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Rally Poland has been a staple of the ERC calendar since it first featured on the calendar in 1960. Since then, Rally Poland has featured in the WRC calendar 5 times, with the most recent one being in 2017. Thierry Neuville en route to win Rally Poland in 2017   But the rally wasn’t always held around the fast gravel roads in Mikolajki, the area where it is in now.  The rally has been held in Krakow, Ziemia kłodzka and Wroklaw in the South of Poland among others, with a variety of roads, as Rally Poland has also been a gravel, tarmac and mixed surface rally! The event was first held in the area it is presently known for in 2005. Bruno Thiry in a Peugeot 206 WRC finished 2 nd in 2003, on tarmac   What many people don’t know, is that the 2014 edition of the rally wasn’t actually the first time Poland held a rally in the World Rally Championship. Yes !, Poland actually featured on the calendar for the inaugural WRC season, all the way back in 1973, a whole 5...

  For our second throwback for Rally Portugal, we travel just over 10 years in the past in 2012. 2012 was a transitional year of sorts, as this was Petter Solberg’s and Sebastien Loeb’s final full season. This season also marked the end of Ford being a fully manufacturer team, as the blue oval cut it’s budget giving enough money to M-Sport to continue their project, and Volkswagen was eagerly awaiting on the sidelines for their 2013 debut. There was also a passing of the torch in the driver front as well, as the status quo of the Loeb/Hirvonen duopoly that was established after 2007, which was already expanded in 2010 with Latvala and Ogier, started fading with new drivers making their names known for the future, namely Ostberg, Neuville and Tanak. Driver’s photo before the Rally   Sebastien Loeb was leading the championship heading to Portugal after winning in Monte Carlo and Mexico, with teammate Mikko Hirvonen trailing by 16 points in 2nd. Petter Solberg was the fir...

  The WRC is back this week, with the 2 nd gravel rally of the season in Portugal. For that reason, this week we will be taking a look at some past versions of the rally, with the first one being the 2009 version.   Kalle Rovanpera won in Portugal last year despite being first on the road, beating Elfyn Evans by 15s   After the famous 2001 rally (or infamous I should say), Rally Portugal wasn’t featured on the calendar in 2002, and wouldn’t feature until 2007. The event wouldn’t be back to the north of Portugal though, that would take another 8 years, but in the south, in the Algarve, with the rally base being in Faro. Sebastien Loeb won the rally ahead of Petter Solberg after the Fords were given 5-minute penalties due a technical infringement. In 2008 the rally was part of the IRC, but it would return for 2009. A technical infringement dropped Marcus Gronholm from 2 nd to outside the podium places in 4 th   The entry list for Rally Portugal in 2...

  It’s a pretty common opinion that UK Gravel is currently missing from International rally calendars. And While a return of WRC to Wales is looking unlikely it’s fun to hypothesise alternative events that may fit into a ERC calendar.   Based in the North of England and therefore wanting to choose stages close and familiar to myself, there’s 3 main options. Kielder, Lake District and Yorkshire. Itgetsfasternow.com wrote a great fantasy route for a WRC based in Carlisle using Kielder and Lake District. So for my ERC route I’ve gone to Yorkshire and County Durham.   Some quick notes: All stages have been used since 2010 but can not be certain they’d be available currently Timings would likely need changing for TV The event gives a nod to RAC rallies of the past with stately home stages as well as the majority of forests being used on RAC rallies previous FIA ERC rules dictate a total distance between 180-220 kilometres and no more...