“The OMV Kronos
Citroen World Rally Team has done a great job during the last few weeks,” said the Austrian. “Now we want to reap the rewards in Greece.
“But you can’t compare this rally to any other in the WRC calendar. Here you are fighting the heat - and there is a constant danger of tyre damage too from the first stage to the last.”
Furthermore while the Acropolis is tough and Stohl didn’t do very well on this event last year, he remains upbeat. Indeed he set some good times in 2005 and was sixth in 2004.
“Every driver wants to get a top result before the summer break,” he continued. “We have already had some quite good results in Greece – and also with the Xsara.
“In 2005 we reached several third-best special stage times overall on the second day. I am sure that we will be able to keep up this time, as well, even though the Ford WRC cars are definitely still advantaged here - and, after all, eight crews of this manufacturer will compete here.“
For the record, Stohl will be the only driver competing under the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team banner in Greece after Daniel Carlsson was reprimanded by the
FIA and banned from competing in any more events this season following his actions in Sardinia.
Subaru WRT:
[
Petter Solberg, car #7 and
Chris Atkinson, car #8.]
Petter Solberg has admitted that he will be hoping for a change of luck on the Acropolis. Petter managed to finish fifth in Sardinia and while he showed good pace early on he struggled to maintain that as the event wore on.
The Norwegian conducted a two-day test deep in the countryside of mid-Wales, on Wednesday and Thursday last week and is optimistic that will help him go better in Greece.
“We’ve been working hard to develop the car in Wales, so hopefully we’ll see an improvement when we get to Greece this weekend,” he noted. “I think we also need a change of luck!
