A ‘Road Show’ in Porto last weekend helped set the scene for the 2010 WRC sixth round Vodafone Rally of Portugal which got under way at the Stadium of the Algarve yesterday (Thursday).
Present there, as here, were 13 of the contenders with their machines including six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb, title contenders Dani Sordo, Kimi Raikkonen, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, as well as domestic off-road racing hopes Armindo Araújo and Bernardo Sousa.
 BP Ford Abu Dhabi driver Khalid Al Qassimi returns to the WRC. |
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In total, the 44th edition of the competition’s Portuguese stage has a record number of 73 team entries, representing 32 countries from all five continents, taking in extensive parts of the Algarve and lower Alentejo before returning to the region’s Euro 2004 home for a concluding ‘Superspecial’ on Sunday.
Police forces from Faro to Beja are implementing safety arrangements, worked upon since March of this year, to ensure that spectators eager to witness the probable continuation of the constructors’ rivalry between Ford and Citroen along the 1,223km route can do so without danger.
The four-day spectacular also sees the return to WRC action of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi, best remembered for his spectacular crash here, the subsequent You Tube screening of which gained huge popularity – the Emirates star is acting as co-driver to BP-Ford principal Hirvonen.
This year’s Portugal spectacle is further enriched by the simultaneous staging of the first-ever ‘Revival Race’ involving classic cars built prior to 1981. The much larger than expected entry for this category is headed by ex-WRC champion Juha Kankkunen, a fact which will please both aficionados of the good old days as well as fans of the modern form of off-road racing.
For full details of the event visit www.wrc.com
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