Autosportfoto

Spain shakes up saturday stages

October's RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de España, the championship's only mixed gravel-tarmac round, will feature a fresh challenge in the shape of two brand new stages during saturday's leg.

This will be the seventh year in a row that the rally will feature its unique mixed surface format, with an opening day based largely on gravel roads and the two following on asphalt.

Twelve stages in this year's itinerary have been tweaked compared to 2015, but the biggest changes come on Saturday's all-asphalt leg.

The day features five different stages, three of which are run twice. It opens with one of the new tests, the 6.28km Vilaplana, which is the final section of the La Mussara stage from 2014 run in the opposite direction.

The second new stage, the 19.93km Alcover-Capafonts was created by taking last year's Capafonts stage and running it in the opposite direction. This test will be tackled twice on Saturday.

Elsewhere, the rally sticks with its familiar format with the Salou - PortAventura - Costa Daurada triangle as its nerve centre.

The competition kicks off on Thursday (13 October) with a short special stage in the heart of Barcelona city that passes the famous Montjuïc fountain.

Friday's itinerary is almost identical to last year's, with a loop of three stages - two gravel and one mixed surface - run twice with no opportunity to service in between. Saturday's all-asphalt day features the new stages, a midday service, and rounds off with the 2.24km Salou stage on the holiday resort's seafront.

Sunday features two stages, Pratdip (19.30km) and Duesaigües (12.10km), both of which are run twice. This year crews get the chance for a 30-minute service before the repeat loop. The second pass of Duesaigües counts as the Power Stage.

Zdroj: wrc.com