Furthermore while the decision not to run
Colin McRae was a surprise and a blow for the Scot, Kronos boss, Marc van Dalen believes that Pons deserves this opportunity: “We’ve tried a bit of a gamble in Turkey but things didn’t really go as Colin and ourselves wished,” explained van Dalen. “The road conditions were the worst possible for a driver’s comeback. Those conditions required a perfect knowledge of the BFGoodrich tyre range.
“In Australia, Colin would have been a good choice with his experience of the terrain and the fact he would have encountered clean roads unlike in Turkey. We have chosen to enter only two cars though for this long and expensive trip and Xevi is a strong member of the Kronos team. He found his confidence again in Turkey and performed really well. He has already competed twice in Australia and has achieved a great result in 2004 and set some good times last year. I think he deserves this nomination.”
As for the manufacturers’ championship and the fact they have now dropped behind
BP Ford, eight points adrift, while van Dalen was obviously disappointed, he hasn’t given up hope. Indeed he has vowed that they will fight on and with three rounds still to go and a maximum 18 points up for grabs on each event, it is anything but decided.
“We were leading this competition since Mexico, thanks especially to Sebastien and Daniel [Elena – his co-driver]. The fact that Kronos has resisted well to an extremely performing rival [in BP Ford] has contributed a lot to the interest in the championship,” he continued. “The gap before Australia is eight points with fifty-four remaining possibly to score. Nothing is done yet. I trust our young Spanish drivers who have just demonstrated what they can do in Turkey. I am neither a dreamer nor pessimistic. Without denying to ourselves how difficult this coming challenge is, we will continue to fight. Fate has been rather against us recently. Let’s see what it can offer now.”
