EVENT: 63rd Wales Rally GB.

WRC Round 16 of 16; PWRC Round 8 of 8.

DATE: 30 November - 2 December 2007.

• WHAT'S NEW AT RALLY GB IN 2007?
• The Service Park has moved from Felindre and will now be at the Swansea Waterfront development complex.
• The Start and Finish ceremonies will be held at Cardiff City Hall, not in front of the building as in earlier years, but to the side, outside the Law Courts.
• The final forest stages on Friday and Saturday will be run in full darkness. There will be a regroup late in the afternoon on each of these days, at the Official Refuelling areas.
• Changes to stages: Trawscoed, the final stage location, is to be held in the reverse direction to that used before. Otherwise, there are only minor changes.
• Once again, this is also the final event of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, but this year Friday counts as Round 6 and the combined results of Saturday and Sunday count as Round 7. To score points for the British Championship, competitors must be registered for the series and use Pirelli control tyres (as on other rounds in the series). For these two final rounds, however, they must use FIA control fuel, not Tesco 99 Octane fuel.
• This event will be the end of an era in rallying. From the start of the 2008 season, there will be an important new dimension in World Championship rallying - the single tyre supplier and the ban on anti-deflation mousse tyre inserts.  Under the single supplier system, Pirelli will provide tyres for all championship drivers of four-wheel drive cars, and also for the Junior championship. Details of the new system will be given in a feature story, to appear in the "PIRELLI WORLD RALLYING 30" annual book, which will be published on 10 December, one week after the end of Wales Rally GB.  (Pirelli World Rallying is available in New Zealand from Rally New Zealand)
• These are the titles waiting to be decided at Wales Rally GB: FIA World Championship for Drivers, FIA Production Car Championship, Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship (drivers, teams, junior and various classes). The following titles will be decided shortly after Wales Rally GB: Fiesta Sporting Trophy International shoot-out (Monday/Tuesday 3/4 December) and the British Rally Championship Pirelli Star Driver award (10/14 December).
• Although the official measurement unit of distances on roads in Great Britain is miles, the rally measures distances in kilometres.

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT RALLY GB?

• It is now 75 years since the rally was first held.  The main celebrations will be a parade of old rally cars before the start in Cardiff on Thursday evening, then a 25-minute presentation of old cars and celebrities from over the years before the start of the publicity stage (13) in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday evening. This will include tributes to the late Colin McRae and Richard Burns, and will be held before the rally cars tackle the stage.
• It was the last round of the World Rally Championship to permit the use of secret stages.  Not until 1990 were pacenotes allowed for all the route.
• Traditionally, the event covered a lot of regions in England, Wales and Scotland. Since 1997, the forest stages have stayed entirely within Wales, although "Stately Home" stages were held in the English midlands; from 2000 onwards, the whole event has been held in Wales.
• This event is still fondly known by many as the "RAC Rally". From 1974 until 1992, Lombard was the title sponsor, then the GM-associated sales division Network Q took over until 2002, after which the event was partnered by the Wales Development Agency. The "RAC" part of the event title was dropped in 1998. The name "RAC Rally" lives on, however, as a forest special stage rally for historic cars, run two weeks before Wales Rally GB (at the same time as Rally Ireland) for historic cars in north England, south Scotland and the border country. The name comes from the late Roger Clark, the popular English rally driver who was the first British driver to win the RAC Rally, and whose middle name was Albert.
• There was no overall winner of the event until 1953, although best performances were published and create a record of unofficial results. In 1952, the best performance was put up by an Allard with a Cadillac engine. The first gravel road special stage was run on the 1960 RAC Rally, the first forest stages in 1961.

TYRE SPECIFICS

• Number of sets expected: 6.
• Number of different tread patterns allowed: 1.
• Number of tyres which can be used during the event (including Shakedown): 38.
• Number of tyres which can be nominated for use on the event: 60.
• Maximum stage distance to be covered on the same set of tyres: 70.40km (stages 1-3 and 4-6).

EVENT SPECIFICS

Route

• Total distance: 1271.94km.
• Number of stages: 17.
• Number of different stage venues: 9.
• Maximum number of times same stage roads are used: twice.
• Stage distance: 359.54km.
• Stage surfaces: gravel, except for the Superspecial (stage 13).
• Longest stage: 28.89km (stage 14+16).
• Highest elevation on stage: 600 metres (on stage 2+5).
• Central Service Park: Swansea Docklands development complex.
• Shakedown Stage: 3.90km, in Penllergaer Forest (same as in 2006), which is 18km from the permanent service park. For Shakedown, there will be no subsidiary service park.
• Ceremonial Start: 1930 Thu 29 Nov, outside the Law Courts (Cardiff City Hall).
• Official Start: 0910 Fri 30 Nov, Swansea Service Park.
• Superspecials: 1 (stage 13, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday evening).
• Stages in darkness: 3 (stages 6, 12 and 13).  Stage 13 will be run mostly inside the Millennium Stadium under floodlights.
• Restart times
• Friday (6 stages, 140,80km) at 0910 from Service Park.
• Saturday (7 stages, 104.48km) at 0800 from Service Park.
• Sunday (4 stages, 114.26km) at 0625 from Service Park.
• Finish from 1510 at the Law Courts, Cardiff.

TEAM NEWS

CITROEN TOTAL WORLD RALLY TEAM (M)

• Sebastien Loeb is expected to drive a Formula 1 Renault at Paul Ricard Circuit on 5 December, while Heikki Kovalainen will drive a Citroen C4.
• Martin Prokop's third place in the JRC won him a day's testing in a World Rally Car under the Citroen Junior Experience scheme. This took place recently in France in a Xsara WRC.

BP-FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM (M)

• The team's Technical Director, Christian Loriaux, has been named Design Engineer of the year at the Professional MotorSport World Expo award ceremony in Cologne. He has been at M-Sport since 2002; before that, he was at Prodrive working with the Subaru World Rally Team.

OMV KRONOS CITROEN WORLD RALLY TEAM (MT)

• One entry only for Manfred Stohl, his 11th attempt at this event. Last year, he finished second overall, his best result in the 2006 season. Twice he has won Group N on this event.

SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM (M)

• The team has a four-day test in mid Wales before the event, trying to maximise traction in low-grip surfaces: two days for Solberg, one day each for the other team drivers.

STOBART VK M-SPORT FORD RALLY TEAM (MT)

• Speaking at the end of Rally Ireland, Jari-Matti Latvala said that he expected to gain his first podium result at Wales Rally GB, but he did it in Ireland instead! "It was strange. In Ireland, I learned to back off when things were tricky, and that helped me reach the position in a top placing." It will be the 22-year-old Finnish driver's sixth time on this event.

MUNCHI'S FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM (MT)

• A rally new for both drivers; neither driver has yet scored championship points in Europe!

SUZUKI WORLD RALLY TEAM

• This will be the second event for the SX4 WRC and its first event on gravel roads. The driver this time will be former Finnish champion and occasional Peugeot World Championship driver Sebastian Lindholm. The team plan to announce their drivers for their 2008 World Championship programme in mid December.

CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

• BP-Ford won the Manufacturers' Championship at Rally Ireland. After Gronholm retired, it was only necessary for Mikko Hirvonen to gain sixth place for the team to retain the title.
• Gronholm's retirement in Ireland means that Sebastien Loeb now leads the Drivers' series by six points; Loeb will also have the benefit of the tie-decider should that need to be applied.
• The next FIA World Motor Sports Council meeting will be held on Friday 7 December, when calendar dates for rallies in 2008 will be finally confirmed.

PRODUCTION CAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

• Last-day changes in position on Rally Ireland kept the PCWRC title open. The retirement of Armindo Araujo on the penultimate stage brought Gabriel Pozzo up to finish in second place. Pozzo needs to win in Britain to be champion; otherwise the title will go to Toshi Arai.
• On account of the dual status of World and British championship series, the organisers have invited two of the three top contending British championship drivers (Guy Wilks and Gwyndaf Evans) as "Guest" drivers in the PCWRC for this event, to make the British championship fairer for them. The third contending driver is Mark Higgins, who is already a PCWRC competitor.
• There will be a change of car (car 32) for regular PCWRC driver Stuart Jones, who drives an MG ZR 2000 Sport seen in the hands of Roy White at Rally Ireland.
• Another first timer in the PCWRC is Polish driver Michal Solowow, who has been contesting European Rally Championship events in a Fiat Grande Punto Super 2000, but he drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Group N on this occasion (car 40).
• Fifth type of car on a World Championship Rally this year for Alex Bettega (Ford Fiesta S1600, Suzuki Ignis S1600, Renault Clio R3, Ford Focus WRC and now Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Group N)!  This will be his first rally within the PCWRC, and he will be the only driver this year to have competed in both the PCWRC and JRC categories.  On this event, he drives the number one Motoring Club entry (car 44).
• This will be the first time on a European rally for 20-year-old New Zealander Hayden Paddon, driving for Team Jordan (car 48) in place of Amjad Farrah. Paddon shot to prominence when - as a little-known driver - he won the Whangarei Rally (NZ's round of the Asia-Pacific series), ahead of all that championship's regular drivers; he is the 2007 NZ Junior champion.
• Evgeniy Vertunov and Evgeniy Novikov finished first and second on the Russian Rally Championship this year and are both entered on this event. Vertunov is the Subaru Rally Team Russia entry (car 42); Novikov is a privateer.  Novikov has just turned 17 years old, and won his first Russian championship rally when he was 15. SRTR is the second different team for which Vertunov has driven in the PCWRC this year - he also drove for the TaCK team (car 53) in Japan.
• Change of driver for car 53. This will now be driven by David Higgins, not Niall McShea.
• British federation Elite driver Philip Morrow, who ran as a PCWRC driver in Rally Ireland, competes on this event as a privateer entry.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Asia Pacific Rally Championship & Intercontinental Rally Challenge.  Cody Crocker qualified as APRC driver champion at the final round, the China Rally (9/11 Nov), where Subaru were confirmed as manufacturers' champions.
• This event counted also for the IRC, again as the final round, but none of the leading contenders entered.
• Middle East Rally Championship. The penultimate round of the series was the Lebanon Rally (9/11 Nov), where Nasser Al Attiyah reduced Khalid Al Qassimi's lead to seven points, with one event (Dubai on 28/30 November) to come. The fight is closer than it appears. Al Qassimi must drop five points, but Al Attiyah keeps all his points.

NON-CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRIES

• FIA African Rally Champion Conrad Rautenbach, who has also been contesting the Junior Rally Championship in a Citroen C2, is to compete in a World Rally Car (Xsara WRC) for the first time on this event.
• The 2007 Junior Rookie champion, Shaun Gallagher appears in a private entry on this event, as his prize drive from Citroen Sport after winning the series at the wheel of a C2 R2. Another 2007 JRC championship driver to compete privately in this event is Michal Kosciuszko, who will drive a Fiat Punto S2000.
• This is the culmination of a very special year for 2006 Fiesta Sporting Trophy International winner Viktor Henriksson, who had employment at M-Sport and the chance to enter rallies. He drives a Fiesta ST, 37 years after his grandfather Jan finished fourth on the same event in an Opel Kadett. Driving another Fiesta ST will be Elfyn Evans, son of Gwyndaf. The British rallying dynasties (Clark, McRae, etc) live on!

BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

• After the first five of seven rounds of the 2007 series, Mark Higgins leads with 77 points, ahead of Guy Wilks on 61 and Gwyndaf Evans on 57.
• After taking dropped scores into account, no fewer than six drivers can win the series statistically, and all of them have entered WRGB. Rautenbach is ineligible to increase his score, as he will drive a World Rally Car; also inelgible will be any other competitor who does not use Pirelli control tyres.
• In the BRC Junior championship, four drivers are still eligible to win, headed by James Wozencroft, Darren Gass, Matt Beebe and Jason Pritchard, while five drivers can still win the Citroen C2 R2 cup, in which the top three competitors, Pritchard, Martin Laverty and Martin Roberts are currently separated by only two points. The best five scores out of seven are counted.
• Unlike on all the other championship rounds this year, there will be no dedicated live results service for the British Championship on the Saturday/Sunday route, which represents the final round of the championship. Results of registered BRC competitors on Day 1 can be extracted from the official rally results. Results of BRC competitors from stages on Days 2 and 3, however, will be released afterwards.

CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS

• Drivers (after Round 15 Ireland): Loeb 110, Gronholm 104, Hirvonen 89, Sordo 61, P.Solberg 42, H,Solberg 34, Latvala 30, Atkinson 29, Duval + Stohl 12, etc.
• Manufacturers (after Round 15 Ireland): BP-Ford WRT 194, Citroen Total WRT 173, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT 80, Subaru WRT 79, OMV Kronos Citroen WRT 43, Munchi's Ford WRT 14. [BP-Ford WRT is Manufacturer's Champion]
• PWRC (after Round 7 Ireland): Arai 39, Pozzo 30, McShea 21, M.Higgins 19, Nutahara 13, etc.

EVENT HISTORY

• Recent winners
• 2006 - Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen, Ford Focus RS WRC (106.56kph).
• 2005 - Petter Solberg/Philip Mills, Subaru Impreza WRC (107.52kph).
• 2004 - Petter Solberg/Philip Mills, Subaru Impreza WRC (106.18kph).
• 2003 - Petter Solberg/Philip Mills, Subaru Impreza WRC (108.19kph).
• 2002 - Petter Solberg/Philip Mills, Subaru Impreza WRC (104.68kph).
• 2001 - Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen, Peugeot 206 WRC) (104.42kph).

ENTRY DETAILS

• 115 entries have accepted, including 25 World Rally Cars, 10 Priority 2 drivers and 22 PCWRC entries (including 2 "Guest" drivers).