The 2010 International Rally of China beckons the team next week for the 7th and final round of the APRC. And we hear it’s one of the toughest rallies around with tight and twisty mountainous terrain.
The 2010 International Rally of China will be staged in Longyou County, Zhejiang Province from Friday 5th November to Sunday 7th November. This will be the final leg of the 2010 APRC. The event is sanctioned by the State General Administration of Sports of China and the FIA and organized by Federation of Automobile Sports of China.
So we know that the event has been happening for twelve years and has become an important international event in China. The special stages that will be run through the forest of bamboo, Longyou is competent to hold any rally competition. This year the organizers chose some new special stages which will certainly add more fun to the event. The Shiyuan track will also be used as the super special stages.
Cody Crocker was crowned APRC champion in the 2009 China rally under the Singapore based Motor Image Rally Team driving with the Subaru Impreza WRX STI. His co-driver was Ben Atkinson and together they took control of the rally, setting the fastest time in both days, and finishing with a time of 3hr 40min 47.6seconds. Teammate and female rally driver Emma Gilmour came in second.
The PROTON team with Alister McRae secured a 4th overall placing in the 2009 rally.
A little bit about Longyou…Longyou is blessed with mountains, hills, plains and rivers. It’s a good place to take naturesque pictures. Peaks, cliffs, caves, stones, pools and lakes integrate the human culture into typical sights with over 100 protection units of culture relics at municipal, provincial or national level. The Longyou Folk House Center in Jiming Hill gathers a good many ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the Great Bamboo Sea of West Zhejiang in South Longyou, the Three-folded Cliff and the ancient Zhaoqing Temple of the Tang Dynasty, and is a favourite tourist destination.
Then there are the famous Longyou Grottos, featuring magnificent scale, scientific structure, exquisite decoration and complicated puzzles,which is praised to be an Age-old Mystery and the World Ninth Wonder. The Grottos are a tourist attraction and is an important protection unit of cultural relics at provincial level.
So for this year, spectators to Longyou will be able to witness the incredible action, speed and adrenalin that this sport brings, while at the same time enjoying the beautifully historic and cultural Longyou. And hopefully the team will give us a show we will be proud of.
More updates to come on the rally and team. Stay tuned!
Source: Proton Team Release