Five days before the start of the Rally de Portugal, on Saturday, Robert Kubica and Maciek Baran will be running in the WRC Rally Sprint Fafe. This will be their first start on a gravel surface and an important round of training before the main event on April 12.

Almost thirty drivers will be starting the Portuguese event, many of whom are WRC leaders, including Mikko Hirvonen, Dani Sordo and Mads Oestberg. One driver who won’t be present is current overall leader Sebastien Ogier, who withdrew at the last minute due to illness.

The Fafe Rally Sprint consists of a special three-stage section running 6.34 km, with the first crews going out at 15:20. The organisers are expecting about 100,000 fans, many of whom will want to see the main attraction of this short rally, the ‘Salto da Pedra Sentada’ jump. In 2000, Armin Schwarz flew his Skoda Octavia WRC 73.5 meters over this fan-favourite take-off point. 

“It may sound strange, but I prefer this type of surface,”  said Kubica. “The difficulty for me, however, will be the limitations on right hand movement, because on this kind of surface you really have to work the wheel,”  he explained.

This week saw a round of testing in which Robert acquainted himself with the Citroen DS3 RRC’s performance on loose surfaces. The Polish driver also picked up some tips on gravel driving from nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb (WRC vice-champion), and four-time WRC winner Mikko Hirvonen.

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