Rally Russia - Citroen Sport - RaceSimon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyère crowned their second competitive outing at the wheel of the Citroen C2-R2 with a fine 11th place on the inaugural Rally Russia.
The French driver enjoyed a faultless run on his way to claiming
victory in Group A and topping the two-wheel drive classification with his PH Sport-tended C2-R2.
"A good position overall and victory in the two-wheel drive classification is an excellent global result," beamed Simon Jean-Joseph at the end of the two-day event. "Given the high number of all-wheel drive cars here and the high-speed nature of the stages, I think it would have been difficult to do much better. I always believed we could cause an upset on this event and I am very pleased with our result."
All did not go as planned though, as organisers were unfortunately forced to cancel Thursday evening's scheduled super-special in Saint Petersburg after failing to obtain all the necessary authorisations.
Following the cancellation of SS11, the second and final leg of the fourth round of the 2007 Intercontinental Rally Challenge featured a mere 34km of against-the-clock action divided into three stages.
Although the day was short, Simon Jean-Joseph preferred to take things cautiously.
"As we saw yesterday," explained the 2004 European Champion, "the gravel stages here tend to cut up quite quickly. They are fast, but there also are frequent portions where buried rocks become exposed and there is a constant threat of picking up a puncture – or worse."
The Martinique-based driver started at a brisk pace but without taking any uncalled-for risks, a tactic that enabled him to hold on to his overnight lead in the two-wheel drive standings: "It wasn't a foregone conclusion but the day went very well for us. We succeeded in defending our position by pushing hard, yet keeping a safety margin all the time."
"From start to finish, we were also able to profit from the
Citroen C2-R2's first-class reliability and from the perfect job put in by PH Sport, although it took me a few kilometres to feel totally confident in the car. After that, I was gradually able to fine-tune the set-up and then I was able to really attack. As in Poland, I was genuinely taken aback by the Citroën's speed, and I don't think I was the only person in that case," said Simon.
Citroën also had other considerations in entering this very first Rally Russia: "In addition to wanting to come away with the best result possible, we came here to showcase the competitiveness of the C2-R2," Simon Jean-Joseph explained.
"Rallying is becoming increasingly popular in Russia which is also an important market for Citroën. On paper, it wasn't an event for us but we were able to rise to the occasion, as our stage times and final position – just outside the top-ten, despite a strong entry of four-wheel drive Group N cars – indicate. Despite its small size, we succeeded in showing that the Citroën C2-R2 is capable of scoring top results. There is nothing on the market to beat it in terms of its price/performance/reliability ratio," he added.
Second place in the two-wheel drive category went to another Citroën C2-R2 in the hands of Russians Irek Dautov/Alexander Shatunov who finished a highly commendable 16th overall.
1st Rally Russia - Final positions: *
1. A. Alèn/T. Alanne (Fiat Punto) 1h 19m 07.4s
2. E. Garcia Ojeda/J. Barrabes (Peugeot 207) + 2m 10.4s
3. N. Vouilloz/N. Klinger (Peugeot 207) + 2m 47.1s
4. A. Navarra/D. D'Esposito (Fiat Punto) + 4m 18.4s
5. E. Vertunov/G. Troshkin (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 5m 01.1s
6. A. Zhigunov/I. Ter Oganesiants (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 5m 25.1s
7. M. Cavigioli/N. Arena (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 5m 53.8s
8. B. Fedotov/A. Orlov (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 6m 43s
9. G. Szabo/Z. Kohler (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 7m 03.4s
10. M. Gogolev/V. Kulikov (Subaru Impreza) + 7m 12.8s
11. S. Jean-Joseph/J. Boyère (Citroën C2-R2) + 7m 21.9 s
.../...
16. I. Dautov/A. Shatunov (Citroën C2-R2) +12m 05.7s
(* Subject to publication of the official results.)
Source Citroen Sport
