|
Preview: Wales Rally GB - Pt. 1 |
Two weeks after the inaugural Rally Ireland, the FIA World Rally Championship now heads to Wales for the final rally of the season.
Wales Rally GB is one of the classic events on the WRC calendar, and the varied nature of the gravel roads, coupled with the traditionally unsettled Welsh weather, also make it one of the toughest.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, Wales Rally GB gets underway on Thursday November 29 with a ceremonial start in the capital city, Cardiff, before moving 65 kilometres west to a brand new rally base at the SA1 waterfront complex in Swansea.
The rally consists of 17 stages, which total 359.54 competitive kilometres. The longest stage is Sunday's 28.89km test at Brechfa (SS14/16). The first car is due onto the finish ramp in Cardiff's Cathays Park at 15.10 (local time) on Sunday December 2.
Special notes:
The undulating forest tracks of South Wales always provide a stern challenge for drivers, and December's wintry weather is bound make conditions even more difficult.
The first stage of the rally, Port Talbot, is a revised version of the former Margam stage. Together with Resolfen and Rheola it forms the opening loop of stages which are run twice on Friday.
Resolfen features many surface changes and takes the crews 600m up Rhigos Mountain, so fog and ice could be a factor during the first run through the stage on Friday morning.
Rheola is no place for a mistake: it is fast, but contains some huge, intimidating drops off the side of the road. The stage also includes the fan-friendly Walters Arena section near the end.
While leg one takes place in the valleys of south Wales, the crews travel north to the fringes of the Brecon Beacons for leg two.
