Assetto Corsa Rally has launched with 4 stages from 2 former World Rally Championship events. The mid-Wales Hafren tests, and the Eastern-France Alsatian tests, have decided many World Championships in the past including for the two winningest drivers in WRC history: the Sébastiens, Loeb and Ogier.

But what’s in these stages and where do they come from? In this article we’ll take a deep dive and discover.

Rally Alsace

Whilst the more famous French WRC round was the Tour de Corse, known as the Rally of 10,000 Corners on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, these Alsatian roads hosted the WRC between 2010 and 2014.

They famously crowned Sébastien Loeb in his hometown of Hagenau in 2010 and 2012, his 7th that matched Michael Schumacher in FIA World Championships and his record-setting and final 9th title, and then Sébastien Ogier’s first title in 2013.

Interestingly, whilst Loeb won the title on the last stage in both years, Ogier managed to win his title on the first stage thanks to some quirks in the rules.

Munster

The Vallée de Munster test featured in every edition of the WRC’s visits to the Alsace region. The stage wins across these 10 runs were split between Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Dani Sordo behind the wheel of 2-litre and 1.6-litre World Rally Cars from Citroën, Ford, and Volkswagen. For those with a particularly niche understanding of rallying games, you may recognise some of the stage from 2016’s Sébastien Loeb Rally Evo.

The 10.3km test is split into 5 sections, each unique in character. The sections towards the top of the hill are smoother, but require the driver to stay on the road to not hit the fences or the anti-cut devices.

Here, the faster sections are broken up by lower-speed hairpins and junctions that are surprisingly deceptive. The sections further down the hill are polluted by rocks that have been dragged onto the road, encouraging drivers to drop off of the kerb more often but the dirtier lines make it more likely for a driver to lock their brakes or slide off of the road.

Saverne

The Forêt de Saverne only featured in one edition of the WRC Rally de France – Alsace, and it was the final edition in 2014. Not only that, but this sole appearance was also as the rally-ending Power Stage back then as well. Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala was fastest in both runs with his Volkswagen Polo R WRC.

The lowest parts of the 9km stage, which feature the town of Engenthal, are generally wider but can catch drivers out with sudden braking zones and unique objects such as kerbs and haybale chicanes.

The higher parts of the stage narrow from two-lane roads to single-lane, with tree cover often hiding you from sunlight. However, there are some deceptive sections where the sun can peek through at inopportune times and make it harder to spot your braking points.

Rally Wales

The mid-Wales forests have been immortalised many a time in rallying games. They invoke memories of legends claiming their World Championships.

From the dominant French Sébs to British icons like Colin McRae and Richard Burns, the roads around the Sweet Lamb complex are famous for rally racing and also for rally teams and drivers testing their cars to make sure that their setups are dialled in before going rallying.

Hafren North

The Sweet Lamb/Hafren area has taken many guises over the years using the old routes through the forests and near the wind farms. The version of Hafren North in Assetto Corsa Rally is closest to the versions of this stage from the 1995 and 1997 World Rally Championship events.

The stage on both occasions was won by Colin McRae on his way to winning both rallies and, in 1997, the World Championship. The top 3 rostrum in both years was rounded out by Carlos Sainz Sr. and Richard Burns.

This stage is one of two halves. The first half of the traditional 11.6km route is tighter and twistier, defined by hairpins and heavy braking zones. The second half is much faster and more open, but different fast phases are broken up by heavy braking zones and deceptive drops.

Hafren South

The Hafren South test is somewhat unique out of the stages in AC Rally in that it deviates from real-world rallying routes. However, it is also unique in that it also featured in Codemasters’ DiRT Rally Franchise as part of the Welsh stages.

The 5.1km test might feel like it’s over before it’s really begun, but the quick blast still features plenty of obstacles and challenges. One half of it weaves through different forestry routes with junctions and hairpins.

The other half sticks to one familiar flat-out blast that uses the roads that Codies fans will be familiar with. However, in both cases, you need to keep to the middle of the lane and listen very closely to the co-driver. A bad line could mean as little as cracking the windscreen, but it could also launch you into the trees at over 200kph!