Following its sensational one-two victory at Belgium's Ypres Rally, the Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg Team hasn't had time to rest. Summertime is not vacation time in the IRC, as three of the year's ten rounds take place during this period: Rally Russia from 10 to 12 July, Rally Madeira in Portugal during the first days of August, and the Czech Republic's Barum Rally at the end of the same month.

Rally Russia is a very recent event, as its creation only dates back to 2007. It was instantly included on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge's calendar, while the WRC will wait until 2010 to count it amongst its destinations.

Rallying is a somewhat new happening in Russia, but its growth is rapid as can be attested by the presence of Russian Champion Evgeny Vertunov and 17-year-old Evgeny Novikov, both PWRC regulars.

Peugeot Belgium-Luxemburg drivers Freddy Loix and Nicolas Vouilloz both have an opportunity at hand in Russia, since current IRC leader Luca Rossetti – also a Peugeot 207 S2000 racer – will not be participating in the Russian event due to his obligations within the Italian championship.

Vouilloz therefore has a chance at claiming the provisional lead of the IRC series, while Loix can aim at bringing himself closer to the top and right into the title campaign.

Russia is a very large country, but the rally is situated at its extreme west, close to the Finnish border.

"On certain stages, if you miss a curve, you end up in my country," joked former driver Markku Alen, father of Anton Alen, who won Rally Russia's inaugural race last year ahead of the Peugeot 207 Super 2000s of Enrique Garcia-Ojeda and Nicolas Vouilloz.

Former Peugeot Sport director and current IRC motorsport development manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas describes the playing ground as such: "It's Finland without the bumps."

"The gravel trails twist amongst the forest. The layout is very quick, but includes very hard braking for turns navigated at reduced pace," he continues. "The surface is softer and sandier than in Finland while the roads are lined with stones and rocks."

The heart of the event is situated at Vyborg, three hours away from Saint Petersburg in the direction of Finland. The Rally Russia schedule is different from other IRC happenings since the race will cover three days instead of two, each having two stages to be run twice. Overall, the event's 12 stages (raced over six different routes) will count 229.36 timed kilometres.

There is another particularity: the start ceremony will be celebrated on the evening of Thursday July 10th... after the first four stages of Day One have been completed. The podium ceremony will take place Saturday afternoon, July 12th.