Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles will feature night stages when it hosts the
second round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in April.
The event, which is based on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, will take place
from 14-16 April. To accommodate the night-time runs, organisers have made
several changes to the event itinerary with day ones action getting underway on
Friday at 13:00hrs local time and not finishing until the early hours of Saturday
morning (16 April).
Crews and their teams will then get a short rest before the rally continues at 07:30hrs on Saturday.
The finish is scheduled for 14:30hrs later that day.
In total the rally will feature 12 special stages with a competitive distance of 190.59 kilometres.
The bulk of the stages on Friday 15 April will focus on the south of the island initially before crews
head to the north of the island for the two night stages, Valleseco and Tejeda, which start at
22:16hrs and 22:49hrs respectively.
Sundays stages are based in the north of the island and are the same as those used on Friday
night, albeit run in reverse.
More event information is available at www.rallyislascanarias.com.
Neuville gets new co-driver for IRC bid
Thierry Neuville has acknowledged the efforts of his former co-driver Nicolas Klinger after
confirming that he would be linking up with fellow Belgian Nicolas Gilsoul for the balance of his
Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign with Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg this year.
Neuville and Klinger, who co-drove Nicolas Vouilloz to the IRC title in 2008, teamed-up for the
2010 season and scored a best result of third place on the Geko Ypres Rally in June.
However, Neuville has decided to change navigators and has recruited Gilsoul, a 29-year-old
fellow Belgian: I would like to thank Nicolas Klinger. He is an excellent co-driver and his taking and
reading of pacenotes were always perfect. Through his experience and connections I made a lot of
progress in understanding rallies with him but I no longer need a big brother with me he is 35 and
I am 22. He lives in southern France, me in Belgium, and we cannot meet each week but with
Nicolas [Gilsoul] we can.
Neuville and Gilsouls programme of rallies will be revealed tomorrow (Friday 18 February). They
will drive a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 run by the Belgian Kronos Racing team.
Settembrini set for more IRC events
Massimiliano Settembrini will tackle three more rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in
2011 following his run to 23rd overall on Rallye Monte-Carlo last month.
Settembrini, a 41-year-old from Italy, will drive a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 for the Munaretto Power
Car Team alongside co-driver and fellow Italian Corrado Bonato.
They will contest Rally Islas Canarais El Corte Ingles (14-16 April), Tour de
Corse (13-15 May) and Rallye Sanremo (22-25 September).
This is an ambitious challenge for which I wish to improve our very good
overall result on Monte-Carlo, said Settembrini. For the upcoming rounds, we
decided to limit competitions to all-asphalt rallies so to get a very good feeling
with our Peugeot. I am really looking forward to taking part on the next IRC
rounds being backed by such a great and professional team.
Wilks turns to karting to keep sharp
Guy Wilks will prepare for the upcoming asphalt rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge by
racing go-karts near his home in the north east of England.
Wilks, who is driving a Peugeot UK 207 Super 2000 in the IRC this year, has taken over the
running of a go-kart circuit and plans to get behind the wheel of his go-kart on a regular basis
ahead of the next IRC event of the season, the all-asphalt Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles in
April.
Rally drivers frequently use go-karts to hone their reflexes and in order to keep fit. Wilks said: Its
great for some Tarmac practice as I already have a Rotax Max go-kart. I can see some serious
practice going on.
The 30-year-old Wilks also intends to keep fit by riding trials bikes and his Peugeot-built bicycle.
He is currently third in the IRC drivers standings following his capture of the final podium spot on
Rallye Monte-Carlo last month.