Just two weeks after a flat-out blast through the forests of Finland, the WRC heads south to an equally tough, but vastly different challenge - the ADAC Rallye Deutschland.
This ninth event of the 16-round series can be as demanding and unpredictable as January's opening asphalt encounter in Monte Carlo, although the roads could not be more different.
The changing nature of the characteristics and surface of the speed tests however and the ever-present threat of rain can offer the type of conditions that makes tyre selection just as tricky as at the Principality.
The rally is based in Trier, Germany's oldest city and close to the border with Luxembourg. The special stages cover three totally different types of road and the nature of each varies enormously.
Special notes:
Nineteen stages will take competitors along 356.27 competitive kilometres of asphalt roads in the Mosel region in western Germany.
Germany brings a whole host of unique challenges, as the stages are so varied in comparison to each other and indeed to anything else in the championship. They don’t flow as they do on a traditional asphalt rally, which makes it hard for drivers to get into a rhythm.
Also, the road surface doesn’t give the same degree of feedback, which makes judging grip levels and choosing braking points very tough for the drivers.
In addition, some of the stages are flanked with huge, unforgiving concrete kerbstones, known locally as ‘hinkelsteins’, so any mistake will be severely punished.
With the rally taking place at the height of the German summer, the weather is expected to be hot and sunny, although the proximity of the Eifel and Hunsruck mountains means there is always the prospect of rain showers.
Wet weather dramatically changes the characteristics and grip levels of the roads and crews can be faced with significant variations between stages. Whilst grippy when dry, the smooth surfaces hold water so become very greasy when wet.
