In the Manufacturers' series Kronos
Citroen still lead, but the margin between them and
BP Ford went up from 12 points to 20.
News from the Manufacturers' teams:
Manufacturer 1.
Kronos Total Citroen:
[
Sebastien Loeb, car #1 and Xavier Pons, car #2]
Kronos team boss, Marc van Dalen has said that his team have done a lot of work ahead of the Acropolis Rally in order to ensure they remain competitive and ahead of the chief rivals. Speaking in the countdown to the event, he added that Marcus Gronholm's pace on day one in Sardinia, when he managed to pull out over 30 seconds on team leader, Sebastien Loeb, despite only running one place lower in the order, had given them a jolt.
"I think Marcus’ performance was very useful: it stopped us from relaxing! In the event where we would tend to think that we were the best and imagine that it’s all there, this is a good kick," he noted. "We have done a lot of work since Sardinia and we hope to fight for a win. But the championship is really long and everyone experiences good times and bad times. We have to take profit of the first ones and target ‘big points’ if we’re a bit less successful."
Loeb meanwhile, who could equal Carlos Sainz's record of 26
FIA World Rally Championship victories this weekend if he again comes out top, conceded that Gronholm’s pace in Sardinia was a concern.
"I wasn’t on the right pace on SS1 [in Italy]. However, for the rest of the loop, I pushed really hard without succeeding to reverse the trend. OK, Marcus benefited from my lines but the gap cannot only be justified by that," admitted Loeb. "We have already noticed in the past that we aren’t so good on slippery roads. The process to improve that and other parameters is now important.
