Rallies

The World Rally Championship holds events in 16 countries and on four continents. From January to November, the World Rally Championship takes a tour of the planet, starting in the mountains of Monaco and racing through Mexico and Argentina to conclude in the outback of Australia. Other countries hosting WRC rally events include Sweden, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Finland, Deutschland, Japan, Great Britain, Italy, France and Spain.

The World Rally Cars

World Rally Cars are far from ordinary. They appear familiar because FIA stipulates that every World Rally Car must originate from a four-seater road-car and be available to the general public (at least 25,000 of the road-car version must have been built). Underneath the familiar exterior lies high-tension steel, carbon fiber and world-class technology. World Rally cars have 2.0-liter turbocharged engines that produce over 300 horsepower, six-speed gearboxes and four-wheel drive. Extensive safety measures include a roll cage to protect driver and navigator in case of an accident.

The chassis of a WRC car is two to three times more rigid than a normal road car and comes complete with an ultra-stiff roll-cage and a tremendous amount of safety tubing (130 feet if laid out fully). Teams are allowed to add limited aerodynamic modifications to a car in order to improve performance.

Typically, it takes six mechanics working flat-out for three weeks to create a World Rally car.

Article Source: www.wrc.com