"If we don’t run into serious trouble, it may well be possible to repeat our gratifying result from Germany," said Schwarz. "Still Cyprus remains a mere lottery. The road conditions are very, very bad - although we addressed these conditions while testing in Austria. We hope that Harri has enough confidence now which is necessary to choose the right pace for getting a points finish. If Andreas runs at the same pace as the year before in a Group N car, then for him a positive outcome is possible as well."
Rovanpera was impressed with the work done on the Fabia during their recent test and although he is cautious, he is definitely happier with the car: "It’ll be very difficult in Cyprus. I hope that we’ll have no technical issues and not too many tyre failures because of the rough roads. The handling of the Fabia has improved substantially compared to my last gravel rally in Greece though, the team has worked hard for that."
Aigner meanwhile is eager to put the knowledge he gained in Cyprus last year to good use, when he finished sixth in the Group N class and 18th overall: "I’ll try not to attack immediately. It’s important to choose a constant pace on the island for the entire rally. With this formula it should be possible to pull through somehow in spite of the ferocious roads. I know most of the route - just two or three stages will be new to me," he added.
This will be
Red Bull Skoda’s eighth outing of the season, with two more to go in Turkey and on Wales Rally GB.
Production Car WRC:
In the Production Car WRC, ten drivers' will be eligible to score points, including current championship leader, Nasser Al-Attiyah, who missed the last round in Japan as it was not one of his six nominated events.
Toshi Arai also returns to action in the PCWRC, while Fumio Nutahara is one of the other notable names, now second in the PCWRC standings following his win in Japan, doubling his tally to 20 points, 14 off Al-Attiyah.
