Preview: Wales Rally GB.

The 60th Wales Rally GB takes place this coming weekend - the twelfth round out of sixteen in the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship.

Britain will also play host to the fifth round in the 2004 FIA Junior WRC.

Beginning on Thursday 16 September with a visit to the Super Special Stage in Cardiff, the gruelling three-day event is one of Britain's most popular sporting occasions.

Comprising 394.03 competitive kilometres and 19 stages, the event is based around a single service park at Felindre, near Swansea. Rally headquarters will be based in Cardiff, 70km from the Felindre service park.

Special notes:

Traditionally the final round of the Championship, Wales Rally GB is renowned for its wintry weather conditions and muddy gravel tracks that twist through the forests of South Wales.

However, although the rally route remains similar for 2004, a calendar shift from November to the British autumn should mean the event will drier and warmer than usual.

Nonetheless, the famously unpredictable Welsh weather is still expected to bring a few surprises to competitors. While fog and ice are not likely hazards at this time of year, fluctuating temperatures, rain and bright sunshine are all factors to consider.

As a result, road conditions may vary between hard-packed gravel and slippery mud to dry, abrasive, dusty tracks.

Traditionally, the stages are fast and, if conditions are dry, average speeds are expected to be around five per cent quicker than last year's average of 108kph.


FIA World Rally Championship news:

Sebastien Loeb leads the World Rally drivers' championship, 30 points ahead of Petter Solberg. Citroen meanwhile head the constructors' - 35 points ahead of Ford, while Subaru are a further 23 adrift in third.


News from the Manufacturers' teams:
555 Subaru World Rally Team:

[Petter Solberg, car #1 and Mikko Hirvonen, car #2.]

Having won the event in 2002 and 2003, Petter Solberg will be aiming for his third Welsh victory this year to take a hat=trick of Wales Rally GB wins. With only limited knowledge of the Welsh forest stages, Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen will be drawing on his experience of other gravel rallies, such as Mexico and New Zealand. Competing at the wheel of his Subaru Impreza WRC2004, the young Finn will be aiming to secure more championship points.

Citroen Total:

[Sebastien Loeb, car #3 and Carlos Sainz, car #4]

Citroen have competed on the Rally GB in Wales on just two occasions, their first visit back in 2002. Although they have since collected valuable data, owing to the date change, this year's event could be very different.

"If we are to find the same conditions that have marked the rally these past two years, the weather will have to be simply atrocious, and that's not really likely," notes Citroen boss, Guy Frequelin. "If the weather proves dry, hot even, it will be a completely different event to the one we know. The stages will be very fast; as quick as, if not quicker than Rally Finland, although the Welsh forests can be rougher.

"The car will therefore need to be strong. However, given the region in which the rally is held, that is to say close to the sea, the weather could well prove highly changeable. If that is the case, it stands to be a very complicated weekend, similar to what we experienced in Germany."

Marlboro Peugeot Total:

[Marcus Gronholm, car #5 and Harri Rovanpera, car #6].

Peugeot will field three 307 WRC cars - namely for Marcus Gronholm, Harri Rovanpera and Daniel Carlsson, the latter however will not be eligible to score manufacturer points.

Carlsson is looking forward to making his debut in the 307. "I already know a number of people from the factory team but it will be nice to spend Rally GB week with the whole squad," he said. "There is no special pressure on me. I have already signed my contract for 2005, so I know this event will not condition the rest of my career. I want to have a long term association with Peugeot, so I will give it my very best and we will see what sort of result we get."

Ford Motor Company:

[Markko Martin, car #7 and Francois Duval, car #8.]

Both Markko Martin and Francois Duval completed a pre-event test in the Cumbrian forests close to M-Sport's Dovenby Hall base last week. Martin tested Thursday in Whinlatter Forest, concentrating on the set-up of his Focus RS WRC in the morning and then tyre testing in the afternoon. He completed more than 250km. Duval took over for the second day Friday.

Stephane Prevot will start his 100th world rally in Cardiff this week. The 35-year-old Belgian was scheduled to complete his century on the Rally Japan earlier this month but had to return home before the start for personal reasons.

Rally GB will mark the world rally debut of 17-year-old Matthew Wilson, son of BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson. Matthew and co-driver Scott Martin lie third in the British Rally Championship in their first season of competition and are just two points behind the leader with two rounds remaining. They will drive a 2002-specification Ford Focus RS WRC entered by Eddie Stobart Motorsport.

Mitsubishi Motor Sports:

Mitsubishi will miss this event, following their decision to modify their 2004 WRC programme, and concentrate solely on testing for 2005.

Junior WRC:

The Junior WRC resumes this weekend, following round four in Finland back at the start of August, when Per-Gunnar Andersson took the honours for Suzuki, with Kosti Katajamaki second and Nicolas Bernardi third. Bernardi currently leads the JWRC, with 24 points, while P-G Andersson has 21. Katajamaki, Urmo Aava and Guy Wilks are joint third each having scored 16 points.

Other significant entries:

Skoda will take part this weekend with the Fabia WRC, driven by Toni Gardmeister, Armin Schwarz and 'guest' driver, Jani Paasonen.

Other notable entries include Janne Tuohino (Ford), Daniel Carlsson (Peugeot), Manfred Stohl (Peugeot), Henning Solberg (Peugeot), Alister Ginley (Subaru), Anthony Warmbold (Ford), Mark Higgins (Ford), Alister McRae (Subaru), Jimmy McRae (Subaru) and Matthew Wilson (Ford).

Schedule:

The rally will again be based in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, with all the action taking place in the mountainous forests of south Wales. However, the single service park will be located an hour further west in Swansea.

The rally opens with a super special stage in the dockland area of Cardiff on Thursday evening. Friday is the longest day of the event with 183.31km of competition split between just six long stages, four of which are based in the notoriously tricky Brechfa Forest.

The bulk of the second leg is based further north, close to the Epynt military ranges, and includes a brand new test. It finishes with a second pass over the super special stage.

The final day includes two attempts at the classic Rhondda test in the Vale of Neath before ending with a third pass over the Cardiff super special.

Drivers face 394.03km of competition in a total of 1328.07km.

Hot tip:

Petter Solberg, has won the event for the last two years running, he will also be on a high following his win in Japan - definitely the favourite, although don't count out championship leader, Sebastien Loeb or Marcus Gronholm.


Last year:

Last year's event was won by Petter Solberg, with Sebastien Loeb second and Tommi Makinen third. There were seven significant retirements, including Carlos Sainz, Marcus Gronholm, Mikko Hirvonen, Harri Rovanpera, Markko Martin and Toni Gardemeister.