SPAIN: Subrau RTS Rally Principe de Asturias preview

Everything is ready for Subaru Rally Team Spain to face one of the more important rallies of its 2009 schedule, the Principe de Asturias, to be held this weekend, and is a round of the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) and the Spanish Tarmac Rally Championship.

The works team of Subaru Spain will enter the event with three Impreza Prodrives, prepared by KRS, for Enrique Garcia Ojeda-Jordi Barrabes, Mario Ceballos-Borja Rozada and Egoi Eder Valdes-Daniel Lucas. This triple presence has meant a huge effort for the KRS technical staff which has been working flat out to get ready the car damaged in Ferrol less than two weeks ago.

The international and national importance of the 'Principe' allows the participation of the cars in groups' dependant on the different regulations of the series involved, which in the case of the Subaru Rally Team Spain means that Ojeda and Ceballos will compete with their Imprezas in Spanish championship specification, while Valdes will enter his car under FIA rules. They all are very motivated by this rally, as they will have the chance to measure themselves against the best European drivers, especially the current Spanish champion, Quique Ojeda, will meet again on the Principe some of the drivers that were his rivals when he won the IRC title in 2007.

The 46th Rally Principe de Asturias begins on Thursday with the shakedown, the scrutineering and the ceremonial start, in the city center of Oviedo. Friday will be the longest and toughest day of the rally, with the running of the nine special stages of the first leg, with the event being completed on Saturday morning with six more special stages. In total, 15 special stages and more than 250 timed kilometres where the Subaru Impreza Prodrives prepared by KRS will be sure to be among the most competitive cars.

More information about the rally can be found at www.rallyprincipe.com. Furthermore as the Principe is a round of the IRC it will mean coverage of the event by the TV channel Eurosport, with live feeds during the two days of competition, as well as a comprehensive summary at the end of the event.

-credit: srts