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Kennards Hire Rally Australia: The route

This will be the fifth time that coffs harbour has hosted Australia's round of the WRC, and this year the loose gravel rural and forestry roads down under count as the final challenge of the season.

The route closely follows the 2015 format, with three days of action based on Australia's east coast in New South Wales, more than 500km north of Sydney.

The stages are split between the Coffs Coast state rainforests and open farmland, with many roads lined by trees, leaving no margin for error.

Friday's action features a loop of three familiar fast and undulating shire stages; Utungun, Bakers Creek and Northbank and a new version of the forest-based Newry stage, which at 25.3km is the longest test of the day.

Each will be run twice, along with two new spectator-friendly stages; the 1.27km Destination NSW SSS takes the competition back to Coffs' harbourside jetty district, while the 1.37km Raceway SSS is based on a drift and rallycross track close to the town.

The showpiece of Saturday's competition is two passes through the 50.80km Nambucca, one of the longest and most difficult stages of the season. An extended 14.84km version of Valla is also driven twice, and two more visits to the Super Specials complete the longest day of the event.

Five more tests north of Coffs Harbour on Sunday complete the itinerary, starting with Settles Reverse, Bucca16 and Wedding Bells. Settles Reverse and Wedding Bells will be repeated after a midday service and the latter counts as the live TV Power Stage - where the final bonus points of the season will be allocated.

The 23 stages cover 312.98km in a route of 1040.51km.

Zdroj: wrc.com