Friday | 05 Feb 2016

New street test in Portugal and Argentina

Spectacular new city centre asphalt street stages will be introduced at both Rally Argentina (21 - 24 April) and Vodafone Rally de Portugal (19 - 22 May).

The fourth round of the season in Argentina will kick-off with a 3.00km Thursday evening test on the west of Cordoba city before competitors return to Villa Carlos Paz for an overnight halt. It replaces last year's opener in the streets of Merlo, in San Luis province.

In Portugal, Porto will host a double run over a 1.85km stage to close Friday's action. It will be based on the Avenida dos Aliados, close to the city hall and in the same area in which a rally roadshow was held ahead of the 2010 event.

The Portuguese event [pictured above] follows a virtually identical itinerary to last year, when the rally returned north to great acclaim following several years in the south coast Algarve region.

It will again be based in Matosinhos, north of Porto. The only other significant change features a second run through the Vieira do Minho stage on Sunday morning, which includes a short section of new road.

The Argentina route shows big changes, with Saturday's second leg heading further north than usual to roads around Ischilin that were last used in 2003.

The other two legs include familiar territory in the Santa Rosa de Calamuchita valley on Friday before culminating with the classic Giulio Cesare and El Condor tests in the Traslasierra mountains on Sunday.

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