Zoom Alen knows the routes

Round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge takes the crews into the heartland of the Russian Federation, for Rally Russia. The ceremonial start takes place in the historic city of St Petersburg, which was the home of the Imperial Tsars for more than 200 years.

Nonetheless, the stages are based around the town of Vyborg – which belonged to Finland until 1944 – so it is no surprise that the roads are quite similar to those seen on the World Championship's famous Rally Finland.

Last year Finnish driver Anton Alen claimed a resounding victory through the Russian forests, which feature wide, fast, and flowing gravel stages. Some parts of the stages are very fast indeed, making Russia the quickest gravel rally that the IRC drivers will face all year.

However, these fast roads can still contain some traps to catch out the unwary. Several large stones litter the route, and these can become a particular problem during the second run through the stages.

Russia could not present a greater contrast to the last rally of the IRC series in Ypres. Whereas the Belgian asphalt stages require some extremely precise driving, the Russian gravel stages are all about getting a good flow and rhythm with the car so that it 'dances' from one corner to the next.

Rally Russia was run for the first time last year, but this time it has a very different look. The route has been extended by one day and 70 competitive kilometres, giving it a total competitive distance of 229.36 kilometres over 12 stages.

The first day of stages on Thursday takes in roads to the north of Vyborg, followed by a ceremonial start in the historic centre of St Petersburg, while days Two and Three are to the east of Vyborg, not far from the town of Kamennnogorsk.

The stages have mostly quite soft and almost sandy surfaces, which can cut up quite badly to expose the notorious stones. Part of the art of driving Rally Russia is knowing how to avoid picking up punctures in the tricky conditions.

The weather is forecast to be dry and hot, although there is always the possibility of unexpected showers.

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