Elpa Rally ERC - Citroën Sport - FinishIn addition to posting the fastest Group A time on every stage with his Citroën C2 Super 1600, Simon Jean-Joseph coolly steered his machine to an outstanding third overall Sunday on the Elpa Rally in Greece. *
The Martinique-based
driver's result on the penultimate round of the 2007 European Rally Championship means he will now be in contention for the ERC title when the series moves on to the final showdown in Antibes, France, in two weeks' time.
After Saturday's all-asphalt leg, Sunday's action took place entirely on the loose near the host town Porto Carras with a menu of three gravel stages – all exceeding 20km in length – to be covered twice each.
The day kicked off with the Toroni stage, a 29.13km narrow, rock-littered twister that was a sizable challenge in its own right. This test was immediately followed by the first visit to the Ambelonas stage which turned out to be just as exacting for the crews and cars alike, but Simon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyère succeeded in holding on to third place as competitors returned to the mid-leg service park.
The third stage of the day, Parthenon's, was more suited to the C2 Super 1600 and Simon made the most of the fact to claim his fourth fastest time of the weekend. The leg's second visit to Toroni then saw him improve on his first run by 40 seconds to shrug off the pressure from Donchev and keep a footing on the podium.
"It's been a pretty tough morning, very reminiscent of the Acropolis Rallies of yesteryear.
The first two stages weren't really good for us. We suffered from wheelspin in the frequent uphill sections and also spent our time sweeping a cleaner line for those following further down the order," explained Simon.
"The Parthenonas stage, on the other hand, was much more suited to the C2 Super 1600. Our intention now is to do all we can to hold on to third place, but our main objective is to reach the finish."
Simon had a slight scare on Toroni 2 but the PH Sport mechanics did a first class job to complete a precautionary gearbox, clutch and transmission change in less than 19 minutes!
The penultimate stage saw Donchev pass into third place, but the Bulgarian driver then dropped a minute on Parthenonas 2 and Simon was able to recover his podium placing: "As I had imagined, the second leg essentially called for patience and caution. With more than half the event's total distance taking place on dirt, it was never going to be easy for us to finish on the podium. Today's result is a fitting reward for everyone at PH Sport who once again did a great job to give us such a reliable and competitive C2."
This podium finish is also excellent for Simon's chances in the European Championship. Garcia Ojeda has not contested the statutory minimum number of events (six) and will therefore not figure in the final standings, which means that 'Jean-Jo' currently leads the series, equal with Isik. Travaglia and Iliev are also both still in the running and fans can now look forward to a thrilling four-cornered scrap for the 2007 ERC crown in Antibes in two week's time.
"Simon and Jack followed up their excellent performance on Leg 1 with a perfect run on the loose," reported Citroën Sport Customer Competition Manager Yves Matton.
"That says a great deal, too, about the versatility of the C2 Super 1600 which is capable of the best on both types of surface. Simon will now need to provide further evidence of that on the final round of the series in Antibes, another fixture on asphalt, a surface that has been happy hunting ground for him so far!"
*Following post-event scrutineering, the Stewards of the 32nd Elpa Rally 2007 have decided to exclude the competitor classified in second position, Renato Travaglia. The Italian driver has appealed this decision, As it presently stands, Simon Jean Joseph is second in the latest provisional classification.
Source Citroen Sport
