This year’s event will feature competitors from no less than 32 countries on four continents, as 85 crews in total take the start of the first mainland European gravel rally of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship season.
Not surprisingly, the largest representation is from the home nation, with 17 Portuguese entrants taking part in the event. Close behind are France, Finland and Spain, each represented by six crews with the UK and Italy represented by five crews each.
Eastern Europe sees four entries from Estonia, Norway and Poland while the Ukraine is responsible for three. There will be two cars from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Sweden and from Middle Eastern countries of the UAE and Qatar. There will also be four from South American; two from Peru and two from Argentina.
Finally, there will be a single crew from each of the following countries; Germany, Cyprus, Slovakia, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Australia.
The wide spread of competitors demonstrates the event’s appeal, providing a renowned combination of organisation, challenging and enjoyable roads, superb facilities and excellent opportunities for fans, within the stages, on TV and online.
The first day of the 2014 Vodafone Rally de Portugal in which drivers will be at the wheel of the rally cars.
The morning is reserved for the Recce of the remaining three stages of the Rally from 7am to 1pm, with the Shakedown starting at 1:30pm for the WRC and WRC2 teams. With no down time in between, the WRC3 Shakedown starts at 4:30pm, with all other drivers starting at 6pm and finishing one hour later.
Meanwhile, the FIA Pre-event Press Conference with the main stars is schedule for 6pm. The day ends with Section 1 & 2 Start list publication at 19h30.
Local time: GMT +1
Weather forecast:
Algarve Stadium
Vale Judeu (Shakedown)
Santa Clara (SS 8/11 Recce)
Loulé (SS 14/16 Recce)
São Brás de Alportel (SS 15 Recce)
Santana da Serra (9/12 Recce)
Ourique (3/6 Recce)