The opening section of Wales Rally GB is a two part story. It begins on Thursday night with a short Superspecial in Cardiff Bay, then breaks for the night before re-starting on the forest roads of mid Wales on Friday.
Friday’s action comprises two passes over a loop of three classic gravel stages in the rugged countryside east of Aberystwyth, split by a 15 minute remote service in Builth Wells.
Over the two days crews will tackle seven timed stages, 129.96 competitive kilometres and 464.84km of liaison sections.
After the pre-event recce, British co-driver Sebastian Marshall explained the challenge of this year’s stages to wrc.com. This weekend Marshall and his driver Harry Hunt will be aiming to secure the single make FSTi series in their Ford Fiesta R2.
Here’s what Marshall thought of the opening selection of stages:
SS1/SS16 Cardiff Bay (1.70km)
“This short stage to kick off the rally starts on the Cardiff Bay Barrage and features a chicane on the fast opening section with a man made jump and a short loop towards the end of the stage. At just 1.70km there’s not much of an advantage to be gained, but there are plenty of kerbs and obstacles lurking in the darkness to catch out the unwary. Despite being 100 per cent asphalt crews will tackle it on gravel tyres, and in all likelihood in slippy wet conditions given the forecast!”
SS2/SS5 Hafren (31.99km)
“Following a long drive North from Cardiff the competitors tackle the first proper stage of the rally and the longest of the event. The first 21km are on fast wide roads that have been re-graded and as such are in very smooth condition. There are few tight corners to break the rhythm and a great flow to this classic Welsh test. For the remaining 11kmthe stage becomes more technical, with slower corners on narrower roads, although it does open out again towards the finish.”
SS3/SS6 Sweet Lamb (4.26km)
"This stage may only be just over four kilometres in length but it packs a lot into it. Shortly after the start a series of three jumps take competitors onto a descent towards the famous Sweet Lamb complex, which is a great area for spectators to see the action. A trip through the water splash and jump immediately afterwards - the scene of Mikko Hirvonen’s roll in 2008 - bring the cars into the bowl area, with another two jumps in store before crossing the River Wye, which is particularly deep at the moment following the recent heavy rain. The final kilometre features a fast climb through two hairpin bends before the finish.”
SS4/SS7 Myherin (27.88km)
"The final stage of the loop starts on a very wide road known as “Pikes Peak” in reference to the famous American Hill Climb. The first three kilometres wind steeply uphill through long open bends on a road that was built to enable construction access for the large wind farm. Once on top of the hill, the speed increases as you drive past the towering windmills on a section that has a tendency to be affected by low cloud. At the 6 Km point the action enters the forest and features a blend of fast sections and a few junctions over the next 13km. At one point there is an extremely steep descent, which was quite rough on the recce. Re-emerging from the forest and into the wind farm once again, the stage is once again defined by fast flowing corners. It’s a great stage and a favourite among drivers.”
Start list: click here.
Itinerary: click here.
Entry list: click here.
Stage times: click here.
Split times: click here.
Do not forget that this is going to be the last time the 2.0 cars will be racing in the WRC.
Source: wrc.com
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