For the first time in four decades at the “Princesa” rally, formerly “Príncipe”, and before the Oviedo Grand Prix, the Ciudad Oviedo Grand Prix and even the Asturias Rally (1975), an Asturian driver will start with the number 1 on the doors of his car. The pravian José A. Suárez “Rocket” accompanied by Alberto Iglesias and on the Skoda Fabia R5 of the Recalvi team will wear the number 1 which boasts for being the leader of the Spanish Super Rally Championship.
In the 57 editions held so far, only two other Asturian pilots carried the number 1. It was carried by José M. Puig in 1977 and 1978 and José A. López Fombona in 1980 and 1981.
The “Princesa” Rally will be held on Friday 10th and Saturday 11th of September. It is a scoring sporting event for the European ERT, national S-CER and CERA Recalvi, and regional, and has more than 120 registered teams, among which there is no driver who follows the continental competition. The drivers will start the engines of their racing cars next Thursday to take the official start from the Plaza de la Catedral. There will be two days of competition, two stages, six sections and eleven timed sections that make up the organization chart of the Rally.
On On Friday morning the qualifying stage and shakedown will be held in Veranes (Gijón).
The first stage, on Friday, consists of two sections that are repeated twice (Morcin and Llanera) plus the urban one of Oviedo in La Florida. The race starts at 2.30pm in La Manjoya and ends at 10.20pm.
The next day, second stage with three timed sections that are repeated twice, starting at 9 am and ending at 7 pm on Avenida de los Ferroviarios de Oviedo. The special stages of Saturday 11 are Santa Bárbara, Nava and Sariego whose second step is the famous TC +. One of the great novelties will be that The top ten classified vehicles will compete in the last stage of the rally in reverse order, the formula applied in the world championship.
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