After Thursday afternoon’s ceremonial start in Istanbul, the proper competitive action of Rally of Turkey kicks off on Friday with one of the longest road trips of the season.
Driving non-competitive liaison sections between Special Stages is one of the features that sets rallying apart from other forms of motorsport, but Friday’s opening day in Turkey is one of the most extreme examples. With 98km of timed stages and a marathon 333km of road sections, Friday’s liaison to stage ratio is one of the lowest of the year at just 27 per cent.
After leaving the Service Park from 0800hrs, crews trek northeast for a loop of four consecutive stages before returning to Pendik for a 30-minute service. In the afternoon crews repeat the same four stages before another long drive to the asphalt Superspecial in Istanbul. The 45-minute end of day service gets underway at 2130hrs.
Here are our wrc.com stage notes for Friday’s stages. Under the summaries you'll find our list of essential website links to help you follow the rally via our live results service.
SS1/SS5: Darlik. 15.66km
Rally of Turkey begins with one of its toughest stages. Darlik winds down the side of a valley from the start, then becomes super fast as it reaches the valley floor and crosses over a dam wall. It's an awkward piece of road, with lots of adverse camber corners and no natural flow, so it will be tricky for the drivers to settle into any kind of comfortable rhythm. Of note in this stage is the number of huge, blind crests - it’s like a roller coaster in places. Generally the stage winds through open countryside but things slow a bit in last third as it goes through a tighter tree-lined section.
SS2/SS6: Karabeyli. 8.23km
In contrast to Darlik, Karabeyli is generally quite narrow but the road flows a bit better. It’s one of the few stages in Turkey to have a consistent surface; there's generally a light covering of gravel over a hard packed base, so if it stays dry this stage will clean quite a lot. The stage ends in a tree-lined section on the valley floor.
SS3/SS7: Bozgoca. 13.52km
The third stage of the loop is a tale of two distinct halves. It starts hard and fast - like Karabeyli - then at the midway point it turns left on to a more open moorland road with no natural flow to it - like Darlik. After climbing uphill and then dropping down into the valley from the start, the stage becomes fairly quick and flowing from the 7km point. In general, there is a thicker layer of gravel on the road surface here than the previous two, so it should clean only in some places.
SS4/SS8: Halli. 9.60km
Run entirely through open land, this stage is absolutely flat out from start to finish except for two chicanes in the last two kilometres to bring speeds down. Even including these measures Halli is likely to be the fastest stage of the rally. The route features a number of flat out blind crests, and a huge jump across tarmac road at the 3km point. The surface is quite smooth and should clean throughout.
SS9: SSS Istanbul. 2.20km
The day ends with an all-asphalt head-to-head Superspecial in central Istanbul. The stage was measured at 1.8km during the recce. The layout is extremely technical; with numerous hairpin corners, an extremely steep jump and a tunnel to negotiate. Running an asphalt stage on gravel tyres is going to limit the amount of grip available here - and things will get worse if it rains.
You can follow the rally via the WRC's official website here.
Source: WRC
Driving non-competitive liaison sections between Special Stages is one of the features that sets rallying apart from other forms of motorsport, but Friday’s opening day in Turkey is one of the most extreme examples. With 98km of timed stages and a marathon 333km of road sections, Friday’s liaison to stage ratio is one of the lowest of the year at just 27 per cent.
After leaving the Service Park from 0800hrs, crews trek northeast for a loop of four consecutive stages before returning to Pendik for a 30-minute service. In the afternoon crews repeat the same four stages before another long drive to the asphalt Superspecial in Istanbul. The 45-minute end of day service gets underway at 2130hrs.
Here are our wrc.com stage notes for Friday’s stages. Under the summaries you'll find our list of essential website links to help you follow the rally via our live results service.
SS1/SS5: Darlik. 15.66km
Rally of Turkey begins with one of its toughest stages. Darlik winds down the side of a valley from the start, then becomes super fast as it reaches the valley floor and crosses over a dam wall. It's an awkward piece of road, with lots of adverse camber corners and no natural flow, so it will be tricky for the drivers to settle into any kind of comfortable rhythm. Of note in this stage is the number of huge, blind crests - it’s like a roller coaster in places. Generally the stage winds through open countryside but things slow a bit in last third as it goes through a tighter tree-lined section.
SS2/SS6: Karabeyli. 8.23km
In contrast to Darlik, Karabeyli is generally quite narrow but the road flows a bit better. It’s one of the few stages in Turkey to have a consistent surface; there's generally a light covering of gravel over a hard packed base, so if it stays dry this stage will clean quite a lot. The stage ends in a tree-lined section on the valley floor.
SS3/SS7: Bozgoca. 13.52km
The third stage of the loop is a tale of two distinct halves. It starts hard and fast - like Karabeyli - then at the midway point it turns left on to a more open moorland road with no natural flow to it - like Darlik. After climbing uphill and then dropping down into the valley from the start, the stage becomes fairly quick and flowing from the 7km point. In general, there is a thicker layer of gravel on the road surface here than the previous two, so it should clean only in some places.
SS4/SS8: Halli. 9.60km
Run entirely through open land, this stage is absolutely flat out from start to finish except for two chicanes in the last two kilometres to bring speeds down. Even including these measures Halli is likely to be the fastest stage of the rally. The route features a number of flat out blind crests, and a huge jump across tarmac road at the 3km point. The surface is quite smooth and should clean throughout.
SS9: SSS Istanbul. 2.20km
The day ends with an all-asphalt head-to-head Superspecial in central Istanbul. The stage was measured at 1.8km during the recce. The layout is extremely technical; with numerous hairpin corners, an extremely steep jump and a tunnel to negotiate. Running an asphalt stage on gravel tyres is going to limit the amount of grip available here - and things will get worse if it rains.
You can follow the rally via the WRC's official website here.
Source: WRC
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