IRC Rallye Sanremo Preview

Round 7 of this season’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge is a historic tarmac event, Rally Sanremo. The former WRC stop will make its second appearance in the IRC. A total of 123 cars were on the preliminary entry list, including a record 99 IRC competitors. Of that group there are 18 Super 2000 cars, split into two camps: Abarth and Peugeot.

Peugeot is riding high, having taken the lead in the drivers and manufacturer’s championship last month in the Czech Republic. Enrique García-Ojeda holds a 5 point lead and will be joined by his team mate and 2-time winner this year, Nicolas Vouilloz (3rd overall). Another winner, Luca Rossetti will be in a 207 Super 2000 as well as 7-time WRC rally winner Gilles Panizzi. A total of 12 Peugeot 207 S2000’s are entered and include former JWRC Champ Brice Tirabassi, Bernd Casier (5th overall) and Bruno Magalhães (9th overall).

Abarth will counter will 5 entries, headed by the factory entries of Giandomenico Basso (7th overall) and Andrea Navarra (2nd overall) - both have won this year. Former WRC works driver Freddy Loix will be joined by another pair of Italians, Renato Travaglia and Umberto Scandola . After a tough result at Barum Rally, Abarth faces a 14 point deficit with 3 rounds to go

Several local stars will be out including Paolo Andreucci, Andrea Dallavilla and Luca Cantamessa in Mitsubishis and Subarus for Andrea Aghini and Piero Longhi. All are threats for the podium. Daniel Solá and Luca Betti will be in the JAS Motorsport Honda Civics.

With three rounds left García-Ojeda and Peugeot are looking to pull away in their respective championship chases. The drivers titles has turned into a three horse race with the Spainard leading Navarra by 5 and Vouilloz by 10. No one else is within 20 points of the leader. For the complete 2007 IRC point standings, click here.

With significant championship implications, you don’t want to miss any of the action. Stay tuned to the Official IRC website or Rally Sanremo website for all the results weekend.

DTM Barcelona Preview

This weekend, the DTM action heats up with the penultimate round of the season in Spain as the series makes its second trip to the Circuit de Catalunya. There are just five drivers mathematically remaining in the hunt and we could see some, if not all, of Mattias Ekström's championship pursuers eliminated.

The Swede is coming off a 3rd place finish at the Nürburgring, giving him a series best 44 points. His team mate and defending winner in Barcelona is Martin Tomczyk. The young German has pulled to within four points, thanks to back to back race victories. The double podium finish gave the Audi Team Abt Sportsline a lead of 12.5 over their Mercedes rivals at Original Teile/DC Bank. Canada's Bruno Spengler is lurking in 3rd overall, 10 points off the championship leader.

Needing to get of the "Schnide" is Bernd Schneider; with just 2 point in the last three rounds, his hopes of another DTM title are slipping away. He trails Ekström by 16.5 points coming into Round 9. The longshot of the bunch is the young Brit Paul di Resta, who is in fifth overall, 19 points back. Click here for the full 2007 points standings.

Will Tomczyk make it three in a row or will Spengler and the Mercedes bunch strike back? You could see the 2007 title be decided so don't miss any of the action. Visit www.dtm.de for real time results.