Recce and shakedown delayed in Jordan

Crews contesting the Jordan Rally are waiting to find out when they will be able to begin reconnaissance for the world championship qualifier following an unexpected delay to the schedule.

The opportunity for drivers and co-drivers to complete two exploratory runs through the stages to prepare pace notes was due to begin on Monday morning.

However, because teams have faced delays transporting their cars and equipment to the event base at the Dead Sea owing to the political unrest in Syria, organisers have postponed the start of the recce.

It had been rescheduled to 08:00hrs on Tuesday but the start time is expected to be put back after the boat carrying the WRC teams from Trieste in Italy to Haifa in Israel suffered technical problems and resulted in one of its two engines not working. Originally due to dock on Monday, it is now unlikely to do so until Tuesday, which could result in further delay to the recce and pre-event shakedown.

Unlike most WRC events, the Jordan Rally runs from Thursday to Saturday to mirror the Islamic weekend and the first car is due to head to the ceremonial start in the ancient city of Jerash on Thursday morning.

In the past, European-based teams have travelled to Jordan through Syria. However, because of the security situation there that route was no longer an option on grounds of safety, as Citroen Racing team manager Sven Smeets explained: “The major logistical difficulty of the Jordan Rally is transporting the equipment we use in Europe. Our trucks are too big to be freighted by air so we have to use sea transport.

He continued: “The initial plan was to go through the Suez Canal and land in Aqaba in the south of Jordan. But the situation in Egypt made the trip through the canal difficult, so we decided to land in Tartous in Syria. Given the recent events there this solution was no longer possible. Together with Ford, North One Sport, Michelin and a few private teams we chartered a boat for Haifa, in Israel [from Trieste in Italy]. All the equipment should arrive at the Dead Sea [following a journey by road] on Monday night.”

Although teams transported equipment and cars direct from Faro, venue of Vodafone Rally de Portugal, to Trieste, some teams brought their rally cars back to their bases before freighting them by air to Jordan with the factory Ford Fiesta RS WRCs being flown from Luxembourg to Amman.