Sordo secures first stage win on gravel.

Kronos Citroen number two driver, Daniel Sordo may have only finished seventh on the Rally of Turkey at the weekend, but the Spaniard was pleased with his form at the finish.

Indeed, while Dani got off to a bit of a slow start and was cautious on the opening leg, due to the weather conditions and his less than sparkly outings on the last three events in Cyprus, Japan and Finland, the youngster improved as the event went on and put in a charge on the final day in drier conditions, posting the third best time in SS18 and the second best in SS19. As such he hauled himself up from tenth at the start of the final day to finish seventh - and secure two drivers' points and three for Kronos in the manufacturers'. He also posted his very first quickest stage time on gravel at the end of day two, when he topped the times in Phaselis 2 [SS15].

"I was here in Turkey for the first time. It's a nice rally and quite specialised. From the beginning my Xsara WRC that was forgiving and easy to drive - exactly what you need in these conditions," he reflected. "My notes were accurate, and there were not too many surprises. OK, on Friday I went for a tyre choice that was hardly ideal [and struggled a bit], but on the other hand, I set some quick times on the first run through some of the stages. I also set my first fastest time on gravel - which is something I won't forget - and finally I finished the rally pushing hard. It's all very encouraging..."

Xavier Pons also went well in the third Kronos-run Xsara WRC and like Sordo he put in a spurt on the final day, posting the second best time in SS17, the fourth best in SS18 and the third best in SS19. He therefore made up two places to go from sixth to fourth.

"Our second-fastest time on the short stage got our day off to a good start. I felt very comfortable with the car, our tyre choice was good and our confidence was high," he added. "When we pushed hard in Chimera [SS18] we got to within 12 seconds of our rivals. At the start of the final stage, Carlos [del Barrio - my co-driver] and I decided to go for it. The first two splits weren't in our favour, so we pushed even harder. Then we began to be faster on the splits, which increased our confidence. In the end, we did it! I'm very happy for ourselves but also for our team, which has given us unwavering support - even when things were not going so well - and an extremely competitive car that was always easy to drive."