Cyprus Rally 2009 starts tonight

The 2009 Cyprus Rally starts tonight at Spyros Kyprianou athletic centre in the southern coastal town of Limasol.

After two years of participating in the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), this year the Cyprus Rally will again be part of the World Rally Championship (WRC), as Round 3 of the WRC Calendar.

The start of the rally will be given tonight by House President Marios Garoyian in the presence of Ministers, MPs and other officials. After the opening ceremony a concert will follow with popular Greek singer Sakis Rouvas.

The Cyprus Rally race part takes place from 13-15 March, with the participation of 35 teams and is organised by the Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA).

Regarding the starting order, in car number 1 will be defending World Rally Champion, 2009 Championship leader, and winner of the last three WRC Cyprus Rally events, Sebastien Loeb, in his Citroen Total World Rally Team C4.

He will be followed by Mikko Hirvonen in car number 3 – the Finnish driver of the Abu Dhabi World Rally Team currently sits second in the championship in his Ford Focus WRC. Third up will be Loeb’s Citroen teammate Daniel Sordo.

A group of Cypriot drivers will also be competing, including two past winners of the Cyprus Rally, Nicos Thomas and Charalambos Timotheou. Other local drivers who have confirmed their participation are Pantelis Pambouka, Yiotis Chartoupalos, Eraklis Velissariou and Aristofanis Avraam.