Thirty-five crews have entered the main Intercontinental Rally Challenge event with a further 41 competitors registered for the national-level rally, which counts as a round of the Spanish championship.
Of the drivers contesting the main event, 13 will be at the wheel of pacesetting Super 2000 cars with six Peugeot 207s, five Skoda Fabias and two PROTON Satria Neos appearing on the entry.
Skoda claimed a lockout of the podium places last season with Jan Kopecky heading eventual IRC champion Juho Hanninen in first place. Finn Hanninen is the number one seed for this year’s event, which he came close to winning in 2010 following a strong performance on his least-favoured surface.
Kopecky’s last IRC victory came in Gran Canaria one year ago and the Czech will be determined to register his first win of the season as he looks to land his maiden IRC drivers’ title having finished runner-up for the last two campaigns.
Freddy Loix will be a strong threat in his BFO-backed Fabia. The Belgian triumphed on three sealed-surface IRC rounds in 2010 and his pace on asphalt has never been in doubt.
Toni Gardemeister will double as a team owner for his new TGS Worldwide operation, which makes its debut on Gran Canaria. While the Finn is vastly experienced and more than capable of challenging for a podium finish, he has never driven a Super 2000-specification Fabia in competition before.
Skoda UK Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen will be making his Rally Islas Canarias debut and will be out to claim his first points of the year following his crash on Rallye Monte-Carlo. The Norwegian is highly rated and his team guided Guy Wilks to third overall on the island in 2010 so has a proven record on the event.
Wilks switched to Peugeot UK during the winter and began his career with his new employer in style by completing the Monte-Carlo podium back in January. However, he was unable to match fellow 207 driver Bryan Bouffier on that occasion. The Frenchman won the event following an inspired display on the treacherous snow-hit stages and will be gunning to make it two wins in a row on Gran Canaria.
While Bouffier is a Canary Islands novice, Bruno Magalhaes took part on the event in 2010 and will be a contender for victory in his Peugeot Sport Portugal 207 having finished fifth on his last visit. The Lisbon driver won the Super 2000 class on his country’s world championship qualifier last month and says he is full of confidence after crashing out on Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Thierry Neuville began his 2010 IRC programme on Rally Islas Canarias and returns for a second crack in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207. The youngster starts his first IRC event with new co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul after parting company with previous navigator Nicolas Klinger.
Two other 207s will be in action on the event: Italian Massimiliano Settembrini continues his IRC programme while Spaniard Jonathan Perez makes his IRC return.
PROTON Motorsports’ bid is bolstered by the addition of Giandomencio Basso to its attack. The Italian is a four-time IRC event winner and starts the rally on the back of a successful test in Italy last month where the Anglo-Malaysian squad was able to sample some of the recent upgrades it has made to its fleet of Satria Neos. Swede PG Andersson drives the second car and is a rapid performer.
IRC Production Cup
Subaru Impreza driver Jose L Barrios, ninth on Rally Islas Canarias last term, will fight for category honours with Gustavo Sosa, who lines up in a Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer.
IRC 2WD Cup
The battle for IRC 2WD Cup glory is wide open with defending champion Harry Hunt taking on local aces Joan Vinyes and Yeray Lemes, who won the class last season in an M-Sport Fiesta but switches to a Honda Civic for 2011. Hunt, meanwhile, has a new co-driver in fellow Englishman Robbie Durant, who has a wealth of experience.
Spaniard Angel Marrero and Hungarian Gyula Hering will also be at the wheel of Civics and are expected to pose a threat, as will Fiesta pilot Enrique Garcia and Italian Alessandro Barchiesi. Heriberto Godoy and Eloy Gonzalez will be out to bag points for Peugeot in the IRC 2WD Cup manufacturers’ standings in their 206s. Ruben Gracia switches to two-wheel-drive after finishing seventh overall on Rally Islas Canarias last year in a Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer.