"It's a massively difficult rally with which to start the season but I like it," said Mikko. "It's the biggest challenge in the championship. I was seventh last year but I want to improve on that and then really get down to business on the snow in Sweden. I know nothing of the stages. They will be totally new to me but that will be the same for everyone. We have to be careful with the pace notes. We need to be precise with them for the two dark stages on Thursday and concentration will be crucial. Tyre selection will also be vital. When temperatures drop close to 0C it's hard to see if there is black ice. That's when we rely heavily on our safety crew for accurate information.”
OMV Kronos Citroen WRT:
[Manfred Stohl, car #5 [and Daniel Carlsson, car #6]].
OMV Kronos’ Manfred Stohl will be going solo in Monte Carlo, as the outfit will enter only one car. Prior to the event the Austrian was quite bullish and was eyeing a podium place, however, following further running with the Citroen Xsara WRC he reckons it is going to take a few events to get use to the car and get fully up to speed.
“We did the testing alone on Sunday therefore we don’t have any comparison. The team is working perfectly and the Citroen Xsara WRC is definitely a very fast car but we still have to fathom the riding quality that is new to us,” he explained.
“The Citroen Xsara WRC is extremely hard and reacts to the slightest movement. This costs driver and co-driver a lot of energy. I think that we will need about 1000 kilometres before knowing where the limits lie. Since, as a private team, we don’t have the opportunity to do this much testing we will have to use the rallies for that, which means that we will need three WRC rallies in order to come close to our potential.
“In any case, I am convinced that I changed over from a leisurely end of the 2006 season to a labour-intensive beginning of 2007. This means a further challenge – which I am more than happy to meet.”
