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FIA RALLY: Round 5 of the FIA World Rally Championship, Catalunya

31 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

The 35th Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava, Rallye de Espana, which will start tomorrow at 08h00, is the first pure tarmac rally of the FIA World Rally Championship, after four events run on loose or snow-covered surfaces. The host town for this fifth event of the championship is Lloret de Mar, a holiday resort on the Mediterranean coast north-east of Barcelona. The first leg will go north, around Vic and Girona, with six stages (three repeated), that have long been part of the route, totalling 91.06km. Leg Two will head south-west with five stages (two run twice) in the vicinity of Tarragona. Drivers will face 181.65km of stages, including the longest of the rally, Gratallops-Escaladei of 45km and run twice , before returning to Lloret de Mar for a night's rest. The final leg, which will start on Sunday 21, consists of four (two run twice) of the first day's stages, covering 110.38km, before the finish on Lloret de Mar's seafront. While the northern stages take place on smooth, non-abrasive roads, on the second leg the surface condition will be significantly more aggressive, making it more difficult to conciliate tyres' resistance to wear and outright performance. The weather could play a significant part in the outcome of this event, which is now running three weeks earlier than usual. Rain is expected at some point on all three days

Subaru (35 points)

Richard Burns comes to Catalunya as the first English driver ever to lead the FIA World Rally Championship following his Portugal Rally win. This will be the first event for the Subaru Impreza WRC2000 on asphalt and Burns says he's still on a 'high' after his Portugal success. "The whole performance there has given me a great deal of confidence for Spain. I've got a head start at the moment but there's still a long way to go before I can think about the championship," he said. Team mate Juha Kankkunen admits that Portugal wasn't his best performance but he hopes to set the record straight in Catalunya. "The new car can do incredible things so I'll be trying my best."

Mitsubishi (20 points)

For the first time since Australia 1998, Tommi Makinen starts a rally not at the head of the FIA World Championship. "It doesn't feel so good like that," admitted the Finn the day before the event. He likes the Catalunya event and says it's quite a flowing rally. "You have to have the right settings of suspension and tyres or you can quickly slip backwards," he said. Team mate Freddy Loix has been the subject of much recent speculation but the team insists his place at Mitsubishi is not in jeopardy. "It will be a tough event, hard opposition, but I hope the weather is good. Tyre choice will be difficult if it rains."

Peugeot (20 points)

Many people are tipping the Peugeot team as pre-rally favourites in Spain with Gilles Panizzi and Francois Delecour registered for the points and Marcus Gronholm running only for Drivers' Championship points. "Asphalt suits both our car and our drivers," says team manager Jean- Pierre Nicolas. The car has enjoyed a fresh homologation since Portugal which means a modified engine with broader power band and now three active differentials. "The car is easier to drive and better balanced," says Panizzi. The three-car Peugeot team is joined in Spain by Fabrice Morel, one of France's 'win a drive in a 206WRC' competition winners.

Ford (17 points)

Carlos Sainz admitted before the start of the event that rallying on his home event could be "A bit of a headache." However he also added that victory on his home event would lead to the kind of headache he would enjoy as it would have been prompted by champagne on the podium! It is the first true asphalt event for Sainz in the Martini Racing Focus and he hopes to end his recent run of bad luck on his home event. Equally, team boss Malcolm Wilson would like to finally score points on a rally that has defeated his team since it took over the FIA World Championship programme four years ago. Colin McRae is still battling to break a run of ill-fortune that has seen him finish just one event of the last 12 but he enjoys the Catalunya Rally. "The stages are flowing and you can attack harder than normal," he said.

SEAT (7 points)

SEAT Sport will start its home event with a major technical change to the Cordoba WRC E2. Didier Auriol's car has now been fitted with a 'joystick' gearchange and the Frenchman is delighted. "It's like a dream," he said before the start. "I feel like I was born with a joystick as I developed it from the start at Toyota. It might not make a massive difference to individual stage times on its own but it lets me concentrate completely on my driving and I know I'll feel happier at the finish." Team mate Toni Gardemeister is tackling this event for the first time. "Two passes over the stages are not really good for me so I'm just going to drive to gain experience. I'm still going to be driving flat out though!" he joked.

Skoda (5 points)

Technical changes to the Skoda Octavias include a revised seating position, much further back in the car, to improve weight distribution. The cars are lighter than before but are still awaiting their new, more powerful, engines. The team is still the only one with a 100% scoring record this season - it has taken points on every round so far - and is naturally keen to maintain this result. "Our first priority is to finish the event," says team manager Pavel Janeba. "After that we'll look to finish on the points." Armin Schwarz will look back on the 1991 Catalunya Rally as his lone FIA World Rally Championship victory while team mate Luis Climent achieves a lifelong ambition by finally tackling his home rally as a factory driver.

Hyundai (0 points)

For its first asphalt event with the Accent WRC, Hyundai is relying on a pair of previously used cars, modified for asphalt use. Kenneth Eriksson had the second generation engine in Portugal and now it is Alister McRae's turn. "I am treating this event as an asphalt test session," admitted the Swede. We've mainly concentrated on gravel events before now so we've got a lot of work to do on asphalt." McRae added: "I'd have liked more time in the car as we've only scratched the surface of its capabilities. We need to make sure we get to the finish while we fine tune the settings during the rally."

Other teams

FIA Teams Cup entries in Spain come from Toyota Team Saudi Arabia, Spike Subaru and Team Atakan from Turkey with Abdullah Bakashab, Toshihiro Arai and Serkan Yazici respectively. The leading 2-litre entries come from Spain's Jesus Puras in a Citroen Xsara kit car, last year's winning machine, along with a Peugeot 306 Maxi for Renato Travaglia, the Hyundai Coupe once again for Australia's Michael Guest and a renault Megane Maxi for Belgian driver Kris Princen. Group N should be another close battle with all the leading contenders for the title present in Spain.

Text provided by FIA

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