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Rally Sweden - Karlstad - 11 - 14 February
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 Sweden is the season's only true winter rally and returns to the WRC after a year's absence. For a classic winter event, freezing temperatures, snowy roads and solid snow banks lining the tracks are essential and organisers have selected stages further north in the hope of guaranteeing such conditions. Winter driving requires a different approach as drivers 'lean' cars on the banks to guide them round corners at maximum speed. Studded tyres are essential and ensure remarkable grip, making this one of the fastest rallies of the year. However, warmer (around 0°C) weather allows the studs to tear up the gravel, which rips them from the tyres to leave drivers with little grip. Making the cars (and people!) work properly in temperatures as low as -25°C is one of the major challenges. While Karlstad hosts the start, finish and super special stage, the service park has been relocated back to the airfield at Hagfors.
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Rally Mexico - León - 4 - 7 March
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 Mexico is the opening gravel round and also returns after a year away from the series. The stages run through the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains and the rally tops the year's altitude table, climbing through cacti-filled mountains to 2737m. They are a mix of fast, flowing roads and twistier, more technical sections with virtually all on smooth gravel. The ceremonial start is in Guanajuato, 50km from the rally base in León and considered to be the most beautiful city in the Americas and a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. The rally celebrates the 200th anniversary of Mexico's independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, in which León and Guanajuato played important roles. New for 2010 is a street stage next to the León service park, which was trialled in last year's non-championship event. It is one of the most compact events in the championship's history with 41 percent of the 860km route competitive. |
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Jordan Rally - Dead Sea - 31 Mar - 3 April
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 Jordan is back in the championship after a hugely successful debut in 2008, when it became the first Arab rally to appear in the series since 1976. The rally is again based on the banks of the Dead Sea, and competitors will speed through the earth's lowest land point at more than 400 metres below sea level. Purpose-built gravel roads in western and northern Jordan run through historical and biblical sites in and around the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea areas, centred within a 60km radius of the service park. World famous areas including the Baptism site and Mount Nebo form part of the rally route, which also runs alongside Jordan's border with Israel's West Bank, to provide a stunning backdrop. The picture-postcard ancient city of Jerash will host the start ceremony. Jordan is the first event to take advantage of new regulations for 2010 and the rally runs Thursday to Saturday to fit in with the Islamic weekend rather then the more usual Friday to Sunday. |
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Rally of Turkey - Istanbul - 15 - 18 April
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 This fourth round has been given a complete makeover. After previously being based in the small holiday resort of Kemer, near Antalya, there is a new base in Istanbul, the European Capital of Culture for 2010, which historically allows the event to span Europe and Asia. The service park and special stages are based in Asia, while the Thursday evening start ceremony is across the Bosphorus river in Europe. Competitors will travel to the start by ferry. All stages will be new to the WRC and while the surface is predominantly gravel, organisers have incorporated several asphalt sections to provide mixed surface tests. This is effectively a new rally for all. |
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Rally New Zealand - Auckland - 6 - 9 May
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 This is the longest trip of the year for the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. The fast, flowing and smooth cambered gravel roads of North Island are regarded by drivers as the best rally stages in the world, weaving through a green and verdant countryside - a result of the often wet weather. Set in the early part of New Zealand's winter, wet and cold conditions are likely. After several years based in Hamilton, the rally returns to Auckland with the start ceremony at the city's picturesque Viaduct Harbour. This is another rally to take advantage of new event guidelines with mixed surface stages and more than 400km of competition. The route heads north on the opening day to take in stages in the Northland region last used in 2005 and Sunday's action will include the iconic Whaanga Coast, perhaps the most picturesque stage in the entire championship. |
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Rally de Portugal - Faro - 27 - 30 May
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 Portugal is the first round of the season retained from the 2009 calendar and is again based near the holiday resort of Faro, on the Algarve coastline in the south. The stages in the Serra do Caldeirão hills, north of the town, blend fast, open roads and more technical stages on hard gravel tracks which can be abrasive in the dry. The rally is based at Algarve Stadium, built to host the 2004 European Soccer Championships. It hosts the single service park and also a super special stage inside the arena which launches the rally on Thursday evening and brings it to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon. |
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Rally Bulgaria - Borovets - 8 - 11 July
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 Bulgaria enters the WRC for the first time after hosting a successful candidate event in 2009. It is the first all-asphalt round of the season and, as a newcomer to the series, will be particularly difficult for the competitors who have no previous experience of the roads. It is based in Borovets, 70km south-east of capital city Sofia, which is Bulgaria's oldest ski resort and lies on the northern slopes of the Rila Mountains. The single service park is in Dolna Banya, a few kilometres to the north east, a small town best known for its hot spa waters. The stages are mainly located to the east of Dolna Banya, with Borovets hosting the finish ceremony on Sunday afternoon – just a few hours before the World Cup final.
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Rally Finland - Jyväskylä - 29 - 31 July
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 Finland is regarded as the spiritual home of rallying. The rally was formerly known as the 1000 Lakes Rally and is more affectionately termed the Jyväskylän Grand Prix by locals. Lightning fast, smooth gravel roads and huge ‘yumps’ which launch cars high into the air make this one of the year's classic events – a rally for the brave. Blind entries into corners emphasise the accuracy of pace notes and car positioning, and local knowledge gives the Finns a huge advantage. It is a sprint event in the truest sense of the word and one that the top Finns can drive much of by memory. An innovative town centre service park in Jyväskylä draws huge crowds. There are many highlights, although the classic Ouninpohja test, full of fast sweeping corners and roller-coaster jumps and rated the best stage in the world by many drivers, is no longer used. The rally celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. A Thursday evening city centre stage will determine the start order for Friday and the rally will finish on Saturday after two long days of competition. |
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Rallye Deutschland - Trier - 19 - 22 August
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 Germany returns to the series after a year's absence and is an asphalt event with marked variations in the character of the stages. The narrow vineyards of the Mosel region and the undulating, but fast, Saarland roads contrast with the daunting concrete tracks of the Baumholder military area, used by German and US soldiers for tank training. Baumholder is treacherous - slippery in both the wet and dry - and huge concrete kerbstones used to keep the tanks on the roads must be avoided at all costs. Organisers are planning a monster 48km test there this year, which is likely to be the longest of the 2010 season. A spectacular stage in the heart of Trier, based around the Roman Porta Nigra gate, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is hugely popular with fans. It is not one of the drivers' favourite events, although its location in central Europe proves a magnet for travelling fans. |
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Rally Japan - Sapporo - 9 - 12 September
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 Japan is the final long-haul round of the season. It entered the championship in 2004 as an all- gravel event based on Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan and almost 800km from Tokyo. The rally switched from the small town of Obihiro to the large city of Sapporo on its last championship appearance in 2008, and will again be based there in 2010. The stages are a mix of twisty gravel forest tracks, often tree-lined and with large drainage ditches alongside, and faster, wider roads. Early winter snow caused disruption in 2008, but an earlier date this year should avoid similar difficulties. |
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Rallye de France - 30 September - 3 October |
 Rallye de France is another round that will receive a complete makeover for 2010. After being based on the rugged Mediterranean island of Corsica since the WRC began in 1973, it will move to the mainland this year. Its new home will be the Alsace region of north-east France. The Rallye Alsace-Vosges was formerly a French Championship counter which ran in May. It was based in Strasbourg last year, although no host city has yet been announced for this year's rally. Another round where the preparation of accurate pace notes will be vital for success on roads which will be unfamiliar to most competitors. |
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Rally de España - Salou - 21 - 24 October |
 Spain hosts the fourth and final all-asphalt event. A good route and excellent organisation have made this championship counter popular with teams and fans. After many years in the Costa Brava resort of Lloret de Mar, organisers moved the event south of Barcelona to the Tarragona region in 2005. Weather could be hot and sunny but equally as likely that autumn weather could make conditions tricky. The route will again focus on Tarragona's asphalt. The rally is based at Port Aventura theme park, also the location for the single service park, on the edge of the bustling holiday resort of Salou. |
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Rally of GB - Cardiff - 11 - 14 November |
 Britain retains its position as the final round of the championship and a longer season means the event moves back from its late October date into the middle of November. As a result the weather, so often the biggest challenge of this rally, could be unpredictable with snow, ice, fog, rain and mud all possible – often on the same stretch of road! This is one of the WRC's classic events and a rally everyone wants to win. Based essentially in the mountain forests of south Wales, the route has journeyed into central Wales for the past two years and could go even further north this year. It is a tough event which usually brings plenty of retirements. |
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