Vodafone Rally de Portugal

A new base at Matosinhos, north of Porto, as the rally returns to the north for the first time since 2001.
A Thursday afternoon ceremonial start at Guimarães will be followed by an evening super special stage at Lousada rallycross circuit.
The first full day heads north for stages around Ponte de Lima, near the Spanish border.
Saturday’s route, the longest of the rally, journeys east for tests near Amarante.
Sunday’s leg has just three stages, with the focus on the classic Fafe test.

A new rally for all. Northern Portugal last saw WRC action in 2001, so none of the top drivers have experience of the stages there. With the exception of…..
Fafe. For the last three years, the Fafe Rally Sprint was held on a 6km section of the classic stage the weekend before the WRC event, attracting crowds of almost 100,000 annually.
All crews must prepare brand new pace notes. That will ensure an intense recce and plenty of late night work for co-drivers as they fine-tune the notes ahead of the start.

Gravel suspension.
Abrasive surface places high demands on tyres, especially if hot weather sends the thermometer rising.

First held in 1967 and one of the founding events in the inaugural 1973 WRC.
Initially a mixed surface rally, it switched to a pure gravel format but lost its place in the calendar after bad weather ruined the 2001 event.
Organisers moved from the north to the Algarve holiday region in the south and it regained its place in 2007.
Named ‘Best Rally in the World’ on five occasions.

It’s Fafe again! Head to the big jump and soak up the atmosphere alongside tens of thousands of fans.
Remember to take a look at Jari-Matti Latvala’s dramatic 2009 crash when he rolled a Ford Focus RS WRC 17 times down a hillside. See it again at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrRNxB3i9rg

VIDEO

Advertising

Advertising

01 Jan 2015