WRC star Dani Sordo steps into the MRF Tyres driving seat for the Azores Rallye in Portugal
Team MRF Tyres returns to the FIA European Rally Championship as the second half of the season gets underway with the Azores Rallye held in the Portuguese island of San Miguel.
WRC ace and multiple winner, Dani Sordo joins the team as the aggressive development push continues.
Cándido Carrera will sit beside Sordo in the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 for the first of the Portuguese rounds that takes place on the Azores archipelago, some two hours flying time off the Portuguese mainland.
The Azores Rallye sees the Championship return to gravel, and with the volcanic nature of the island, the surface will present a unique challenge to the crews.
With 13 stages and 201km of competitive action, the crews will face a series of long stages. To complicate matters, the weather on the Azores is notoriously fickle, where rain and fog can come and go at a moment’s notice.
The rally commences on Thursday with free practice and qualifying with a blast around the 3.12km Lagoa test, which will help determine the starting order for the Friday stages.
Friday takes the crews into the forest on the east of the island where the crews will face six stages and 111.90km of competitive action.
The drivers will have to concentrate from the first kilometres as a 24.03 km Graminhais test starts the rally. Immediately, the 21.89km Tronqueira 1 stage follows before the 15.96km Lagoa de São Brás completes the leg.
The first two stages are repeated in the afternoon loop but the final stage of the day is a run around the spectator super special stage of Grupo Marques.
Saturday is the final day of the 55th Azores Rallye and sees seven stages and 88.84km of competitive action. The day starts to the north of the Ponta Delgada service park with the 11.40km Coroa da Mata stage.
Feteiras follows at 7.46km before the legendary 24.01km Sete Cidades stage takes the crews around the edge of the volcano on the east of the island. A second run around the spectator super special stage ends the loop.
The final three stages are a repeat of the morning’s three stages, meaning that the rally will end on the spectacular Sete Cidades stage. Ending the rally on a 24.01km stage means that concentration is needed to the final metres.
Team MRF Tyres along with Sordo and Carrera will be looking for important data on this unique surface.
Fans on the Azores can spectate in a Covid-19 safe manor and those at home can follow each stage live on FIA ERC radio (www.fiaerc.com/live-radio).
The pre-event press conference will be live-streamed on Thursday. Stages two and five will be streamed on Friday and stages nine and 13 will be streamed on Saturday. The FIA ERC will host their live streams on Facebook and YouTube.
You can follow Team MRF Tyres throughout the rally on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Quotes
Dani Sordo, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“It is the first time that I am in the Azores and the first time I am with MRF Tyres. I have to say it looks amazing. I was happy with the conditions in testing and the MRF Tyres worked well.”
“I am happy to be here to help develop the tyres. They have a lot of potential and running here this weekend will gain a lot of data for the development.”
“Primarily we are here to develop the tyre but we also want to fight for a good result. I am looking forward to starting the rally.”