by Rob Wilkins.Ford's Malcolm Wilson has revealed that he wants Subaru to be back fighting at the front of the field in order to take points off
Sebastien Loeb and Kronos
Citroen - and hopefully then to help them!
Speaking to exclusively to
Crash.net Radio, he added that they will be cheering on their Banbury based rivals and he is eager to see them continue to perform like they did in Argentina, the most recent event in this season's
FIA World Rally Championship, where
Petter Solberg and
Chris Atkinson finished second and fifth in their Impreza WRC's.
"I think they [Subaru] have found it very difficult on the asphalt, but they are certainly closing the gap on the gravel now and in fairness that is what we really want," he confirmed. "We want them to be very competitive because we want them to be taking points off Sebastien as well - and so we are actually hoping they can build on there successes in Argentina."
As for if it will be possible for Ford and their number one driver, Marcus Gronholm to claw back the gap on Kronos
Citroen and Loeb, Wilson said that while it won't be easy they have no intention of throwing in the towel, especially with 10 events still to go. Indeed while Gronholm is 21 points behind Loeb in the drivers', the situation in the manufacturers' is much closer, with just 12 points separating the two going into next weekend's event, the Rally d'Italia Sardegna.
"I think it is possible, but it is not going to be easy [for Marcus to beat Loeb now]. Literally if Marcus won every rally left and Sebastien finished second, then Sebastien would still win because that is the way the points scoring is at the moment in the championship. But you never know," he added. "I have been in this job a long time and there is no question Sebastien is a very difficult chap to beat. He has just got such a good package with him and the reliability that he has means it is going to be tough.
"We feel we are probably in a stronger position to go for the manufacturers' championship than drivers, but put it this way, we will not be giving up right until the end of the season."
