"We’ve worked very hard during the summer break," said Schwarz. "New components have been built and successfully tested. Mattias is a driver who should be able to achieve a good result for the team in Trier. Andreas now has the chance to prove himself for the first time on stages he already knows. Therefore he should be able to improve upon his previous performances."
Aigner competed on the Rallye Deutschland last year and although he retired he is looking forward to the event. To date this season his best results have been three 13th place finishes, something he will be keen to improve upon in the second half of the season, in his final four events, which in addition to Germany, includes Cyprus, Turkey and GB.
"It’s the first rally I already know and this certainly won’t be a disadvantage," he added. "Since I’m very ambitious I’d like to reduce the gap to the front runners to one second per kilometre. This will be my third tarmac event in a WRC. For me it’s quite surprising that I’ve been more successful on this surface than on gravel. In Germany I prefer the narrow passages through the vineyards to, say, the ‘Panzerplatte’ which is very difficult to master."
DTM star Ekstrom meanwhile has admitted that it would be a ‘dream come true’ for him if he finishes in the top eight. Ekstrom has already done one event for the team this season, when he took in his home event, the Swedish Rally, back in February. He put in an impressive performance on the snow there and was on course to take fifth until he retired on the final day late on.
“I’m well prepared after testing [for Germany], I now feel comfortable with the car. I’ll try to drive fast and make as few mistakes as possible,” vowed the 2004 tin-top champion, “then a fair result should be achievable. A WRC point would obviously be a dream.”
The Rallye Deutschland will be Ekstrom’s eighth in the WRC, with all but one of them having been in Sweden, the exception the Rally Catalunya, which he competed on in 2004.
