WRC Rallye de France Alsace 2012

WRC Rallye de France Alsace 2012 – Preview

RSL Staff

– October 2, 2012Posted in: Featured, News, WRC

The 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders back to sealed surfaces for this year’s Rallye de France Alsace. Returning to the Alsace region for the third year, the organisation had made modifications to its route, while retaining the Zénith de Strasbourg as the hub of the event.

The competitive element of the event kicks off on Thursday evening with an all-new super special stage in Strasbourg, which will take the crews between the Hôtel de Région and the European Parliament. Friday takes the contenders to the Haut-Rhin region, where one new stage has been added before the day is rounded off with the short test in the town of Mulhouse. Saturday is by far the longest of the event with 192.80 kilometres of competition and while Sunday only covers 61.54 competitive kilometres it looks set to be a spectacular day, rounded off with the short street stage in Haguenau.

This year, Rallye de France Alsace will also be covered live on television for the duration of the event, with Sport + (Canal + Group) broadcasting all the competitive action.

RALLYE DE FRANCE ALSACE – ROUTE GRAPHICS

CHANGES TO THE ROUTE SINCE 2011

This year’s Rallye de France Alsace runs to a similar format as last year albeit with modifications to a number of stages. There are however three completely new tests; the Super Special Stage in Strasbourg, the 19.93 kilometre Soultzeren – Pays Welche, and Pays de la Haute Bruche which covers 24.04 competitive kilometres.

RALLY DATA

Total distance:
Stage distance:
Number of stages:

1,404.89 km
404.14 km
22

RALLYE DE FRANCE ALSACE TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

Thursday 4 October
Shakedown (P1 and P2) - 07:30-09:30 hrs
Shakedown (P1, P2, P3, optional) - 09:30-10:30 hrs
Shakedown (P3, optional non-priority and WRC Academy) - 10:30-13:00 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Zénith - 12:00 hrs
Official photo, Strasbourg City, super special stage - 15:10-15:25 hrs
Autograph session, Strasbourg City, super special stage - 15:30-16:00 hrs
Drivers’ Parade, Strasbourg City, super special stage - 16:10-16:20 hrs
Start and super special stage, Strasbourg City - 16:25 hrs

Friday 5 October
First car arrives for regroup, remote service and Media Zone, Colmar - 12:12 hrs
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Zénith - 20:15 hrs
End of day Press Conference, Service Park, Zénith - During the 45’ service

Saturday 6 October
First car arrives for re-group, service and Media Zone, Zénith - 12:45 hrs
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Zénith - 18:45 hrs
FIA WRC Academy prize-giving, WRC Academy village - 20:30 hrs
End of day Press Conference, Service Park, Zénith - During the 45’ service

Sunday 7 October
First car arrives for re-group, Haguenau - 11:26 hrs
First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Zénith - 15:34 hrs
Prize-giving and podium ceremony, Zénith - 16:00 hrs
FIA Press Conference, Press Room, Zénith - 16:45 hrs

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday 4 October
Elfyn Evans, FIA WRC Academy
Brendan Reeves, FIA WRC Academy
Craig Breen, FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship
Hayden Paddon, FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship
Sébastien Loeb, Citroën Total World Rally Team
Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford World Rally Team
Yvan Muller
Romain Dumas

Sunday 7 October
Winning FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship crew
Top three crews in the overall classification
Representative of the winning entrant

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

‘Meet the Crews’: On Friday and Saturday the top three drivers will attend a ‘Meet the Crews’ session for media and fans. This will take place in the service park on the ‘WRC Stage’ at the earliest opportunity during the 45’ service.

Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day 45’ service at the teams’ service areas.