WRC - 2015 Rally Poland - Preview
The event, which is the second oldest rally in the world, returns to the World Championship for the fourth time since its inception in 1921 but, unlike last year, will run solely amid the picturesque Masurian lake district of Poland.
Based around the tourist lakeside resort of Mikołajki, nearly 250 kilometres north of Warsaw, the route has undergone extensive modification and the 2.5 kilometres making up the super special stage are the only competitive kilometres to be completely unchanged. Characterised by its fast roads, with speeds approaching those on Rally Finland, the added challenge of Rally Poland is the tall grass lining the sides of the road, reducing visibility going into corners and making cutting a risky business.
Aside from the 14 World Rally Car crews entered in the event, including the crowd-pulling talent of Robert Kubica, LOTOS Rally Poland is a qualifying round of all the WRC’s support championships. An impressive list of 30 crews have registered in the FIA WRC 2 Championship, including three-times Polish Rally Champion and three-times winner of Rally Poland, Krzysztof Holowczyc, while the competition will remain hot in the FIA WRC 3 Championship, which also includes nine of the registered FIA Junior WRC Championship contenders.
Three stages will be broadcast live on the international feed; SSS1 on Thursday, SS13 on Saturday and the all-important Power Stage on Sunday (SS19).
LOTOS RALLY POLAND – ROUTE GRAPHICS
THE 2015 ROUTE
The event kicks off with a ceremonial start in Mikołajki’s town square on Thursday and is immediately followed by the first of three runs around the super special stage. Friday will be a tough day with nearly 160 competitive kilometres and nothing more than a tyre change during the middle of the day. One stage – Stanczyki – has also never been run in any edition of Rally Poland. Saturday’s route is shorter and includes eight stages, three of which are run twice, while Sunday is a short dash to the finish with two runs over the 14.60 kilometre Baranowo test, the second run counting as the Power Stage.
RALLY DATA
| Total distance: | 1,192.50 km |
| Stage distance: | 313.53 km (26.3%) |
| Number of stages: | 19 |
RALLY POLAND TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIAMEDIA ACCREDITATION
The Accreditation Centre is located in the Hotel Golebiewski, 34 Mragowska Street, 11-730 Mikołajki. The opening hours are:
| Wednesday 1 July | |
| Mandatory rally by rally photographers briefing, | 17:45 hrs |
| photographers' room | |
| Thursday 2 July | |
| Shakedown (P1 and P2 drivers) | 08:00-09:30 hrs |
| Shakedown (P1, P2 and P3 drivers) | 09:30-11:30 hrs |
| Shakedown (Non-Priority drivers) | 11:30-13:30 hrs |
| Meet the Crews, WRC Stage, Service Park | 11:45 hrs |
| FIA Press Conference, Press Room | 12:15 hrs |
| Autograph session, Mikolajki main square | 15:30 hrs |
| Ceremonial start, Mikolajki main square | 16:00 hrs |
| SSS1 | 19:00 hrs |
| Friday 3 July | |
| Regroup and tyre fitting zone, Goldap | 13:15 hrs |
| Regroup and Media Zone, Mikolajki | 18:52 hrs |
| First car arrives for final service and Media Zone | 19:25 hrs |
| End of day ‘Meet the Crews’, WRC Stage, Service Park | During the 45' service |
| Saturday 4 July | |
| First car arrives for regroup, mid-day service and | 13:23hrs |
| Media Zone | |
| Regroup and Media Zone, Mikolajki | 20:05 hrs |
| First car arrives for final service and Media Zone | 20:38 hrs |
| Meet the Crews, WRC Stage, Service Park | During the 45' service |
| Sunday 5 July | |
| Regroup, Mikolajki | 10:10 hrs |
| First car arrives for final service and Media Zone | 13:00 hrs |
| Prize-Giving and podium ceremony | 14:00 hrs |
| FIA Press Conference, Press Room | 14:30 hrs |
FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE
| Thursday 2 July | Henri Haapamaki, FIA Junior WRC Championship |
| Osian Pryce, FIA Junior WRC Championship | |
| Andrea Crugnola, FIA WRC 3 Championship | |
| Sander Parn, FIA WRC 2 Championship | |
| Krzysztof Holowczyc, FIA WRC 2 Championship | |
| Mads Ostberg, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | |
| Kevin Abbring, Hyundai Motorsport N | |
| Ott Tanak, M-Sport World Rally Team | |
| Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Motorsport II | |
| Robert Kubica | |
| Sunday 5 July | Winning FIA Junior WRC Championship crew |
| Winning FIA WRC 3 Championship crew | |
| Winning FIA WRC 2 Championship crew | |
| Top three crews in the overall classification | |
| Representative of the winning entrant |
Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day service at the teams’ service areas.ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
‘Meet the Crews’: On Friday and Saturday the top three drivers will attend a ‘Meet the Crews’ session for media and fans. This will take place on the WRC Stage at the earliest opportunity during the 45’ service.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS
The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found here.
STAGE CHART
Shortly after the finish of the event, a downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally will be available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following here.
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