Forty-three Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) crews led out by Andrea Navarra in the factory Grande Punto Abarth will take the start of the Rally Russia tomorrow morning, the first truly international motor sport event to be held in Russia since the St Petersburg Grand Prix in 1914.

The first car off the starting ramp tomorrow will be the IRC series leader Andrea Navarra in his Abarth & Co entered Super2000 category Grande Punto Abarth S2000, followed by former FIA European Rally Champion Renato Travaglia in a GpN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. Third off the ramp will be Navarra's Abarth factory team mate, the up-and-coming Finnish youngster Anton Alen, while the JAS-run Honda Civic of Dani Sola is set to start fourth.

He will be followed by another former European Champion, Citroen driver Simon Jean-Joseph in the new C2-R2. This is a cheaper and less sophisticated version of the Super 1600 C2, designed to provide excellent value for money to customers. The Martinique-based driver will be aiming to show the world what it can do.

The first of the factory Peugeots is next, driven by Enrique Garcia Ojeda, and the other Peugeot Spain Super 2000 207 of Nicolas Vouilloz is just behind him. A new face on the IRC for this event will be Swede Jimmy Joge, driving a 207 run by Peugeot Sweden. Joge gave the 207 its world debut on the Swedish Rally this year, and he is hoping that his knowledge of the Nordic conditions will help him out in Vyborg.
 

Italian gravel specialist Navarra will be looking to defend his IRC points classification advantage; after three rounds he has amassed 24 points having picked up one win, one second place and one third place. His closest rival is Ojeda who has 14 points for a second and third place finish, while the other works Peugeot 207 of Vouilloz next up with 10 points, jointly holding third place with Luca Rosetti. In the manufacturers Peugeot and Abarth are neck-to-neck with the French car maker on 34 points, just one ahead of the Italian firm.

The ceremonial start of the rally will actually take place at Isaakievskaya Square in the centre of St Petersburg on Thursday 12 July at 1930. However, the Russian authorities have not allowed any racing to take place within the confines of the historic centre - so the real action will happen on the fast and flowing stages around Vyborg. Stage one starts on tomorrow (Friday 13 July) at 0923, while parc ferme at the end of the opening leg is at 1950 after seven stages. Day two takes place on Saturday 14 July, with the first of four special stages starting at 1104. The final podium is at 1430. In total, there will be 11 stages comprising 151 competitive kilometres, and the complete rally distance is 549 kilometres.