Stohl has enjoyed a solid season to date with his Peugeot 307, scoring points in seven events in total, including taking third spot on the Rally Mexico at the start of the season. In spite of his confidence though he knows the path to a podium will be a rocky one, especially on this event, one of the toughest in the WRC.
"Our top result in Cyprus last year has us highly motivated. Still, one can’t predict what will happen this year," he noted cautiously. "The course has been somewhat alleviated as compared to last year. Therefore there are no overlong special stages anymore, especially at the beginning of the rally. But my professed goal is and remains a place on the podium."
Stohl's OMV team-mate,
Henning Solberg meanwhile is also upbeat, the Norwegian having also gone well in Cyprus in '05, when he finished fourth, his best result to date, and one he equalled recently in Finland: "I am not afraid to fight with anyone. Last year the competition was perhaps even stronger. A decisive factor will be to go easy on the tyres though as if you have a flat here you won’t stand a chance for a top place," he warned.
Henning will be back in the second car now for
all the remaining events of the season and as such, the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team will be entitled to score manufacturers' points on each round – something that should allow them to add to their 50 point tally and further consolidate their fourth position in the constructors' championship, easily ahead of their Manufacturer 2 rivals,
Stobart VK Ford and
Red Bull Skoda.
Stobart VK Ford:
[
Matthew Wilson, car #9 and Luis-Perez Companc, car #10]
The Stobart VK team will revert to the 2005 spec Focus in Cyprus. Matthew Wilson and Luis-Perez Companc got their hands on the 2006 model for the first earlier this month, when they competed on the Rally Japan. However both will have to make do with the older car on the Mediterranean island, which according to Matt is still 'bloody good'.
