Rally of Turkey stage guides - Friday

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

Rally Mexico - Friday's stage guide

After Thursday evening's ceremonial start in the historic city of Guanajuato, the proper competitive action of Corona Rally Mexico kicks off on Friday, when crews face 137.24 competitive kilometres arranged over nine special stages.

Cars will leave the Poliforum Service Park in Leon from 0700hrs to tackle a loop of three consecutive stages in the countryside east of the city. The morning loop ends back at the Poliforum with the short Coca-Cola Street Stage and a 30-minute midday service.

In the afternoon crews will repeat the three countryside stages, then make two passes of the Super Special Stage in the Leon Autodrome.


SS1/SS5 Alfaro (22.96km)
In general, Friday's stages are wider and more flowing than the ones on Saturday and Sunday and the opening test of the rally, Alfaro, is typical. The first 15 kilometres are really quick, wide, and on a road with a very good surface. In previous years this stage has been rocky, but this time organisers have run a grader though to make it a good deal smoother. There's still a lot of gravel around, but in places Alfaro resembles a stage from Rally Finland - just without the jumps. There's a character change for the last five kilometres, however, when the road becomes twistier.

SS2/SS6 Ortega (23.83km)
Even though Mexico is a rough gravel rally, this is quite a high-speed stage and one which is notoriously tough on brakes. It's caused a lot of problems in the past. Like Alfaro, Ortega has been graded this year and it's got faster as some of the narrow sections have been made wider. Some of the smaller corners have been straightened out altogether. It starts very fast for about 10km with lots of long crests across the top of the mountains. From there the road climbs for six kilometres straight, eventually levelling off at 2,737 metres - the highest point of the rally. Engines lose around 30 per cent of their power in the thin air at this altitude, and this is where the drivers will really feel it. The road stays more or less at the same altitude for about five kilometres and goes over some big dips, jumps and a river crossing until turning right at a narrow junction. After this point it is downhill and fast all the way to the finish. There are some very nice long corners in the closing kilometres but lots of concrete culverts to avoid too.

SS3/SS7 El Cubilete (18.87km)
El Cubilete is possibly the widest stage of the event and one of the fastest. It's practically fifth and sixth gear all the way through. Of course there are corners, but because the road is so wide, drivers will carry a lot of speed through them. The road changes character 5km near the finish, however, and the very final part is narrower very twisty with hairpins and some rocks and very big drop-offs on one side of the road. Drivers will have to be careful here because it's very easy to break the car.

SS4 Coca-Cola Street Stage (1.50km)
First used in 2008, when the rally wasn't included in the WRC, the street stage is like a mini super special built within sight of the Service Park. Tackled one car at a time, the asphalt stage is laid out in a huge park. It starts off with a few flat out corners, then turns into a succession of hairpins and 90 degree corners. It'll be over in a flash, but should be good to watch.

SS8/SS9 Super Special (2.2km each pass)
Many Super Specials sacrifice outright speed for technical sections, but this one is different; based in a motor racing complex on the outskirts of Leon it is wide with has a good high speed section as well as the normal tight and twisty stuff. Two at a time, drivers will tackle two jumps, two water splashes and a road surface which is a mix of gravel and asphalt. It's great fun to drive and should be good for the spectators, too.

Source: WRC