Since 2005, France’s round of the Championship - whether hosted on the island of Corsica or in Alsace - has been dominated by French drivers and only Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier have won in the last eight years. Both have also secured world titles on their home event and this year Ogier will be focused on securing back-to-back titles in the Polo R WRC.

The impressive entry list, topping more than 90 cars, also includes competitors from all the support championships and with just three rounds remaining this season, all the contenders will be set on securing top points on the shortest event of the year.

As in previous years, Sport+ (Canal+ Group) will be broadcasting all the stages live in France while stages 7, 11 and 18 - the Power Stage - will be broadcast live on the world feed.

RALLYE DE FRANCE ALSACE – ROUTE GRAPHICS

THE 2014 ROUTE

The 2014 Rallye de France Alsace route will be a mix of familiar and new for the contenders, with almost half the stage distance never previously used. There are four totally new stages; Pays Welche – Riquewihr and Mulhouse on Saturday, while Forêt de la Petite Pierre and Forêt de Saverne - which also runs as the closing Power Stage - make Sunday a completely fresh challenge. All other stages have modifications to previous years.

RALLY DATA

Total distance:                               1,232.94 km      

Stage distance:                             303.63 km (24.61%)

Number of stages:                         18

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

The accreditation centre is located in the Media Welcome Centre at Rue Emile Mathis - 67201 Eckbolsheim, Strasbourg (GPS: N 48°35.408’ E 007°40.803’). The opening hours are:

Tuesday 30 September                12:00-18:00 hrs

Wednesday 1 October                 08:00-19:00 hrs

Thursday 2 October                     07:30-19:00 hrs

Friday 3 October                         06:45-17:00 hrs

RALLYE DE FRANCE ALSACE TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA

Wednesday 1 October   

Mandatory rally by rally photographers briefing, Photographers’ Room         17:30 hrs

Thursday 2 October

Shakedown (P1 & P2 drivers)                                                                      08:00-09:30 hrs

Shakedown (P1, P2 and P3)                                                                       09:30-11:30 hrs

Meet the Crews, WRC Stage, Service Park, Zénith                                       10:30 hrs

Shakedown (non-priority drivers)                                                                  11:30-14:00 hrs

FIA Press Conference, Media Centre, Zénith                                                12:00 hrs

Autograph session (regional drivers), Maison de la Région, Strasbourg           16:00 hrs

Autograph session (priority drivers), Maison de la Région, Strasbourg            16:45 hrs

Ceremonial Start, Wacken, Strasbourg                                                        17:30 hrs

Friday 3 October

First car arrives for mid-day service and Media Zone                                           11:39 hrs

Regroup, Strasbourg Wacken                                                                           17:23 hrs

Autograph session (regional drivers), Maison de la Région                                   18:30 hrs

Autograph session (priority drivers), Maison de la Région                                     19:00 hrs

First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Zénith                                        20:30 hrs

End of day ‘Meet the Crews’, WRC Stage, Service Park, Zénith                            During the 45’ service

Saturday 4 October

First car arrives for remote service and Media Zone, Colmar                                10:35 hrs

Regroup, Mulhouse                                                                                         15:36 hrs

Autograph session (priority drivers), Stade de I’lll                                                16:45 hrs

Autograph session (regional drivers), Stade de I’lll                                               17:15 hrs

First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Zénith                                       20:10 hrs

End of day ‘Meet the Crews’, WRC Stage, Service Park, Zénith                           During the 45’ service

Sunday 5 October

Regroup, Saverne Parc du Château                                                                    09:05 hrs

Regroup, Saverne Parc du Château                                                                    11:15 hrs

First car arrives for final service and Media Zone, Zénith                                        13:00 hrs

FIA Press Conference, Media Centre, Zénith                                                        14:00 hrs

Prize-Giving and podium ceremony, Zénith                                                           15:00 hrs  

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday 2 October              Eric Camilli, FIA Junior WRC Championship

                                             Stephane Lefebvre, FIA Junior WRC Championship

                                             Quentin Gilbert, FIA WRC 2 Championship

                                             Pontus Tidemand, FIA WRC 2 Championship

                                             Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport

                                             Elfyn Evans, M-Sport World Rally Team

                                             Bryan Bouffier, Hyundai Motorsport N

                                             Marek Nawarecki, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Sunday 5 October                  Winning FIA WRC 2 Championship crew

                                              Winning FIA WRC 3 Championship crew

                                              Winning FIA Junior WRC Championship crew

                                              Top three crews in the overall classification

                                              Representative of the winning entrant

ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

‘Meet the Crews’: On Thursday (10:30 hrs), 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.

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.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found on the following link:

http://www.fia.com/championship/world-rally-championship/2014/classifications

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 link:

http://www.fia.com/championship/world-rally-championship/2014/rallye-de-france-stage-chart