The last event was particularly tough and he finished up 25th overall, after an off on the second day: “I was pleased with my performance on the Monte Carlo Rally which went well for Citroën and for me. It was the C4's debut, so that was important. Things were more difficult after that though - both for me and the team as a whole. Competing against the snow specialists, I drew two blanks in Sweden and Norway,” he reflected. “It didn't take me long to adapt to the C4 on asphalt but I still haven't found my marks with the car on ice. Bit by bit, I'm seeing the pressure that being a works driver brings.
“The atmosphere in the team is very good though and it's a real pleasure working with everyone at Citroën Sport. They are doing their utmost to ensure we have the very best chances, especially in the difficult moments.”
Now though the WRC returns to gravel and while Sordo is best on asphalt, there’s no doubt he prefers the loose stuff to snow. Furthermore Rally Mexico went well for the Spaniard last season and he finished fourth overall on his debut on the Central American event. A repeat of that this Sunday would be well timed.
“The actual position doesn't really matter; the important thing is to finish ahead of as many other drivers as possible! I will be under a little pressure to begin with, but that's part and parcel of my job as a driver and it's up to me to cope with that,” he continued, when asked about his targets this weekend.
“I enjoyed the stages last year which are not too rough but can be very fast. Road order was important because of a thin top-coating of loose gravel that can make conditions very slippery. All-in-all a good time on stage 1 would be the ideal way to kick off the weekend…”
BP Ford WRT:
[Marcus Gronholm, car #3 and
Mikko Hirvonen, car #4.]
BP Ford team leader, Marcus Gronholm has said that he isn’t overly concerned about starting first on the road this weekend in Mexico. Gronholm will tackle the stages first on Friday’s opening leg as a result of his position at the top of the championship standings. This means he will have to cope with ‘sweeping’ the roads clean for his rivals, something that could cost him time. However, having had to play the same role in 2006, he doesn’t believe it will be a big handicap.
