NEWS: Wales Rally GB Update

Excited! There's only 28 days to go until Wales Rally GB – the UK's only WRC round and the 2013 season finale. 

And the new-look WRC event looks set to be a classic, with a fresh base in North Wales proving popular with entrants and fans alike, the creation of new family friendly 'RallyFest' stages designed to give a full day's entertainment for less hardcore rally fans and now the news that ex-F1 star, Robert Kubica is set to enter the event in a Citroën DS3, in WRC spec. 

Kubica has been piloting a DS3 RRC in WRC2 this season, and will make the jump up to the full-on WRC car for the Welsh gravel classic, November 14-17th, Robert Kubica will step up to the DS3 WRC for the final round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), competing with co-driver Maciek Baran.

A Wales Rally GB spokesman said: "With four category wins from the six rallies in which he has competed, Robert Kubica can rightfully feel pleased with his debut season in the WRC. Currently leading the WRC2 championship standings, he will be trying to seal overall victory later this month at Rally RACC Catalunya, where second place would be enough for him to win his first world title. Wales Rally GB, which until now was not part of his programme for this year, will provide him with the perfect opportunity to put his skills to the test in rally's top-flight category."

Robert Kubica added: "This one-off outing for the works team is a great opportunity for me, but it's also a huge challenge. Wales Rally GB wasn't part of my original programme, so I'm very happy to be able to have this precious experience. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my partners, and especially the Lotos Group and Citroën Racing for having made this possible."
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WRC 2013's freshly crowned champion, VW Motorsport's Sébastien Ogier, says he is hoping to end his title winning season in grand style with victory on Wales Rally GB, despite his lack of experience on the tricky, wet, muddy, foggy, gravely, classic forest stages of Wales. 

"It's not my favourite event - I have had a lot of accidents there!" admitted the man who has tackled Wales Rally GB on five occasions and is yet to post a top ten finish, let alone come close to winning. "The stages are really nice but very difficult to judge with varying grip levels, and then there's the weather. But now with more experience, I'm hoping to secure a good result this year."

And, on top of this, surely the all-conquering VW Polo R WRC – set-up by a Wales Rally GB master, Carols Sainz – will see him onto the podium, for a fab finish to an unreal season for him and the team.
We can't cover the whole event in person this year (although you will be able to get all the latest event news from us on Twitter & Facebook), but we're planning a road trip in a new Subaru Outback CVT to go to the new-look event this year – for a nice big article in Road Magazine. Instead of marching the gravel stages as per usual, we will be attending one of the new RallyFest, family friendly stages, with huge TV screens showing off all the rally action, bands playing live and twin passes of the WRC stars and cars. It sounds different and great fun. Can't wait! And neither can my three month old (Michelle Mouton in the making...!).

Get involved: Book your tickets here.