With the rally taking place at the height of the German summer, the weather is expected to be hot and sunny, although there is some chance of showers as rain moves in from the Eifel and Hunsruck mountains surrounding the area. Wet weather dramatically changes the characteristics and grip levels of the roads and crews can be faced with Monte Carlo-esque variations between stages. To minimise the dangers associated with wet roads, each driver and co-driver has a safety crew who drive the stages before their competitive running to report conditions back to the driver.
Rallye Deutschland will also present an extra challenge as just 42 hours separates the finish of it and the start of the Rally Finland recce. Teams will start to deconstruct their service areas from Saturday night onwards ready to depart after the first service of the final leg. Rallye Deutschland organisers have had to make special plans for teams to make the journey in time, with Sunday’s leg shortened from six to four stages as a result.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Sebastien Loeb saw his lead at the top of the 2006 FIA World Rally drivers' championship take a minor hit after ‘only' finishing second to Marcus Gronholm in Greece. The Kronos
Citroen driver though still enjoys a 29-point cushion over Gronholm, who eased to his third win of the season on the Acropolis. The Finn's success there ended a string of five consecutive wins for Loeb, stretching back to round three in Mexico. Gronholm is now twelve points clear of his nearest rival in second, with reigning JWRC champion
Daniel Sordo third.
Mikko Hirvonen's podium finish on the Acropolis lifted him above Manfred Stohl and
Petter Solberg, who are joint fifth.
In the Manufacturers' series, Kronos Citroen continues to lead, but their advantage over
BP Ford was trimmed by five points courtesy of Gronholm and Hirvonen securing a Greek 1-3.
