WRC-News: Citroen Sport nach der Rallye Bulgarien von Admin
The Citroën Total WRT scores its first double of the 2010 season
The Citroën Total WRT scores its first double of the 2010 season
Dienstag - Juli - 13.07.2010 - 12:08:14 Uhr
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena laid the foundations of their victory during the first two days of the rally. At the end of the final stages of Rally Bulgaria they racked up their 58th world championship win. Despite being under constant pressure from Petter Solberg, Dani Sordo and Marc Marti held on to their second place giving the Citroën Total World Rally Team its first double of the 2010 season. Thanks to Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier, Citroën scored the first one-two-three-four in its history in the FIA World Rally Championship.
After a couple of fairly long days, the final leg of Rally Bulgaria was much shorter with two stages to be covered twice. The sun shining on the Bulgarian mountains left no doubt as to the choice of tyres – hard Pirelli P-Zeros for everybody!
Sébastien Loeb had a 40-second lead over Dani Sordo when he left the parc fermé so he could afford just to hold on to his position on the final day. The six-time world champion lost a handful of seconds in the first two stages: “It’s an ideal situation but I don’t really feel very comfortable when I have to ensure my place. You can always puncture or make a mistake. I’ll try to stay concentrated and enjoy the stages.
My C4 is quite simply perfect and it’s sheer magic to drive in these conditions.”
For Sordo, on the other hand, the third day looked a lot more fraught. The Spaniard had only a 4.7s lead over Petter Solberg, and he had no choice but to push to keep his position. In Muhovo 1 (SS14), the Norwegian pulled back 9/10s but Dani hit back in Slavovitsa 1 (SS15). He took 2.7s off his rival and arrived in the Dolna Banya service park with 6.5s in hand: “I’m going to have to keep on pushing as I know that Petter will give nothing away. He drove very well in the first loop, but I wasn’t too slow either!”
The Sordo / Solberg duel continued in the next two stages. Dani fended off all his rival’s attacks and kept his second place: “I’ve achieved my aim in this rally. Seb made a decisive break in the opening stages and once again he was the quickest this weekend. My role was to bag as many points as possible
for Citroën for the Manufacturers’ World Championship title, and I also wanted to win my duel with Petter. My second podium on the trot has boosted my confidence for the rest of the season.”
Loeb kept up the same pace to score his 58th WRC victory increasing his lead in the Drivers’ World Championship to 49 points: “It’s all gone off like a dream, really. We began with a good first day and we consolidated our position on the next one. Today was a bit more relaxed! I like the first Rally Bulgaria! It’s got good stages that highlight the qualities of the drivers and the cars. Bravo to Dani who drove a great
race.”
Thanks to the third and fourth places of Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier, Citroën scored the first onetwo-three-four in its history in the FIA World Rally Championship. “This overall result is the best proof of the qualities of our C4 WRCs, whether they’re works cars or entrusted to privateers. Seb’s and Dani’s double has helped Citroën to open up a big lead in the Manufacturers’ World Championship, so the principal aim’s been achieved,” underlined Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal.
Ogier and Räikkönen show their class
The eagerly awaited first asphalt round of the World Rally Championship allowed the two Citroën Junior Team crews to show their potential. At the end of the Rally Bulgaria, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia formed part of a historic one-two-three-four formation finish for Citroën, while Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström set some top stage times.
While Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia’s objective was to maintain their fourth place overall today, Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström still needed to push to claim 10th place and the one World Championship drivers’ point that came with it. As the result of a 10-minute penalty after going off the road at the end of the opening day, Kimi and Kaj started the day in 14th place: 2m46.5s off the 10th place that was held by Henning Solberg.
On the first stage, the Finns got back more than 40 seconds, followed by another 35 seconds on the following stage. This was enough to place them 11th. “We’re pushing hard again today,” said Kimi. “Everything went well although I had a slightly strange feeling on the second stage. The team is going to change the front anti-roll bar at service.”
Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia held onto their overall position. “After losing a minute on the first day, we can’t fight with Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg anymore,” explained Sébastien. “That’s a pity, but it also allows us to concentrate on understanding our Citroën C4 WRC in asphalt specification. We’re trying out some settings that maybe we wouldn’t have risked if we were in the middle
of a tight battle and that’s very good for our learning process.”
On the final loop of stages, Kimi continued reducing the gap to the top 10 by taking more than 45 seconds from Henning Solberg in Muhovo 2. But the Finn made a small mistake on the final stage and had to settle for 11th overall in the end. “At least we tried!” he said at the finish. “Our feeling with the car was very good throughout the rally and that’s extremely positive for what is only our first asphalt event. We keep on learning and I have the feeling that we’re making progress now.”
Sébastien Ogier eventually finished fourth behind three more Citroën C4 WRCs, having set fastest time on the final stage. The Frenchman was able to draw an extremely positive conclusion from the first asphalt rally of the season. “It’s a great result for the championship,” he said. “We’ve shown as of now that we’re able to fight for a podium on asphalt, which is extremely promising for the rest of the season.
Now we’re going to concentrate on the forthcoming Rally Finland, which we’ll be contesting for the first time with the Citroën Total World Rally Team. ”
Team manager Benoit Nogier concluded: “It’s been another good day for the Citroën Junior Team and yet another rally without any technical problems for us. That’s a great tribute to the whole team, which has once more prepared the two Citroën C4 WRCs perfectly. The team’s performance on Friday night, which allowed Kimi to restart the rally on Saturday, was equally remarkable. Citroën has again shown
that asphalt is a very strong surface for the brand, while our two drivers have displayed some fascinating potential for the future.”
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After a couple of fairly long days, the final leg of Rally Bulgaria was much shorter with two stages to be covered twice. The sun shining on the Bulgarian mountains left no doubt as to the choice of tyres – hard Pirelli P-Zeros for everybody!
Sébastien Loeb had a 40-second lead over Dani Sordo when he left the parc fermé so he could afford just to hold on to his position on the final day. The six-time world champion lost a handful of seconds in the first two stages: “It’s an ideal situation but I don’t really feel very comfortable when I have to ensure my place. You can always puncture or make a mistake. I’ll try to stay concentrated and enjoy the stages.
My C4 is quite simply perfect and it’s sheer magic to drive in these conditions.”
For Sordo, on the other hand, the third day looked a lot more fraught. The Spaniard had only a 4.7s lead over Petter Solberg, and he had no choice but to push to keep his position. In Muhovo 1 (SS14), the Norwegian pulled back 9/10s but Dani hit back in Slavovitsa 1 (SS15). He took 2.7s off his rival and arrived in the Dolna Banya service park with 6.5s in hand: “I’m going to have to keep on pushing as I know that Petter will give nothing away. He drove very well in the first loop, but I wasn’t too slow either!”
The Sordo / Solberg duel continued in the next two stages. Dani fended off all his rival’s attacks and kept his second place: “I’ve achieved my aim in this rally. Seb made a decisive break in the opening stages and once again he was the quickest this weekend. My role was to bag as many points as possible
for Citroën for the Manufacturers’ World Championship title, and I also wanted to win my duel with Petter. My second podium on the trot has boosted my confidence for the rest of the season.”
Loeb kept up the same pace to score his 58th WRC victory increasing his lead in the Drivers’ World Championship to 49 points: “It’s all gone off like a dream, really. We began with a good first day and we consolidated our position on the next one. Today was a bit more relaxed! I like the first Rally Bulgaria! It’s got good stages that highlight the qualities of the drivers and the cars. Bravo to Dani who drove a great
race.”
Thanks to the third and fourth places of Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier, Citroën scored the first onetwo-three-four in its history in the FIA World Rally Championship. “This overall result is the best proof of the qualities of our C4 WRCs, whether they’re works cars or entrusted to privateers. Seb’s and Dani’s double has helped Citroën to open up a big lead in the Manufacturers’ World Championship, so the principal aim’s been achieved,” underlined Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal.
Ogier and Räikkönen show their class
The eagerly awaited first asphalt round of the World Rally Championship allowed the two Citroën Junior Team crews to show their potential. At the end of the Rally Bulgaria, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia formed part of a historic one-two-three-four formation finish for Citroën, while Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström set some top stage times.
While Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia’s objective was to maintain their fourth place overall today, Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström still needed to push to claim 10th place and the one World Championship drivers’ point that came with it. As the result of a 10-minute penalty after going off the road at the end of the opening day, Kimi and Kaj started the day in 14th place: 2m46.5s off the 10th place that was held by Henning Solberg.
On the first stage, the Finns got back more than 40 seconds, followed by another 35 seconds on the following stage. This was enough to place them 11th. “We’re pushing hard again today,” said Kimi. “Everything went well although I had a slightly strange feeling on the second stage. The team is going to change the front anti-roll bar at service.”
Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia held onto their overall position. “After losing a minute on the first day, we can’t fight with Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg anymore,” explained Sébastien. “That’s a pity, but it also allows us to concentrate on understanding our Citroën C4 WRC in asphalt specification. We’re trying out some settings that maybe we wouldn’t have risked if we were in the middle
of a tight battle and that’s very good for our learning process.”
On the final loop of stages, Kimi continued reducing the gap to the top 10 by taking more than 45 seconds from Henning Solberg in Muhovo 2. But the Finn made a small mistake on the final stage and had to settle for 11th overall in the end. “At least we tried!” he said at the finish. “Our feeling with the car was very good throughout the rally and that’s extremely positive for what is only our first asphalt event. We keep on learning and I have the feeling that we’re making progress now.”
Sébastien Ogier eventually finished fourth behind three more Citroën C4 WRCs, having set fastest time on the final stage. The Frenchman was able to draw an extremely positive conclusion from the first asphalt rally of the season. “It’s a great result for the championship,” he said. “We’ve shown as of now that we’re able to fight for a podium on asphalt, which is extremely promising for the rest of the season.
Now we’re going to concentrate on the forthcoming Rally Finland, which we’ll be contesting for the first time with the Citroën Total World Rally Team. ”
Team manager Benoit Nogier concluded: “It’s been another good day for the Citroën Junior Team and yet another rally without any technical problems for us. That’s a great tribute to the whole team, which has once more prepared the two Citroën C4 WRCs perfectly. The team’s performance on Friday night, which allowed Kimi to restart the rally on Saturday, was equally remarkable. Citroën has again shown
that asphalt is a very strong surface for the brand, while our two drivers have displayed some fascinating potential for the future.”
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