A pilot event was run last year that featured stages winding through similar areas to this year’s route, however the exact stages have not been rallied before.
Totally new is the spectator Super Special stage in Stormont, Belfast which starts the rally on Thursday evening. The second section of leg one, the trickiest of the rally, commences from Sligo on Friday.
Although the total liaison distance is only 853.91km (excluding travel to Belfast for SS1), the event route takes in eight counties, both to the north and the south of the island, and crosses between Ulster and the Republic of Ireland, making it a very diverse event.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Marcus Gronholm remains in the lead in the 2007 FIA World Rally drivers' championship following the event in Japan at the end of last month – after he and
Sebastien Loeb both failed to score.
Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile increased his tally to 84 points after winning in ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’, while
Daniel Sordo further consolidated fourth with his runners-up spot.
In the Manufacturers' championship there was no change at the top - although the
BP Ford WRT did increase its lead over
Citroen from 32 points to 34 - and with only 36 pointS left up for grabs the ‘Blue Oval’ is now virtually assured of the title.
As for the Production Car World Rally Championship, Toshi Arai will have to wait and see if he has done enough to take the title, as Gabriel Pozzo’s win in Japan leaves him 17 points adrift and now in within a chance as, unlike Toshi, he still has two of his nominate events to come.
Mark Higgins also remains in contention. If the Englishman wins the final two events, he would end the year with the same amount of points as Arai, but would take the title courtesy of 3 wins to 2.
Since that event it has been relatively quiet on the WRC news front, although the entry list for the Rally GB has been confirmed and just like in 2006, the Welsh round again leads the way with the most competitors for a single event in the WRC.
![Marcus Gronholm (FIN) / Timo Rautiainen (FIN) - BP Ford Focus WRC. Galway International Rally, February 3-4 2007. [Pic credit: Ford / worldrallypics.com]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/286908.jpg)
