The FIA World Rally Championship heads to the Mediterranean this weekend for the twelfth event of the 16-round series – the Cyprus Rally.

The event is based in the seaside tourist town of Limassol with stages run on rough gravel roads in the Troodos mountains in the centre of the island

The event runs from a single service park in the Lemesos Palais des Sports located to the north of downtown Limassol The rally will start on Thursday 21 September with a ceremonial start along the Limassol promenade, also the venue for a new Superspecial.

The rally comprises 331.34 competitive kilometres and 23 stages, five more than 2005 after the addition of the Superspecial and a new combination of speed tests used in previous years. The podium finish is scheduled for 1500hrs at the Limassol promenade on Sunday afternoon.


Special notes:

Taking place four months later than last year, at the end of the Cypriot summer, the Cyprus Rally is nevertheless still expected to retain its traditional hot, sunny weather, with temperatures expected to reach more than 30 degrees Celsius.

The combination of searing temperatures, tight mountain roads and a rocky, rutted surface has earned the rally the reputation of being the roughest event on the calendar. Reliability is even more crucial this year as the same chassis, engine and gearbox must also be used in the next event in Turkey.

The rally's twisty roads generate low average speeds; it's expected that crews will negotiate the route at an average speed of just over 60kph, barely half the speed recorded on smooth gravel events like Rally Finland or Rally New Zealand. With less air being forced into the car, airflow to the engine and transmission is substantially reduced and teams run cooling settings at their maximum to keep temperatures at a suitable level. Driving conditions for crews too can become very uncomfortable as temperatures in the cockpit soar.


FIA World Rally Championship news:

Sebastien Loeb further strengthened his lead in the 2006 FIA World Rally drivers' championship after taking his seventh win of the season in Japan three weeks ago. The Kronos Citroen driver saw his advantage increased from 31 points to 33, as his nearest rival, Marcus Gronholm, took the runners-up spot.

Daniel Sordo remains third, despite not scoring after being excluded in Japan, while Mikko Hirvonen stays fourth, but increases his tally to 33.

In the Manufacturers' series, Kronos Citroen saw their 15 point cushion reduced to 12 following BP Ford's 2-3 finish.