Catalonia has always boasted of being the land of the motor par excellence. A loyal fan base, a long tradition and a powerful automotive and components industrial fabric came together to create a unique milestone on the sporting planet: three of the main motor world championships met periodically in this corner, in less than 100 years. kilometers around: Formula 1, MotoGP and the World Rally Championship (all three organized by the RACC).
Not anymore.
This year the RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada has fallen from the world trio, which in its 58th edition is held this Friday and Saturday on dirt roads in the Tarragona region, now as a scoring event for the S-CER, the Super Championship of Spain Rally.
From the WRC World Championship during 31 editions, to the state competition. A sensitive, painful reduction for a prestigious rally, a World Cup winner since 1991, which enjoyed great reception among Spanish and international fans, as proven by the 190,000 spectators it attracted (15% foreign), the 7,200 guests and more than 600 journalists from 25 countries...
For this 2023 edition of the WRC World Championship, the championship manager decided not to include Catalunya among the 14 rallies on the calendar. “For a strategic reason of the promoter” – they explained from the RACC – the German company WRC Promoter, based in Munich, preferred to host the Central European Rally, between Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany. The RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada accepted the non-renewal of the contract and focused on negotiating and preparing a return to the World Championship for 2024.
But neither.
The unofficial leaked calendar for next year does not include the Catalan test; So if he ends up not being in the 2024 World Cup, he will have been absent three editions in the last five years (2020, due to rotation imposed by the FIA). A too long discontinuity that compromises the future of the Catalan rally organized by the RACC.
The Spanish Automobile Federation does not want to resign itself to Spain being excluded from the World Cup. "We are insistent, we are working to return the event to the world championship, which is where it needs to be," said Manuel Aviñó, president of the Federation. "We have to be prepared if they call us again."
The new competitions (Poland, Latvia, Chile, formerly Mexico or Estonia), with fresh money for the WRC Promoter, have displaced Catalonia in the order of priorities, which paid one of the cheapest fees in the championship (2.2 million euros (the RACC said).
The improvements and innovations that the Automòbil Club has been introducing have been of little use to offer an attractive and cutting-edge test, such as the recovery of the mixed dirt-asphalt sections (from 2010 to 2019), the urban prologue through Barcelona (from 2014 to 2018 ), or have the best logistics for the teams with the Port Aventura service park, or the convenience of being one hour from Barcelona.
In the strictly sporting aspect, the 2023 RallyRACC (this Friday and Saturday), the star event of the S-CER (7th round of the 10 in the championship -9 scoring-), will be entirely on gravel for the first time. It will consist of 9 timed sections (123.39 km) and 63 teams will participate, two of them completely female.
José Antonio Cohete Suárez (Skoda Fabia) arrives in Salou as the outstanding leader, 31 points ahead of Iván Ares (Hyundai i20) and 58 ahead of Jan Solans (Hyundai i20). Also noteworthy is the return of Nil Solans (Skoda Fabia) and the current champion, Pepe López (Hyundai i20), both candidates for victory.
"It's a shame that the rally is not in the World Championship, but the stages are of high quality, WRC level," commented the eldest of the Solans brothers, Jan.
The rally will start on Friday with the Santes Creus section (12.49 km), passing through the monastery, in a double pass, in the Alt Camp region.
On Saturday, in Terra Alta, three double-pass stages are contested (La Pobla de Massaluca-Vilalba dels Arcs, 23.28 km; from Horta to Bot, 18.62 km; and in Gandesa, 6.49 km) and an urban special in Salou (1.63 km).
