Furthermore with Turkey known to be pretty similar to Cyprus, he is hopeful he can keep up his momentum: “Each new rally is a challenge, of course,” conceded the 34-year-old, “but I don’t think that we will have any problems. Compared to Japan, where I also premiered this year, the stages in Turkey are rather slow. That helps to find your rhythm faster. Furthermore, the difference to the Cyprus Rally doesn’t seem to be too big, therefore a few WRC points should be possible.”
Stohl’s team-mate,
Henning Solberg, unlike the Austrian, competed in Turkey last season, eventually finishing eleventh overall under the SupeRally following problems on day two: “I really don’t remember it that well,” he added, “but I like this rally and I’m sure that I can be very fast. Furthermore, Bozian Racing have promised me an excellently prepared car for Turkey.”
OMV Peugeot team boss, Jackie Bozian meanwhile has revealed that they want to try and overhaul
Subaru for third place in the manufacturers' during the remainder of the season, they currently lie 20 points adrift of the Banbury-based squad.
"Sometimes one has to aim for higher goals in order to motivate the whole team," explained Jackie, "because of the regulations we haven’t changed anything on the Peugeot 307 since the beginning of the season but the performance curve of Manfred and Henning is definitely in our favour. I am sure that if we all together we will make this work out."
Stobart VK Ford:
[
Matthew Wilson, car #9 and Kosti Katajamaki, car #10]
Matthew Wilson is hoping that his recent experience in Cyprus, will give him a head-start this Friday. Wilson scored the final manufacturers' point in Cyprus three weeks ago, despite having to use the SupeRally twice - at the end of day one and two, following technical issues, namely a flat-battery on Friday and a gear-shift issue on Saturday in the penultimate test, which pitched him out the road.
