The organisers of Spanish round of the WRC have confirmed changes to this year's edition including three new stages and a more challenging final day.

The Spanish WRC Rally [6 - 8 October] holds a unique position as the championship’s only true mixed surface round, and this continues in 2017 with one day largely on gravel followed by two on asphalt.
 
For the 13th time, the event will be based in the holiday resort of Salou, on Spain’s northeastern coast in the Tarragona province. And with no Barcelona Super Special this year, all 19 stages are based in the Costa Daurada region.
 
After Shakedown and a ceremonial start in Salou on Thursday, the competitive action gets underway on Friday, which remains the only mixed surface leg in the WRC and is unchanged from 2016. The asphalt and gravel Terra Alta 38.95 km will be followed by the all gravel Caseres (12.50 km) and Bot (6.50 km) in a loop that will be run in the morning and repeated in the afternoon for a total of 115.90 stage kilometres.
 
After an extended service on Friday night, when cars will be transformed from gravel to asphalt spec, crews will tackle two days of sealed-surface rallying on Saturday and Sunday.
 
Saturday features a loop of three stages that will be covered twice: El Montmell (24.40 km), El Pont d’Armentera (21.29 km) and Savallà (14.12 km) and the short Salou (2.24 km) street stage in the host town.

El Montmell is the same as last year but with an extra 260 metres added at the end. El Pont d’Armentera is last year's Querol stage but run in the opposite direction. Savallà is a completely new challenge that runs between the towns of Rauric and Conesa. Saturday's stages total 121.86 km.
 
Sunday's itinerary comprises three stages (one more than last year) which will run twice without a service. L’Albiol (6.28 km) is a section of the Vilaplana stage from 2016 but run in the opposite direction; Riudecanyes (16.35 km), returns in the same configuration as 2013; and Santa Marina (14.50 km), will be in its 2012 form but with an additional 800 metres at the end.

The second passage of Santa Marina will be broadcast live as the rally-closing Power Stage. Sunday's stages add up to 74.26 km, twelve more than last year.

M-Sport boss Malcolm Willson has tipped his driver Ott Tanak for more WRC rally wins after the Estonian collected his maiden victory at Rally Sardegna last weekend.

Accompanied by co-driver Martin Jarveoja, Tanak sealed a landmark win on the same event where he claimed his first podium in 2012. A maximum 25-point haul promoted him to third place in the drivers’ championship, marking him out as a title contender at the season’s mid-point.

The result also helped M-Sport extend its lead in the manufacturers’ standings and continue an unbroken record of podium finishes at every event so far this year.

"This is just the very beginning for Ott and Martin. There’s nothing quite like that first win and they delivered the perfect strategy with a very impressive drive this weekend. They should be extremely proud of their performance, and I’m sure this victory will be the first of many." Wilson said

M-Sport's relationship with Tanak stretches back to 2011 and has endured difficult times, especially when the Estonian was dropped by the squad after an accident-prone 2012 campaign.

“As you can imagine, there was a lot of emotion from the team when Ott crossed the finish line. When you’ve worked with someone as long as a lot of our guys have worked with Ott – and been with him through all of the ups and downs – I can tell you that this one really does mean a lot," Wilson said.

Wilson believes Tanak has made big development steps in the last two seasons, and that the arrival at M-Sport of Sebastien Ogier has also had a positive effect.

"We all know that Ott had the pace, the way he has evolved in the past eighteen months, it was a big step last year. I really believe bringing Sebastien into the team made everybody, the drivers, co-drivers and the team as well, look at everything. This is the success that we have seen from all our guys," he said.

M-Sport's championship leader Sebastien Ogier admits that every point is becoming increasingly important after the battle for this year's WRC drivers' title intensified at Rally Sardegna.

Ogier accepts he was not able to come up with the performances he had hoped for in Sardinia last weekend.

First out in the starting order during the first leg, the Frenchman had to endure the role of road sweeper on one of the season's most awkward surfaces. A puncture on Saturday was a further setback.

Fifth place in the rally and third best time in the Power Stage meant the world champion left Sardinia with 13 points, his lowest score of the seven rounds so far.

"Considering our position as championship leaders, we were expecting Sardinia to be a difficult rally and so it proved to be," he acknowledged.

Ogier retains his title lead, but by a slimmer margin from second-placed Thierry Neuville. Behind them, Ott Tanak and Jari-Matti Latvala both made significant gains and just 34 points covers the top four drivers with six rallies to come.

"In view of the road conditions and the way the weekend progressed generally, we can take satisfaction from the points we scored," Ogier said.

"The gap between the top four places in the championship closed a bit more and the title will surely be between the four of us. With such small differences every point becomes important, and we've only lost four on our nearest rival, Thierry Neuville, which is not too bad.

"We must keep on working because in the last three rallies our performance has been up and down. All the same, it's very positive to be leading the championship halfway through the season and with an 18-point lead at that. We're going to keep on defending that position at all costs!"

source: wrc.com

Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team has dropped Kris Meeke for the 74th Rally Poland later this month.

He will be replaced by Andreas Mikkelsen, who finished eighth in a C3 on his debut with the French team at Rally Italia Sardegna this weekend.

Meeke won in Mexico, but the rest of his season has been a disaster. He rolled out of the lead in Italy on Friday, retired at the previous round in Portugal after swiping a rock and destroyed his C3 after two big rolls in Argentina.

He lies 10th in the championship at the season midpoint and team principal Yves Matton said Meeke agreed to step down for round eight on Poland’s fast gravel roads.

“After a series of disappointing results, we have asked Kris Meeke to take a step back for this next rally. Kris accepted that this would be in the best interests of the team and we’d like to thank him for his understanding,” he said.

“This break will give him the chance to recharge his batteries and release some of the pressure before preparing for Rally Finland. He won in Finland last year after producing a perfect performance, so we hope he’ll come back stronger.”

Matton said the move would allow the team to continue working with Mikkelsen, who was drafted into the squad in Italy to replace Stephane Lefebvre.

“This first experience was more like a test session than a proper competitive outing. A second rally will give him the chance to use the things he has already learned to get closer to the leading guys.

“Moreover, he is particularly fond of Rally Poland since he won the event last year,” explained Matton.

Mikkelsen will be joined in Poland by Lefebvre and Craig Breen.