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Cyprus - 16-18 May 08
Posted: May 15, 2008 2:20 PM - 5285 Hits
Round 2 - 2008 Middle East Rally Championship
Live Results: Cyprus Rally
Top drivers sign up for 2008 Cyprus Rally
Posted: May 6, 2008 2:22 PM
The organizers of the 2008 Cyprus Rally have
confirmed a strong international field for this
month's event, with competitors from across the
region set to do battle on the holiday island.
Round 2 of the 2008 FIA Middle East Rally
Championship (MERC) calendar, the Cyprus Rally
will take place over the weekend of the 17th and
18th May; with just a couple of weeks to go, final
preparations are now well underway for what
promises to be an unforgettable weekend's
motorsport.
Entries have now closed and the organizers have
confirmed a starting line-up of 55 crews, featuring
many of the best-known drivers in the region.
Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Ulster
co-driver Chris Patterson will be looking to continue
their considerable success in Cyprus over recent
years. They have already shown winning form so
far this year, starting their 2008 MERC season with
a start-to-finish victory in Round 1 - the NBK Qatar
International Rally back in January - in their
Subaru Impreza WRX N14.
They were followed in second place by the Subaru
Impreza WRX STi of Qatar's Misfer Al-Marri and
co-driver Stephen McAuley (GB), while Khalifa
Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA) and French co-driver
Matthieu Baumel came third.
All three crews will be competing in the 2008
Cyprus Rally, along with a host of other familiar
faces including, among others, Jordan's Amjad
Farrah, Lebanon's Michel Saleh, Saudi Arabia's
Yazeed Al-Rajihi and Kuwait's Salah Bin-Eidan.
With many of the region's top drivers looking to
score victory in Cyprus this month, local fans will
be hoping for another Cypriot win, after last year's
event saw Charalambos Timotheou become the
first Cypriot driver to win the Cyprus Rally since
1991. Timotheou will be competing this year (in a
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), alongside other familiar
faces from across Cyprus, including Andreas
Tsouloftas, Dimitris Papasavvas and Pantelis
Pamboukka, all of whom finished in the top ten
of the 2007 event.
One of the most eagerly anticipated FIA
motorsports events, the Cyprus Rally regularly
attracts competitors and fans from across the
world. A new route is being introduced for 2008,
made up of a healthy mix of new special stages,
stages first introduced in 2007 and a selection of
classic stages which have challenged many of the
world's best drivers. Reinvigorated for 2008, the
Cyprus Rally is ready for its return to the FIA
World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 2009.
This year's Cyprus Rally will again be based around
the popular coastal resort of Limassol. The Service
Park will be located on the town's seafront
promenade, just metres from the Mediterranean,
while Rally Headquarters and the Press Office will
be located at Limassol's Apollonia Hotel.
The Ceremonial Start will be held on the
promenade at 20.00 on Friday 16 May, followed by
two days of action. Saturday will see drivers tackle
a total of 453.23km, including 104.65km of special
stages, with a further 456.24km on Sunday,
including 123.39km of special stages.
More Details:
Sunshine island prepares a new and exciting Cyprus Rally 2008
Posted: January 28, 2008 10:41 PM
Preparations are under way for Cyprus Rally 2008,
one of the most exciting events of the FIA
motorsport calendar, which will take place on the
eastern Mediterranean sunshine island on 16/18
May.
The rally route, looping through the pine-clad
Troodos mountains, has again been revamped,
with newly-built tracks which will test the abilities
of seasoned competitors from all over Europe
and the region, including 23 who are challenging
for the FIA Middle East Championship, of which
the Cyprus Rally is part.
Takis Kyriakides, Cyprus Rally Clerk of the Course,
said: "The new route will incorporate old tracks,
which have been kept in fine condition through
re-grading operations and regular maintenance,
and the new ones designed and constructed this
year. As a result of the new work, it will feature
some new, very long and fascinating special
stages through the mountains.
"This year, we are producing a totally new road
book in full colour, with photographs of every
sign which will appear during the event, and we
also have a new Chairman of the Organizing
Committee in the person of the former Cyprus
Minister of Commerce, Tourism & Industry,
Antonis Michaelides.
"Much work has gone into the preparation and
Cyprus Rally 2008 will follow in the footsteps of
its predecessors as an event certain to be
memorable for motorsport fans, many of whom
travel thousands of miles to witness the spectacle."
Cyprus Rally 2008, featuring 228 km of special
stages, will again be based in the exuberant south
coast town of Limassol, where a ceremonial start
will be held at 20.00 on Friday 16 May, alongside
the famous palm-lined promenade.
A carnival atmosphere will pervade the scene, with
music and entertainment for an hour before the
start, while a VIP stage will be set up next to the
start ramp, with cocktails and refreshments.
Another big attraction will be the much-loved
Seafront Service Park, set alongside the
promenade, close to many of Limassol's most
popular cafes and restaurants.
The event, organized by the Cyprus Automobile
Association (CAA) and sponsored by the Cyprus
Tourism Organization, will be orchestrated from a
new rally headquarters, and the seafront service
park will provide an opportunity for spectators to
watch at close quarters as team mechanics work
against the clock to service and repair their cars
to keep them in the rally.
Cyprus Rally 2008 is one of two rounds of the FIA
Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) to be held
on the island this year - the other is The Troodos
Rally, which will be run on 6/7 November.
Current leader of the MERC is Qatari Nasser Al
Attiya, who has won in Cyprus five times before,
with ten points; second is Qatari Misfer Al Marri
with eight points; third is another Qatari, Khalifa
S Al Attiya, with six points.
Round 3 of MERC, the Cyprus Rally will be
observed by the FIA with a view to its return to
the World Rally Championship calendar for 2009,
in which it currently has a provisional place.
Mr Kyriakides said: "We are confident that the
work we have undertaken on the route, over
many months and at great expense, will combine
with the familiar fluent running of the rally, and
will result is the Cyprus Rally regaining a WRC
place next year."
For further information about Cyprus Rally 2008,
please visit
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