JORDAN RALLY, April 14-16th, 2011
Incorporating…
2011 FIA World Rally Championship, round 4
2011 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, round 3
For immediate release
Monday, April 11th, 2011
WRC EQUIPMENT AND VEHICLES SET TO ARRIVE
AT DEAD SEA FOR JORDAN RALLY ON TUESDAY
· Jordan rally recce put back to Tuesday and Wednesday
· Shakedown test rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon
· WRC and MERC crews gather at the Dead Sea for weekend action
DEAD SEA (Jordan): While officials at Jordan Motorsport put the finishing touches to the route and format for this weekend’s Jordan Rally, round four of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship, WRC teams and support staff are anxiously waiting for the arrival of the logistics equipment, service vehicles and race cars, which have been delayed in transit from Europe and should now arrive at the Dead Sea on Tuesday afternoon.
The unfortunate delay means that Jordan Motorsport have been forced to revise the timetable for the week’s pre-rally activities and competitors will now carry out their timed reconnaissance of the special stages on Tuesday and Wednesday morning in rental cars or cars supplied by rally officials.
The delay has also forced event officials to push the traditional shakedown test back in the timetable until Wednesday afternoon and has also forced the official pre-event press conferences to re-arranged.
This is not the first time that WRC officials have carried out emergency changes to the timetable of an event. Shipping delays into Limassol caused last minute panic in Cyprus in 2005 and inclement weather forced organisers to cancel a leg of the Rally of Argentina a few years ago. An Icelandic volcanic ash cloud over Europe also forced WRC officials to return to Europe by road and sea last year from the Rally of Turkey.
Meanwhile, drivers taking part in both the main WRC event and the third round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship on Friday and Saturday have arrived at the Dead Sea and are soaking up the pre-rally atmosphere at the lowest point on earth.
British co-driver Steve Lancaster is co-driving for the UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah Al-Qassimi in the Middle East section of the entry list. “It is one of those unfortunate delays that can happen,” said Lancaster. “Some of us are here and ready to do the recce but our hands are tied at the moment.”
Assuming there are no further delays with the arrival of cars and equipment, 31 teams will tackle the WRC section of the event and 20 timed special stages on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Eighteen crews are taking part in the regional section of the Jordan Rally and will tackle 14 timed tests in the area around the Dead Sea.
Ends
For further media information:
2011 Jordan Rally Press Office, Main Media Centre, King Hussein Ben Talal Convention Centre, Dead Sea, Jordan, Mobile: + 962 79 9036490, E-mail: media@jordanrally.com or ndppublicity@googlemail.com
www.wrc.com
www.merc-fia.com
www.jordanrally.com