Britain’s Gareth-Glynn Jones will also take part in a
Subaru Impreza, while
Francois Duval, who was included on the entry list, will not compete having lost backing from sponsor Kizz-me. It is thought he may be back out in action in Turkey and Britain, but this has still to be confirmed.
Schedule:
The rally is centred around the Palais des Sports service park on the northern edge of Lemesos. Most of the action is based in the Troodos Mountains north of the city although the major innovation is a short asphalt stage through Lemesos old town on Sunday afternoon to end the rally. After a ceremonial start on the seafront on Thursday evening, each of the three legs comprises a morning loop of stages repeated during the afternoon. Much of Friday's opening leg is based in the very north of the Troodos, close to the border with the Turkish part of the island. The stages show several changes to the 2005 edition. The middle leg is based further south, close to Mt Olympus and west towards the resort of Paphos. The final leg is the shortest, covering tests north-east of Lemesos in the hilly and forested Machairas area. Drivers tackle 23 stages covering 331.34km in a route of 1172.74km.
Hot tip:
Marcus Gronholm and
Sebastien Loeb are the 'men of the moment' and the two most likely to taste the victory champagne on Sunday. Loeb may be compromised somewhat by running first on the road on day one, but it didn’t stop him from winning in Japan - he will start as favourite.
Last year:
Sebastien Loeb won the event in 2005, an utterly dominant 4 minutes up on Manfred Stohl, who was second in his privately entered Xsara.
Markko Martin rounded out the podium, ahead of
Henning Solberg and
Toni Gardemeister. A number of works drivers' had problems, including
Petter Solberg, Marcus Gronholm and Francois Duval, all of whom retired. Harri Rovanpera,
Chris Atkinson and Armin Schwarz also ran into difficulties, but finished under the SupeRally, in 7th, 10th and 13th respectively.
