Poland: Citroen Sport - FinishJean-Joseph's run prematurely halted Poland: Citroën Sport - Finish A mechanical problem on SS11 put an untimely stop to the bid of Simon Jean-Joseph,Jack Boyère and their Citroën C2-R2 on the 2007 edition of Rally Poland.
The second
day of the all-gravel WRC candidate event featured 129.32km of competitive action, divided into three stages north of Mikolajki to be contested twice each.
The French pair had completed the opening leg in fourth place in the European Rally Championship participants' standings and set off on the morning of the second leg determined to do all they could to improve on that position, even though the stages proved something of a handful the first time round.
"The roads were very twisty but also very fast and that didn't really play in our favour," commented Simon. "They twisted their way through woods and hanging dust was a problem. I still tried to push hard and the time spent familiarising myself with the car on Saturday enabled me to make the most of the Citroën C2-R2."
Despite posting two second-quickest times in the course of the opening loop, the Martinique-based driver knew it would be tough to move up the leaderboard, although that didn't prevent him from going into the final group of stages intent on trying.
Unfortunately, his run came to a premature end on SS11 when the anti-torque clevis screw sheered.
"It's such a shame to have to retire so close to the finish," regrets Simon. "Yesterday, which was my first day with the C2-R2, it was like going back to school. This car is ideal for novices. Not only is it the cheapest on the market but it also has stacks of potential which enables you to take the fight to drivers of much bigger cars."
"I had great fun all weekend and the C2-R2's amazing speed really took me aback. Our aim coming here was to score as many European Championship points as possible and that's why I wasn't driving flat out. Even so, we were still quite close to the top drivers in our category which says a great deal for the R2's ability," Simon concluded.
The fifth round of the European Rally Championship (ERC) will also be the third fixture of the 2007 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), namely Belgium's Ypres Westhoek Rally on June 21/24.
Source Citroen Sport
