Citroen number two driver Daniel Sordo was unable to repeat his Rally Catalunya runners-up spot in Corsica this weekend - and in the end the Spaniard took third.
Sordo was right in contention and setting similar times to his team-mate, Sebastien Loeb and Marcus Gronholm on the first loop on Friday, however he dropped back in the afternoon after opting for the wrong tyres. He then lost further ground on Saturday morning and complained that he just didn't have enough grip.
Although he improved and was back on it on the repeat loop on Saturday, by then the damage had been done and despite winning three of the four tests on Sunday, was powerless to stop Gronholm taking second.
“I'm disappointed not to have succeeded in finishing second,” he confirmed in the final service. “I didn't feel comfortable with my car yesterday and I fell too far back to stand any real chance of ensuring another one-two finish for Citroën after our result in Spain last weekend.
“I still had tremendous fun, even though this was only my second visit to Corsica in a WRC car.
“We opted for a slightly more 'offensive' tyre choice than Seb this morning. Everything was going well on SS13 and our early split times looked promising but then I spun…”
Asked in the post-event press conference what changes had been made to the car overnight, he added that a number of things were altered so that he felt more comfortable with his C4 WRC.
“I lost a little time yesterday because I didn't have confidence or traction,” he explained.
“Today the car went well. I understand what was done yesterday. I changed some parts. The car was very different today.”
Despite not finishing in second though, Sordo's co-driver, Marc Marti reckoned the youngster had done a good job.
“I am happy for Dani and the team. It is disappointing not to help Sebastien more but Dani is only 24 years old - and he's still on the podium.
“He's learning. If there was no problem, for sure, we could have fought for second place. But the most important thing is to be here at the finish,” he added.
