Citroen number two driver
Daniel Sordo heads into the inaugural Jordan Rally this week buoyed by his first podium finish of the season last time out in Argentina.
The Spaniard now wants to build on that and unlike most of his rivals he does have some experience of the stages, as he did the reconnaissance for the Jordan candidate event in 2007.
His aim will thus be to try and make the most of it and again get onto the rostrum come the finish of the Middle East fixture.
"I have rarely turned up for the start of a WRC round with more experience of the event than most of my rivals [but that is the case this time]," said Dani.
"The stages tend to be fast and wide, with a surface that's as hard as concrete but which shouldn't cut up too much after the first loop.
"I think the pace will be quick but we will have to watch out for the top coating of loose gravel which will produce changes in grip. It will be unwise to stray off the ideal line, while going off isn't an option because of the deep ditches! We will aim for a podium finish."
Citroen Sport's technical manager Xavier Mestelan-Pinon meanwhile revealed that they already have a ball-park set-up and that Sordo and
Sebastien Loeb will just be 'tweaking' it in the recce on Tuesday and Wednesday, before doing some last minute checks in the shakedown on Thursday.
"Testing is not permitted in Jordan, so we tried to prepare for this rally using the information at hand, which was that the gravel stages are essentially wide smooth and drop to as low as 400 metres below sea level," he added.
"We can also expect high temperatures and possibly sand storms. Based on all this, we have come up with a basic set-up which we will fine-tune following the observations of our crews after recce."
Pinon is also relatively optimistic that they can get the job done, taking strength from their record on the new events in 2007 - although the outcome in Norway is more a warning of what not to do.
