"It’s my first time in Cyprus but from what everyone says, it will be a tough rally," said Wilson Jr, prior to the event. "Obviously the slow speeds on the stages means that less air is flowing in the cock-pit and the temperatures are already pretty high. Also we are going back to the 2005 car, which is still bloody good, but the 2006 was something really special."
Companc is not looking forward to having to go back to the older spec Focus. Furthermore while he has competed in Cyprus before he hasn't had much luck there: "Cyprus is a very rough rally and it's going to be tough in the older car as that is more nervous than the new one. I have driven in Cyprus before and in 2002 I was leading Group N before going off on the Sunday. I also did it in 2004 in a WRC car, but retired then too," he added.
The
Stobart squad meanwhile will also enter a third car, with Juan Pablo Raies joining Wilson Jr. and Companc. This will be the third time this year Stobart have opted to run three-cars on an event - the other two being Sweden and Sardinia. The Stobart VK team also plan to enter three-cars on the next event in Turkey and they will have a ‘mass of cars’ for the final round in the WRC, the Wales Rally GB, in part because it is also the final round of the MSA British Rally Championship.
Red Bull Skoda:
[Harri Rovanpera, car #11 and Andreas Aigner, car #12]
Red Bull Skoda team boss, Armin Schwarz has predicted that they could get a highly 'gratifying result' on the Cyprus Rally. Red Bull Skoda did well on their last event at the start of August, when Andreas Aigner and Mattias Ekstrom finished sixth and eleventh overall on the Rallye Deutschland, something that gave the Austrian-based squad their best points haul of the season and increased their tally in the manufacturer'’ championship to 22 points The team were busy conducting a three-day test recently in Austria in a bid to maintain that momentum. Furthermore, while Schwarz is aware Cyprus is an extremely rough and demanding event, he remains optimistic that Aigner and Harri Rovanpera can shine in their Fabia WRC cars.
