The 2024 World Rally Championship season continues this weekend with round 7 Orlen 80th Rally Poland.
Championship Rundown
Thierry Neuville still holds the championship lead. The Belgian has led the championship since his win at the Rallye-Monte Carlo to kick off the season. The 4-time vice world rally champion takes an 18-point lead into Rally Poland. Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans sit tied for second in the championship after Tänak’s win in Italy earlier this month. Sebastien Ogier sits fourth in the championship. With two wins and two additional podiums under his belt, the Frenchman sits just 12 points behind Tänak and Evans. Adrien Fourmaux rounds out the top five in the championship, sitting 18 points behind Ogier. Overall the championship is still up for grabs and doesn’t have a clear frontrunner. Especially when the next three events favour Tänak and Evans.
First Time Since 2017
Rally Poland will make its return to the WRC for the first time since 2017 this weekend. The reigning event winner at the WRC level is Thierry Neuville. Other previous winners of the historic event include Andreas Mikkelsen and Sebastien Ogier. Both Mikkelsen and Ogier will be in attendance this weekend. Mikkelsen will be making his gravel debut in the Rally1 car. While Ogier will be looking for his third win at the event or yet another podium finish.
Day Breakdowns
Day One
The first day of Rally Poland kicks off with a lone SuperSpecial stage. The stage is 2.5 km in distance. Not much time should be gained or lost during the stage. However, crews will have to be careful as there is no service until the end of the second day of the event.
Day Two
The first full day of action will see drivers contest 113.5 km across 7 stages. Including the 29.4 km Stanczyki stage. As previously mentioned the day will not feature a service until the end of the day. The teams will then get 45 minutes to service the cars. The day does feature a midpoint tire fitting zone. The day will end with another running of the same SuperSpecial stage as day one.
Day Three
The third day of Rally Poland will see drivers contest 124.1 km across 7 more stages. Including the 22.4 km Czarne stage. The day will feature two service points, including one 40-minute at the day’s midpoint and one after the day has been completed.
Day Four
The fourth and final day of Rally Poland will see teams contest 63.06 km across 4 stages. Including the 20.8 km Gmina Mragowo stage. The 10.73 km Mikolajki stage will serve as the Wolf Powerstage. There is no midpoint service or tire fitting zone on the day. Meaning drivers will have to both preserve the car and tires as much as possible on Super Sunday.