The IRC heads to Russia

After the Belgian specials, the IRC championship moves east and more precisely to Russia where the sixth round of the season will take place. On tracks around Vyborg, competitors will experience a radical change compared to Ypres. From very narrow asphalt special stages, they will move on to very wide dirt tracks. If the temperature at this time of year is generally warm, violent storms cannot be ruled out, which would make the condition of the slopes very uncertain.

Under these conditions, the Finns generally appear intractable. As proof, they are the ones who won the last two editions. Anton Alen won in 2007 at the wheel of a Fiat Punto Super 2000 and Juho Hanninen won in 2008 at the wheel of a Peugeot 207 Super 2000. Victory could be between these two, especially since Kris Meeke, the winner of the last three rallies, is absent.

The Kronos team, which is entering the Peugeot 207 S2000 in the championship, has decided to skip this round - the general classification only takes into account the seven best results out of eight. Nicolas Vouilloz, Freddy Loix and Kris Meeke will therefore be absent. Only Russian driver Aleksandr Zheludov will defend the colors of the Lion brand. However, he will be at the start for the first time at the wheel of a 207 S2000.

Among the favorites, however, many headliners will be present. The Skoda drivers, Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky will be at the start. The latter could even take the lead in the Drivers' standings if he wins on Saturday afternoon. Guy Wilks at the wheel of the Proton Satria S2000 will also be there, as will Abarth drivers Anton Alen and Giandomenico Basso.

Le Rally of Russia presents 15 special stages which total 223,45 kilometers of special stages. The event will begin Thursday evening with four special stages then continue on Friday with two loops of three special stages. Among these, we will find the longest stage of the event: Topolki (29,31 km). The Rally will finally conclude on Saturday with five final stages before arriving in Vyborg at 15 p.m.