This weekend saw the fifth round of the Spanish national Gravel championship, and the inaugural round of the N5 Cup. The Cup brings the N5 platform to the forefront of Spanish Rally, with RMC building on the last few years of experience and development to bring a car that is accessible and competitive. The Cup will run alongside the current Spanish national championship, with rounds to be held on both tarmac and gravel.
The opening round saw cars compete over the challenging conditions, around the town of Cervera, an hour west of Spain’s second city, Barcelona. Ralli Ciutat de Cervera is an annual part of the Spanish national gravel championship (CERT)
Six cars of the 60-strong field competed over eight gravel stages, covering over 100 kilometers of rough terrain around the town of Cervera, in Catalunya, Spain.
From the start, Efrén Llarena, along with co-driver Sara Fernández, where the pair to beat. They lead the pack from the off, winning every stage, and finishing sixth overall. Second place would be secured by Fran Cima and Dani Cué – a very positive result for Fran, returning after a long time away from the sport.
An evolution of the “Maxi” regulations, the cars all feature a 1.6 litre, 4-cylinder Turbo-charged engine, and use a modular design. The balance between modularity, and the use of high performance components gives the customers a high performance platform, while keeping the cars accessible.
All of the N5 cars are currently produced by RMC at their facilities near León, in the north of Spain. All of the cars use bespoke, 4-way adjustable dampers, made to RMC's specifications.
The modularity of the platform also allows for a variety of vehicles to be used - from the Renault Clio used in this feature, to Ford Focus' and the Peugeot 308 driven by Llarena to victory.
The next round of the Cup sees cars compete at the Rally Princesa de Asturias, the seventh round of the national Spanish tarmac championship.
For more information on the N5 platform, visit RMC's website>>
Or alternatively, contact RMC direct: sport@rmcmotorsport.com
See below for clips of the cars in action: