The latest round of the FIA World Rally Championship is based in the historic city of Trier and will witness the debut of the latest Ford Focus RS WRC car.

Competing there will be Gareth Jones from Bronwydd in a Subaru Impreza World Rally Car (above). Jones 28 has not competed on a WRC round since December when he entered Wales Rally GB in a Focus WRC.
However the Bronwydd driver has made a late change to his entry in Germany from his original Ford Focus to a Subaru Impreza WRC, the model he drove two seasons ago in the Irish Tarmac Championship, finishing 3^rd overall that season.

Gareth will start the Trier based event with a start number of 25 from the 113 on the entry list, the event is all tarmac with the Shakedown and the Friday stages winding their way up and down through the vineyards.

Saturday’s stages take in the fearsome Baumholder region with the huge concrete blocks that Petter Solberg and Welsh co-driver Phil Mills crashed into in spectacular fashion a few years ago in their written off Subaru Impreza WRC.

Sunday sees the action move back to the hills where Jones will surely feel more at home on and will be hoping for a reasonable result come the afternoon back in Trier. David Moininhan will be co-driving for Gareth and is no stranger to the Carmarthenshire driver having done many events with him.

Ford will debut the latest evolution of the record-breaking Focus RS World Rally Car in Rallye Deutschland.

The car that won the manufacturers' title in the FIA World Rally Championship for the past two seasons, and recently claimed a landmark 100th consecutive points finish, has been upgraded ahead of the first asphalt round of the series since January.

The 2008-version of the Focus RS includes front style changes as well as engine improvements.  Style changes to the grill area reflect the looks of the recently-previewed Focus RS road car.  A new turbo and crankshaft will increase the range of power available. 

This 10th event of the 15-round series can be as demanding and unpredictable as the opening asphalt encounter in Monte Carlo.  The roads could not be more different than the French Alpine passes. 

But the changing nature of the characteristics and surface of the speed tests, along with the threat of rain, will pose tough challenges for BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila.

The rally is based in Trier, Germany's oldest city and close to the Luxembourg border.  The special stages cover three highly-varied types of road.  The bumpy, narrow tracks in the Mosel vineyards on the first and last legs comprise fast sections linked by hairpin bends as they rise and fall among the grapes.  Corners are frequently hidden by tall vines and there is no rhythm to the artificial roads.  The public roads in Saarland are more flowing but are often wooded and can be equally tricky in the wet.

But the infamous Baumholder military ranges provide the sternest test.  The roads used for tank training by US soldiers are unique to the series. 

Fast, wide asphalt contrasts with bumpy abrasive concrete which will demand high durability from Pirelli's tyres.  Massive kerb stones known as hinkelstein, designed to keep the tanks on the road, sit on the edge and will punish the slightest mistake. 

The tracks are always dirty, a mix of sand and gravel making conditions slippery in the dry and treacherous in the wet.  The term asphalt is somewhat of a misnomer for Baumholder.

This will be Hirvonen's fifth start here, third in 2007 being the 28-year-old Finn's best result.  "Road conditions are the single most important factor on this rally," he said.  "If the weather is dry then it's an enjoyable event with some fast and flowing stages.  But if it rains the roads can be treacherous.”

The route shows few variations from 2007.  It is again based around the service park in Trier, although the second day includes two remote service areas at Birkenfeld.  While the stage locations are broadly the same, several tests are used in the opposite direction to last year.  After Thursday's ceremonial start at Trier's historic Porta Nigra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Friday's action is based in the Mosel. 

Saturday is split between tests in Saarland and Baumholder before the final day returns to the vineyards.  The rally ends with a spectacular super special stage around Porta Nigra with several cars on course at the same time.  Drivers tackle 19 stages covering 352,89km in a route of 1174.91km