The opening section of the 66th Rally Poland is split over two days, with a Super Special kicking things off on Thursday night, followed by six high speed stages in the Mazurian Lake District east of host town Mikolajki on Friday.
Tonight's head-to-head Super Special gets underway from 2000hrs, one hour after a ceremonial start in Mikolajki.
After the 2.5km Super Special, cars will be stored overnight in a Parc Ferme until 0900hrs on Friday morning when they leave for a 15-minute service and then the first loop of stages.
Friday's route follows a familiar WRC format, with three stages run consecutively in the morning and repeated in the afternoon after a return to Mikolajki for a 30-minute service. After completing all six of Friday's stages, crews will return to Mikolajki for a day closing 45-minute service from 1653hrs.
Including the Super Special, day one comprises seven stages and a total competitive distance of 113.20 kilometres.
Stage descriptions:
Experienced rally co-driver Steve Turvey is the WRC TV location director and drives each stage during the pre-event recce to check camera positions. Here is what he thinks about the opening day's stages in Poland:
SS1/18: Mikolajki SSS. 2.5km
“The head-to head Super Special is located within sight of the Service Park. It's quite an interesting stage with a fairly wide road, a jump and a bridge crossing. The stage surface is unusual, with tarmac covered by gravel, so it should be slippery."
SS2/5: Grabowka. 12.09km
“Friday's opening stage is typical of the day, and pretty much the whole rally. With the exception of the Super Special the Polish stages are all located in a compact area close to Mikolajki, so they are all fairly similar. Grabowka looks like it has a hard-baked surface, but it's actually quite sandy and soft. I doubt it will clean at all; instead it will cut up pretty badly for the second pass. It starts off on a short tarmac section, which leads to some jumps in the first 700 metres. Once on gravel it stays wide and fast for the first six kilometres, then turns onto a long section lined with straw bales. Like on many stages the organisers have positioned massive plastic-wrapped circular bales here to prevent cars cutting corners and damaging the verges. They've also created a number of chicanes on the faster sections to keep average speeds down. Between the six and kilometre mark the road looks like it could be in Finland. It will be great fun to drive, but the chicanes will prevent the drivers getting into the natural rhythm of the road."
SS3/6: Pianki. 11.34km
"The middle stage of Friday's loop starts very fast on a sandy road. After three kilometres there's a bridge and the road turns sharp right onto a far sandier surface which is going to cut up badly. For there until the six kilometre point the road goes through woodland. There are overhanging trees and the shade means this section won't dry too quickly if it's wet. After that there's a short sprint over a cobbled section then one kilometre on tarmac. By eight kilometres the road is back on the sandy surface and it stays like that until the end."
SS4/6: Paprotki. 33.17km
“The longest stage of the rally, this one starts in a dramatic way with a huge jump 250 metres in. From then it gets very fast, with lots of sweeping S-bends on roads lined with bales. Then it gets narrower and goes through a farmland section where the wheat either side of the road is almost at roof height - it's a bit like a bob sleigh run. The stage features dozens of surface changes, from sandy gravel to bedrock, with sections of cobble stones and tarmac thrown in too. There are several hay bale chicanes to watch out for in the second half, and a big jump over the main road at the 28km mark."
Sumber: http://www.wrc.com