Sardinia: Citroen Sport - ShakedownThe seventh round of the 2007 World Rally Championship – which is also the penultimate fixture prior to the summer break – kicked off today with the traditional shakedown.
The two Citroën C4 WRCs set off early this morning for
the 3.36km stage located some 15km north-west of the service park which is based at Olbia's freight terminal. It was already daylight, with a strong wind blowing across the mountains, as Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí started their respective first runs.
The two crews returned from their first pass with the news that the 'sample' stage was in no way representative of what they will find tomorrow when the action starts tomorrow.
"This morning's stage was wide with practically no corners," related Sébastien. "It was very fast and that won't really be the case during this weekend's event. The surface doesn't have much in common with the actual stages either. Each passing car swept aside an increasingly cleaner line and we ended up running on a hard-packed surface that gave very good grip. Once again, that won't be the case on the event itself.
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The comments of the three-time World Champion were echoed by his team-mate Dani: "We didn't do many runs this morning because the actual stages are mostly narrow with lots of concealed hazards and they are lined with big rocks in many places. This morning's test run was practically flat out, although I was surprised by the excellent grip we had from the outset the morning."
The Citroën Sport team profited from the morning to make final adjustments to the set-up of the two Citroën C4 WRCs with a view to fine-tuning their handling as a function of the Mediterranean island's tracks.
The Italian round kicks off this evening from 8pm with the official start ceremony which takes place to the jet-set backdrop of Porto Cervo. The rally will then begin in earnest tomorrow morning (Friday) when cars head out of service for Leg 1 from 8.30am.
Press Release Citroen Sport
