First becoming part of the WRC in 1973 and selected as best event of the season on several occasions, Rally Portugal has a long rallying heritage. However, it was replaced by the tarmac event Rallye Deutschland in 2002. Portugal returned to the WRC in 2007, but as it wasn’t one of the P-WRC rounds that year, this is the first hosting for the competitors in the series established in 2002. (Rally Portugal was held as an IRC event in 2008)

The stages, set in the hills around Algarve generally have a smooth topping of gravel but a very compact, hard base. This means that if it rains, the roads could become very slippery. The stages have a wide range of variation including some narrow mountain tracks, fast sections and also a spectacular water splash, reminiscent of a bygone era of Rally Portugal. Just as it was at the last round in Cyprus, Rally Portugal is one of four events this season that counts towards the WRC, P-WRC and J-WRC titles.

Therefore all P-WRC runners will be given an extra “1” on top of their permanent competition car numbers for the series, making the numbers three digits.

The total number of Special Stages is 18; two of them run as Super SS. Some of the stages have been used in the past, but over 50% of the stages as a whole are new. The event will kick off with the Super SS on Thursday night, April 2nd. The following day, Friday is Day 1, with two loops of three stages each, set to the north of Algarve. Day 2 is also run north of Algarve, and is also two loops of three stages again. All of the stages are over 20kms long. The final day’s route is set just 20kms north of Algarve, two loops of two stages each followed by a second and final visit to the Super SS at Algarve Stadium.

The Service Park will be located in the car park of Algarve Stadium, a spectacular sports venue in the touristic Algarve area, located just 8km from the international airport at Faro. The climate in the Algarve region is quite mild even during winter. The local forecast during rally week expects warm weather with mostly sunny with some cloudy patches and an ambient temperature of around 17 Celsius.