Fréquelin, Loeb and Sordo take questionsAfter some time off, the Citroen squad are now ready to get back into the action. Heading to Finland, the team are well aware that wins are needed as they take the championship battle to rivals Ford and
Marcus Gronholm.
Guy
Fréquelin - The eight-week break must have done the team a great deal of good before the final run-in…
"With all the preparation we've been doing for the coming rounds – including testing and
Sebastien Loeb's entry in the Donegal Rally plus Dani Sordo's participation in the O.K. Ralli in Finland – the break hasn't exactly been a holiday. True, it enabled everyone at Citroën Sport to take a bit of a breather but we haven't lost any of our motivation and we go to Jyväskylä extremely focused on our objectives."
With eight rounds still to come, Citroën and
Sebastien Loeb are second in their respective championships. You face a big challenge…
"We indeed face two big challenges during the second half of the championship. Nothing is over yet and there are still eight rallies to come. We know it won't be easy but our crews and everyone at Citroën Sport intend to give it everything they've got to reverse the trend. Given the points scoring system, we will need to drop as few points to our rivals as possible to stand a chance of winning a WRC title. That promises to be difficult, even though there are four asphalt rounds still to contest. The second half of the season doesn't start with the simplest of events either since Finland is home soil for our rivals.
"
What makes this rally so special? How do you explain that Citroën and Sébastien have never won here?
"It's a very specific event. The locals know the roads by heart and that will be especially important this year given how much of the total stage distance is new. In addition to the constant high speeds, the frequent blind corners and crests make it even more complicated. In recent years, Sébastien has been very close to Marcus Grönholm and I have every faith in both him and the team. It also seems that the C4 represents a step forward in performance terms compared with our most recent visits. We'll see if that's sufficient to enable us to challenge for victory."
Sebastien Loeb - What does going for almost a month without driving the C4 feel like? Will Finland be a fresh start?
"The break was nice but I wouldn't exactly call this a fresh start because we can't just dismiss all that's already happened this year. It was great to be able to unwind a little away from the stages but it wasn't something I would have liked to see last too long! The difficulty will be finding the ideal pace straight away, especially since Finland isn't the easiest round to get back into the swing of things…"
You are currently in the role of chaser, with eight opportunities to bridge the points gap…
"We will need to hit the ground running and find our marks again as early as the shakedown test. I have nine points to make up and I can't afford to make any more mistakes. To have a chance, Daniel and I will need to beat our rivals which means we will have to push hard. Unlike last year, I will be second on the road on Day 1 and that will enable us to see Marcus Grönholm's lines. That's always a plus."
Winning in Finland was one of your objectives. Is that still the case given your position in the championship?
"It's true that this is an event I want to win but I want to win it against Marcus Grönholm. It wouldn't have the same flavour without him. It's here that he started out and he is doubtlessly more motivated here than anywhere else. It's not that I'm not competitive in Finland, it's Marcus who feels particularly at home! As usual, I will start the rally with the intention of winning. If that means taking big risks, I will ease off. If, on the other hand, it looks as though I can match his pace, I will give it my best shot…"
Dani Sordo - How do you feel after your time off?
"Good, thanks. These breaks are important to give you a chance to take a bit of a step back, so long as they don't last too long! If someone had been forced me to go rallying every weekend, I wouldn't have complained! Staying at home is time wasted. I tried to keep busy by doing a little sport to stay fit. After a month off, you lose the notion of pace and there's a risk of being bit slow on the uptake when you arrive in Finland when, on the contrary, you really need to be raring to go."
How did pre-Finland testing go?
"I'm very pleased with what we accomplished. Everything went well and I believe we are ready. To cover as many different types of terrain as possible, we used a number of different test stages and I immediately found my marks again with the C4. The set-up is reassuring and competitive not only over the fast roads with jumps that we covered at average speeds of almost 145kph, but also over the narrower, slower stuff."
Is Finland one of your favourite rallies? What is your objective for this year's event?
"This is actually only my second attempt at this event in a WRC car. It's a rally that calls for considerable experience if you're looking to finish on the podium. That won't be my case this year. I do like the stages, though, but that goes for any rally driver. They're fast and call for long power-slides, not to mention the jumps… Fantastic! They also demand total concentration however, as well as good notes so that you never find yourself having to hesitate. The O.K. Ralli at the beginning of July helped me gain extra experience of the terrain, but the level of the competition will be completely different in Jyväskylä where I will be looking to score as many points as I can for Citroën."
Source Citroen
