Rovanpera, who has had some solid results in GB in the past, reckoned the test was a plus - although he is more than aware that the Welsh round is a tough event, with the fickle weather likely to make it extremely challenging.
“A lot will depend on the weather - it’s a real challenge to drive in the rain each and every time. What’s most important though is we were able to test there on Monday,” he confirmed.
Red Bull youngster Andreas Aigner meanwhile wants to show the kind of pace he did on the Rallye Deutschland, when he finished sixth overall and took his first WRC points. The fact he took in the Rally GB last season, when he finished 25th overall and 7th in the Group N class all bodes well.
“I want to try and reduce the gap to the front runners with several top ten times, to just under one second per kilometre, like I did in Germany. It’s a high benchmark I’m aspiring to for sure, but it would be a significant personal result for my self-confidence as well,” he summed-up. “The test day was also very important for this venture after almost a two-month break.”
Junior WRC:
In the Junior WRC category 18 drivers will be eligible to score points - 14 of those ‘regulars’ in the championship, including current leader,
Urmo Aava and his nearest rivals, Per-Gunnar Andersson, Patrik Sandell and Guy Wilks.
The championship standings in the JWRC though are all provisional pending the result of Andersson’s appeal after he was excluded in Turkey
[the results from the appeal hearing are due on Tuesday afternoon - ed]. If P-G’s appeal is successful he will automatically take the title, regardless of what happens on the Rally GB. If however, the
FIA upholds the decision to exclude him, then Aava will take a one-point lead into the event, with P-G second with 29 points followed by Sandell on 28 and Wilks on 26.
Speaking in the countdown to the event, Wilks told
Crash.net Radio last week that whatever the FIA decide, it won't affect his approach - and that he will still be going for 'gold'.
