Rally de España 2021: preview and schedules The World Rally Championship returns to Spain two years later, and it does so to host a rally already one hundred percent of asphalt in which Ogier has everything in favor to be champion. RACC Rally returns to the WRC after its absence in 2020, and it does so completely renewed. It continues to maintain its nerve center on the Costa Daurada, with the service park on the outskirts of PortAventura World, in Salou (Tarragona), but from this 2021 it will no longer be a mixed rally. Since 2010, this event was characterized by having a Friday stage on gravel and the weekend on asphalt; now, the asphalt will be the absolute protagonist. Drivers and teams arrive at the event after meeting in the last days how the teams will be made up for the 2022 season. Notably, Sébastien Ogier’s final farewell to the full seasons in the World Championship: next year he will run only a few rallies with the new Toyota Yaris Rally1 hybrid, so this weekend he could get his eighth and last wound, keeping one of his compatriot Loeb. If something has always characterized the asphalt sections of the Costa Daurada, it has been their speed. They are smooth and fast tracks, where the drivers must be aggressive and attack the curves to cut as many tenths of a second as possible. Of course, they will have to be careful, first, not to puncture when they put the wheels in the ditches, and second, know how to manage the tires and their wear, since the Catalan tracks can be very abrasive if the temperatures are high. Roads get dirty as cars pass, lifting dirt and mud onto the asphalt and becoming more slippery. In total, there will be 17 stages for 280.46 km against the clock, with new specials for the pilots on Friday’s stage, which in recent years we visited the gravel specials. Pirelli will debut in Catalonia its new hard asphalt compound, which will accompany the pilots along with the softer option. Spectators will not be able to miss the departure ceremony on Thursday night on the Salou seafront and the spectacular urban stretch in the same location on Saturday afternoon. The service park will be closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions. For Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), it is enough to get 6 points more than his teammate, Elfyn Evans, to be world champion mathematically without waiting for the Monza Rally in November. The Frenchman continues to lead with 190 points and with four wins this year; Evans is second with 166 points and two wins. If the Frenchman wins the rally, Evans will need to scratch at least two more points than he did on Sunday’s Power Stage. The fight for third place in the World Cup will be closer, with Neuville (Hyundai), Rovanperä (Toyota) and Tänak (Hyundai) separated by just two points. Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera (Hyundai), confirmed for next season in their team, will once again get into the third Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC. In Salou we will have many more Spaniards in contention, but only two in individual WRC cars: apart from Sordo, Nil Solans will have the opportunity to get into a car of these characteristics for the first time in the World Championship. He will get on a Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC of the Hyundai 2C Competition team, accompanied by Marc Martí. His brother Jan Solans will also be in the RACC Rally, with his Citroën C3 Rally2, competing, among others, with Pepe López (Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2) and Miguel Díaz Aboitiz (Skoda Fabia Evo Rally2) in the WRC3 category. The World Rally Championship reaches its penultimate appointment of the 2021 season, the RACC Rally, with the titles to be decided. This is all the information you need. WRC 2021 lands in Spain this week for the penultimate round of the season. The return of the World Cup to the Spain-Catalunya Rally will be a true festival for all those who come to the surroundings of Port Aventura (Salou) and promises a good show in a 100% version on asphalt. Thus, the drivers and teams will warm up their engines this Thursday with the 4.31 km of Shakedown from early in the morning. But the real action will not begin until 8:43 on Friday, when the first pass through Vilaplana (20 km) will begin. The day will consist of two loops (one in the morning and the other in the afternoon) to add 660 km (of which 112.02 against the clock). On Saturday, the day will begin with the first pass through Savallà, the first of the three sections that will make up the morning loop. In the afternoon, the second pass through each of these, will be joined by the Salou show section (2.42 km) to complete 490 km (117 of which are timed). And on Sunday the party will end with two passes through Santa Marina and Ruidecanyes, the latter also forming the final Power Stage to add another 259 km (50.90 of them timed). important changes, given that the gravel stage is no longer disputed and a large part of it runs through new asphalt tracks, a surface on which Pepe López makes his debut with the current car. For this reason, the Madrid rider hopes to carry out a race from less to more, being able to give his maximum once he gains confidence in himself; however, it is worth noting that after the first recognitions it has been able to verify that the new sections chosen by the organization are to its liking. After the challenging Rally Finland, in which he managed to finish fourth despite the difficulty involved, there is no doubt that he is ready to return to give his best in one of the most anticipated events of the World Championship. Pepe López (driver): “It is a great motivation to be able to have Borja Rozada by my side again. The experience of the RaceSeven team is helping me to adapt to the car on asphalt at forced gears. It is a pleasure to see once again that the Rally Spain – Catalonia is the best organized of the entire Championship. ”
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