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Rally Catalunya to Have 50:50 Mixed Surface

In order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Rally de Catalunya in the World Rally Championship, the Spanish organizers decided to bring a tribute to the mix-surface event this used to be in the old days. Given that the first couple of WRC events in Catalunya were raced on both gravel and asphalt, this year's rally also comprised both surfaces.

However, only the first day of action was ran on gravel, after which the “kings of asphalt” took over and started doing their thing in the Spanish region. According to the latest report from Autosport, given the great feedback received after the event, the organizers are now thinking of extending the gravel stage percentage in the rally to 50 percent.

We are very pleased with the way it went. And we're looking to increase it (the gravel mileage) next year,” said clerk of the course Aman Barfull.

The rally was won by reigning world champion Sebastien Loeb, who managed an all-round good performance on both gravel and tarmac. Needless to say however, as an asphalt specialist that he is, he found it more comfortable to drive his Citroen C4 on tarmac, as he later urged the organizers of other gravel rallies to take notice and throw in some asphalt stages into the mix.

It was good, but maybe now the gravel rallies should have some more tarmac in them!” said Loeb, according to the aforementioned source.

Plans for the 2011 edition of Rally de Catalunya have not surfaced in the media until now, with a proper announcement on the running surface most likely to be made in the early months of next year.
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