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A red-hot WRC goes to Turkey
The first half of the WRC championship will come to an end with the Rally Turkey as the summer break is looming. This is a race that returns to the calendar and will undoubtedly see another exciting and passionate battle between the world title contenders. Just one point separates the first two in the driver classification, Mikko Hirvonen and Sébastien Loeb, the latter moving into the top spot after the recent Rally Greece.
After the rally in Turkey the season will have a six week holiday. This break will come after the sixth consecutive rally on gravel this weekend. The date in Turkey was left out of the WRC calendar in 2006. Now it returns after two years and the organisers have been loyal to the route that has always been used.
The most notable novelty in this year´s Rally Turkey is the change in the date, the aim being to avoid the rains that spoiled the date two seasons ago. Temperatures over 30º and a high level of humidity will accompany the drivers on the 19 special sections; a total timed distance of 360km through the mountains of Anatolia and at heights that reach 1 800m.
The WRC is in Turkey at a very crucial time because after the Rally Greece there was a change in the leader. The Citröen driver, Sèbastien Loeb, will be hoping to strengthen his lead after ending up with just a single point advantage over the Finn Mikko Hirvonen after the latest rally. On the other hand the Spanish driver Dani Sordo (Citröen), is hopeful that he can put in a good performance this weekend where he has only competed once, but it is a race he has “goood memories of”.
6/11/2008
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