IRC Poland : Citroen Sport - PreviewAs part of their European Rally Championship (ERC) campaign, Simon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyère have entered the 2007 Rally Poland which they will contest in a Citroën Sport Citroën C2-R2.
Rally Poland is not only a WRC candidate
event but it is also one of today's longestrunning rallies and is this year the fourth round of the ten-round ERC. For the third consecutive year, this gravel fixture is based in the Mazurian Lake District which extremely popular with tourists. The host town, Mikolajki, is close to the Russian border and 200km from the capital Warsaw.
The programme features two legs to the north of Mikolajki – where Friday and Saturday evening's super-special will be run – and is based on a conventional format of two loops of three stages each on both Saturday and Sunday. Although there are only 14 stages in all, they are quite long and the majority exceed 20km.
The event sees Simon Jean-Joseph trade the Citroën C2 Super 1600 he has driven so far on his other ERC and IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge) outings for a C2-R2.
"In order to contest as many rounds as possible this season, we needed to look for alternative solutions and running the C2-R2 in Poland will enable us to keep part of the budget for upcoming events with the C2 S1600," explains Citroën Sport's Customer Competition Manager Yves Matton. "Kris Meeke's strong run with the C2-R2 here last year showcased the car's potential in what is a big important market for Citroën and we hope that Simon will do the same again this time round."
Simon Jean-Joseph is delighted at the prospect of contesting the Rally Poland with the C2-R2. "It's a big challenge," he says. "I've only driven the car a short distance during a quick shakedown test, so I will only really get the opportunity to familiarise myself with it on Friday's official shakedown. That doesn't worry me unduly though because its showings in the Junior World Championship series and in the different national championships in which it competes have been very positive. It is also extremely reliable and I know I will be able to count on the Citroën Sport team that will be on the event. After several outings with the Citroën C2 S1600, I will need to adapt but I'm very much looking forward to the experience."
Simon is also buoyed up about his chances because he has prior knowledge of some of the stages. "They're quite reminiscent of Finland," he comments. "The roads are just as fast, but narrower and the trees that line them are perhaps not quite as sturdy as those you find in the Jyväskylä region! The stages aren't rough either, so that's ideal for a small car like the C2. We will do our best to show what it is capable of and score the best result possible in front of the huge crowds that always turn out in Poland."
Citroen Sport
