Stuart ready for a Chinese burn
23.10.15
News release
Stuart ready for a Chinese burn
Uddingston’s Stuart Loudon will take part in the biggest rally in the People’s Republic of China next week.
Tunnock’s very own co-driving, globe-trotting Teacake ambassador will, of course, be competing in the latest round of the Chinese Rally Championship, rather than joining any kind of movement in the Far East.
The China Rally Longyou is as good as it gets in terms of rallying in the country – it’s a round of the FIA’s Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which means it’s the highest profile event Stuart will have participated in alongside superstar Scot Alister McRae.
And Alister really is a superstar when it comes to Longyou. He’s won China’s APRC round twice and took the title when he was part of Proton’s factory team.
Now though, the pair are working with the BAIC-Senova Rally Team. The Chinese-based outfit has been working hard on the D50 car since last month’s Dengfeng City event and Loudon’s confident of taking another step forward next week.
“There’s no doubt the car’s getting better and better,” he said. “One of the difficulties the team faces is that there’s no driver out there in China to test the car after they have worked on it. Alister and I arrive and, effectively, we’re testing the developments the team has made since the last rally on the opening leg of that event.
“The car was definitely quicker last time out and it’ll be really interesting to see how we get on this time around. The good thing is the consistency you get from Alister as a driver; I’m sitting beside a world championship factory driver, so you kind of know that the driving side of the deal’s well taken care of.”
Where in the world?
Once again Stuart will be in the east of China, this time around 250 miles south-west of Shanghai.
Longyou is in the Zhejiang Province and is probably most famous for its caves – which date back to the Qin dynasty. That makes them old. Very old. More than 2000 years old, in fact.
And considerably older than the KFC recently opened in Longyou Town.
What’s coming?
Apart from a lot of fried chicken-based cuisine, complemented by a Snowball starter and Caramel Wafer for dessert, Stuart could be in for a slightly easier ride next week.
“Alister has done this event a few times,” says Stuart, “so we have more of an idea of what to expect. Obviously, we’re expecting more of the unexpected, but as well as that, we’ll be competing on a mix of gravel and concrete stages.
“The humidity will be high again and we’re expecting a fair bit of rain, so the stages could be quite muddy – especially the ones running through the middle of the bamboo plantations.
“To be honest, I can’t wait to get started again. Every time I go out to China it’s an adventure and another incredible chapter – and that’s before I get in the car with Alister.
“Just before I go, does anybody know the Chinese for: “I’ll have a Zinger Burrito, side of sweetcorn, medium fries and a large diet Pepsi, please.”
The China Rally Longyou week:
Wednesday October 28
0830-1500 recce
1500 scrutineering
Thursday October 29
0830-1230 recce
1530-1700 shakedown
2000 pre-event press conference – Jinxuan Hall 4/F Rally HQ
Friday October 30
1045 ceremonial start – Rongchang Square
1330 rally start – service park
1400 SS1
Saturday October 31
0735 leg one starts
1750 leg one finishes
Sunday November 1
0725 leg two starts
1455 post-event press conference – finish podium
1515 rally finish – Rongchang Square
1845 final classification published
Dates and data:
China Rally Championship – FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship
Date: October 30-November 1, 2015
Based: Longyou, Zhejiang Province
Service: Longyou town, Zhejiang Province
Stages: 13
Competitive distance: 230.04 (142.94 miles)
Liaison distance: 422.95km (262.82 miles)
Total distance: 652.99km (405.76 miles)
Longest stage: Da Jie (SS8/11) 25.20km (15.65 miles)
Shorest stage: Superspecial Stage (SS1) 1.82km (1.13 miles)
Currency: Chinese Yuan Renminbi
Time difference: UTC+8
Language: Chinese
Chinese population: 1.376 billion (Longyou: 403,000)
Capital: Beijing
Sunrise: 0615
Sunset: 1720
Shakedown
The 1.8km (1.11 mile) shakedown stage is based 17km (10.56 miles) from the service park.
China Rally Longyou media enquiries
Miss Ji Rongyou
+86 (0) 10 67149373
Stuart Loudon media enquiries
Sandra Evans
+44 7887 693993
To access the library of press releases please click the link: http://www.wordspr.com/our-work/stuart-loudon
Sandra Evans
sandra@wordspr.com
44 (0) 7887 693993
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