Cutting corners is commonplace as drivers look for every advantage, and dirt dragged onto the road often leads to slippery and unpredictable conditions for those running further down the order.
Absolute confidence in the car and pace notes is critical to commit to the flowing high-speed stages, and grip levels can really be exploited to carry speed throughout the corner. For this rally ride-height is reduced allowing the cars to sit closer to the ground to reduce their centre of gravity, and the suspension is set much stiffer to reduce body roll and maximise cornering speeds.
Rally HQ is based at PortAventura, one of the largest theme parks in Europe, located near the seaside holiday town of Salou.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Marcus Gronholm extended his lead in the 2007 FIA World Rally drivers' championship following his victory in New Zealand five weeks ago.
With
Sebastien Loeb taking the runners-up spot though the Finn's cushion only went up from 8 points to 10.
Mikko Hirvonen reamins third, while
Petter Solberg and Dani Sordo are joint fourth, with 31 points.
In the Manufacturers' championship there was no change at the top - although the
BP Ford WRT did increase its lead again over
Citroen, from 41 points to 46.
Since the Rally NZ there has been a lot of news in the WRC, although the most shocking concerned 1995 World Rally Champion
Colin McRae, who was tragically killed in a helicopter accident close to his Scottish home on September 15.
McRae was one of four that perished, along with his five-year-old son, Johnny, as well as the youngster's friend Ben Porcelli and family friend Graeme Duncan, who was 37.
Any one wishing to post their own tribute and messages of condolences on
Crash.net should to go to the specific
'Colin McRae: Book of condolence' section and post their message in the comments section
CLICK HERE.
Other significant developments included:
- Marcus Gronholm’s decision to retire at the end of this season;
- Subaru’s announcement that it had re-signed
Chris Atkinson for 2008 and 2009;
- Suzuki’s confirmation of its driver line-up for Corsica and GB, with Nicolas Bernardi and Sebastien Lindholm given the honour of driving the new SX4 WRC on its debut in the WRC.
