive events on the WRC’s most common surface: a sequence that will also take in the similarly abrasive stages of Sardinia as well as the wilderness of the Safari Rally in Kenya and high-speed forest roads of Estonia and Finland over the next three months.
As well as testing the reliability and performance of the latest cars, these upcoming events will provide a big challenge for championship leader Kalle Rovanperä.
The 21-year-old Toyota driver has been in excellent form so far this season, finishing fourth on the Monte Carlo Rally after a slightly shaky start and then winning in both Sweden and Croatia, to underline his status as the sport’s youngest-ever championship leader. He’s already 29 points up on nearest rival Thierry Neuville, driving for Hyundai, but maintaining that advantage will be anything but straightforward.
Gravel rallies usually provide the WRC with a natural form of success penalty, as the championship leader is required to run first on the road during the first full day of competition on Fridays. If conditions are dry, this means they are creating a line through the loose gravel for their rivals to follow, handing them a big advantage.
This is particularly true in Portugal, where the roads have a hard and rocky base that is covered by soft and sandy gravel, which provides little in the way of grip for those running at the front – also increasing the risk of going off.
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I dont understand why WRC allows semi retired drivers entering a few selected rallies to collect championship points....manufacturers points yes, but surely not drivers championship points?!
Just trotting out a 'Tarmac or gravel or snow specialist' is surely too easy and just causes chaos (points wise), amongst the drivers championship runners who are competing a FULL season. As we all know, one point can be the difference between being champion - and merely runner-up.
No one loves to see either Seb (but particularly Loeb), out on an event more than I do, but what is the point of them taking points away from the permanent 'full season' team when they have no intention of competing for the Drivers championship?