[madan80]

Jordan will be the first arab nation to host a world rally round. Located just below the northern Jordan city of Amman, Rally HQ and the service park promise a spectacular welcome for crews. Based on the banks of the Dead Sea, it is the lowest point on earth at 408 metres below sea level. Most of the rally is run below sea level, making for a stark contrast to the altitude of the last two events in Mexico and Argentina. The roads that wind through the Jordan Valley reach as low as 400 metres below sea level, and the only altitude section in the Rumman forests rises to just over 1000 metres, past the biblical site of Mount Nebo. The rally comprises 21 stages and 351 competitive kilometres of hard-packed sandy roads on which crew s will use Pirelli’s hard compound Scorpion gravel tyre. The normally loose surface has been bonded and hard-packed over the last two years to create the rally’s stage route and provide crews with a very hard surface on which to compete. Whilst the first few cars to run will inevitably experience a loose covering of sand, surface deterioration should’t be an issue, even as temperatures reach towards 40 degrees Celsius.

It does mean however that if crews run off line the surface will be far looser and grip reduced significantly. Whilst there is a lot of run-off in the barren desert landscape which may give crews the confidence to push harder in the knowledge there is more chance that mistakes will go relatively unpunished, off-road excursions may still prove costly with soft sand and interspersed rocky outcrops. The stages offer their own unique challenges in accurately judging distances and defining the roads amid the vast expanse of desert.

Just two weeks after Rally Jordan, crews will commence a flurry of European events with three rallies in five weeks, the hardest stint of the season. Jordan will be a crucial event for teams in setting the tone of their performance in this mid-year period, and so everyone will be looking to step their performance and consistency up a gear. Those who are strong in Jordan will carry more momentum into the European events.