Andrea Navarra, Umberto Scandola, Freddie Loix and Philippe Roux, will be aiming to bounce Abarth back into IRC Manufacturers' title contention when the Rally du Valais gets underway on Thursday.

The entry list for the Rallye du Valais – round eight of the IRC which gets underway on Thursday – has been revealed. IRC series leader Enrique Ojeda will be the first car off the ramp in his Peugeot, and he starts the event with a chance of wrapping up the drivers’ title. His Peugeot team will also be gunning for the title in Switzerland. Nonetheless, the up-and-coming Spaniard will face stiff opposition from his key title rivals, Andrea Navarra (Abarth) and Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot).

The fourth car off the ramp will be former World Rally Championship star Freddy Loix in another Abarth, heading the Kronos Peugeot of Bernd Casier and the second factory Abarth of Umberto Scandola. Cars number seven and number eight are two leading Swiss drivers: Philippe Roux (Abarth Grande Punto S2000) and Christian Jaquillard (Peugeot 207 S2000). On these very specialised roads, run close to some of Switzerland’s leading ski resorts such as Verbier and Crans Montana, local drivers are sure to make their presence strongly felt.

Just one of the new Honda Civic Type R R3 cars will be entered, for Italian driver Luca Betti, while the Fiat Punto Diesel Trophy will make its debut on the IRC on the Rallye du Valais. These diesel-powered Puntos – part of a one-make championship based mainly in Italy – will be eligible to score IRC points, with Trophy leader Alessio Pisi one of the pre-event favourites to win the category in Switzerland. Citroen will also be strongly represented on the event, with a number of C2-R2s driven by some of Europe’s most exciting up-and-coming talents.

The Rallye du Valais gets underway with the first leg, in the afternoon of Thursday 25 October, which includes three stages, all part of the event's tradition. Leaving Martigny at 2:45 pm, the first car will be on the starting line of SS 1 at 4:08 pm. The Crans-Montana stage, which runs from Mollens to Les Violettes totals 11.61 km, just as in 2006. After cruising through the renowned winter resort of Crans-Montana, the crews will head towards Lens and Icogne to tackle SS 2, of which the start has been moved backwards 900 metres. The 12.42 km stage between Luc and La Tzouma bears the name of another ski resort, Anzère. The day will end with the famous special stage of Les Casernes in Sion (6.40 km, same as in 2006) that precedes the return in Martigny for the last service at 6:30 pm and the Parc Fermé at 7:15 pm.

After the 20 minute morning service at 8:45 am on Friday 26 October, the drivers will start the day with the mammoth stage of Les Cols. On the 37.31 km between Le Guercet and Sembrancher, everything can happen. Following another 20 minute service at 11:40 am, there will be two loops of three special stages. The start of the first one, that covers 22.86 km and includes the notorious Col des Planches, is still in La Luy but this year, the finish takes place in Sembrancher. The start and the finish of the Bagnes special stage (8.08 km) are both located in Lourtier. It will be followed by a picturesque scenery on the shore of a beautiful mountain lake in Champex, which is the name of the next SS. This finishes in Les Valettes after 9.52 km tackled downhill this year. The second loop will be in the afternoon after a service in Martigny at 2:55 pm, then the crews will go back to the Roman city for the last service of the day at 6:15 and a well deserved overnight halt from 7:00 pm.

The same principle applies to Saturday 27 October. After the 20 minute service at 8:15 am, three stages will be repeated twice. The finish of SS 11, Vercorin (27.57 km), has been displaced by 200 metres, while Veysonnaz is the place where SS 12 (12.77 km) finishes, the start having been moved by 300 metres. After having dealt with the Piste de l'Ours, a downhill section towards Les Agettes takes the cars to the finish time control, 400 metres before the junction with the road to Veysonnaz. From there, the competitors head towards another resort, Nendaz, name of the 12.39 km SS 13. Between the two loops of the day are another 20 minute service in Martigny (12:24 am) and a second pass in the special stage of Les Casernes in Sion. After a last 20 minute service scheduled at 4:40 pm, the winners of the 48th Rallye International du Valais will be honoured on the final podium in Martigny (5:00 pm) before the post-event press conference at 6:00 pm in the hotel du Parc.