Argentina BLOG

Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Argentina 2010

This year’s Rally Argentina will run to a two-day format bookended by an all-new superspecial stage in Villa Carlos Paz.

The event, which runs from March 19-21, is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge rather than the World Rally Chamnpionship this year.

The IRC’s leading drivers, Kris Meeke (Peugeot) and Skoda drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky will all contest the South American event.

The rally will begin with a first run at the superspecial stage close to the service park in Carlos Paz, before the crews head south on Saturday March 20 for the first full day of rallying in the Calamuchita valley including stages like the famous Santa Rosa-San Agustin test. The following day, attention switches to the Punilla valley roads before a return to the superspecial and the finish of the third round of the IRC.

Cutting the itinerary from three to two days means there will be no room on the schedule for the classic El Condor and Mina Clavero stages which have helped Rally Argentina achieve its iconic status.

About the Intercontinental Rally Challenge

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) is a rallying series organised by SRW Ltd and sanctioned by the FIA, aiming to “give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognized regional and international rallies, while offering organisers an innovative TV format concept, created by Eurosport.” This series focuses on Group N and Group A spec cars up to 2000cc (including Super 2000, R2 and R3). The series was born in 2006 with the name International Rally Challenge, switching in 2007 to its current name.

2010 Season:

- January 19-23 – 78° Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo
- March 4-6 – Rally Internacional de Curitiba (Brazil)
- March 19-21 – Rally Argentina (Argentina)
- June 4-6 – Rally d’Italia Sardegna (Italy)
- June 24-26 – Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally
- July 15-17 – Sata Rally Açores (Portugal)
- August 5-7 – Rali Vinho da Madeira (Portugal)
- August 27-29 Barum Rally Zlin (Czech Republic)
- September 9-11 – Rally Principe de Asturias (Spain)
- September 23-25 – Rallye Sanremo (Italy)
- October 14-16 – RAC MSA Rally of Scotland
- November 4-6 – FxPro Cyprus Rally (Cyprus)

____________________________________________
SOURCES:

“Rally Argentina gets new format”
By David Evans
Thursday, February 4th 2010
http://www.autosport.com
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81263

Intercontinental Rally Challenge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_Rally_Challenge