Victory for Sordo/Martí and Citroën on the Kouvola-Ralli
The entry of Dani Sordo/Marc Martí on the 29th Kouvola-Ralli proved extremely
positive, with the Spanish pair winning the event outright and profiting from the
opportunity to gain extra experience of the Finnish terrain at the wheel of their
Citroën C4 WRC. At the same time, it provided Citroën Sport with some very fruitful
feedback.
The one-day Ralli was the fifth round of the national championship. The eight gravel
stages on the menu totalled 92km and were generally faster than those featured on
Finland's WRC round which is due to start on July 29.
Rally Finland is one of those world class events where experience plays a key role
and where local knowledge makes the home-grown stars practically unbeatable in
their own back garden. In order to give the team the best possible chance in its bid
to win both world titles, Citroën Sport chose to enter a C4 WRC on the Kouvola-Ralli for Dani Sordo and Marc Martí.
"Today's outing was beneficial on two accounts,"
explains Citroën Sport's Chassis Manager Laurent Frégosi. "While Dani and Marc
were busy getting kilometres under their belt at rally speed, we were able to validate
the settings established during the tests we carried out before the start."
"It also gave us a chance to evaluate the new Pirelli 'Soft' tyre which was making its
debut this weekend," adds Dani and Marc's engineer Émilie Lefur.
Dani fulfilled his mission to the letter, claiming practically every fastest stage time
ahead of the local specialists. "Throughout the day, I concentrated hard on the notes
being called out by Marc," says the young Spaniard who was clearly pleased with the
experience. "I felt confident with the car and its set-up worked well on this sort of
terrain. It rained before the start and there were further showers during the event,
so the stages were quite wet. We profited from that to collect some useful data
because these conditions were new to us. As for me, this rally enabled me to gain
extra experience of this sort of surface and of the Finnish stages, which is good for
my confidence as we prepare for our next WRC outing. Although it wasn't our
objective, it was nice to win. It's my first victory in a WRC car, and my first with Marc
and the C4. I hope it's just a start…!"
Final positions:
1, D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën C4), 44m 56.2s
2, J. Salo/M. Stenberg (Mitsubishi Lancer), +1m 20.9s
3, J. Ketomaa/M. Teiskonen (Subaru Impreza), +1m 31.4s
4, K. Katajamäki/L. Hirvijärvi (Mitsubishi Lancer), +2m 13.2s
5, J. Hiltunen/J. Kalliolepo (Ford Focus), +2m 18.4s
Copyright-free photos available for the media at:
www.citroensportphotos.com
user: citroensport
password: wrc08
Citroën Total WRT press contacts:
Marie-Pierre Rossi (e-mail: mariepierre.rossi@citroen.com – Tel: +33 676 870 212)
Loïc Rocci (e-mail: l.rocci@wanadoo.fr – Tel: +33 685 435 250)
