Tour de Corse : Red Bull Skoda Team - ShakedownSlightly weakened by a mild case of flu, Finnland's Harri Rovanpera started his assignment for the Red Bull Skoda Team today.
On a very winding stage near Ajaccio, roughly seven kilometres long, the shakedown was held:
“Here I had, with the exception of a small previous test, my first opportunity to get to know the Skoda Fabia at racing speed four times in a row. It was a good feeling, but I will try not to overdo it at the start. With the setup we worked out we should be able to have a good start to the first leg tomorrow. I just hope my flu gets better, because it's no fun at all if you're in the stage and your nose is running.”
For Andreas Aigner, Corsica means breaking completely new ground again in his twentieth rally overall and his fourth in a WRC, yet the same requirements apply: “Although some people won't hear of it anymore, I will once more try and finish the rally as flawlessly as possible. My benchmark will be Ford's young driver Matthew Wilson. I can measure up to him and see whether I have made progress on asphalt compared to Spain. Apart from that I go into this rally with a lot of respect, it will be a tough task for sure.”
The two team representatives Raimund Baumschlager and Armin Schwarz hope for a Corsican outcome that is similar to Spain: “It is important that Harri quickly familiarizes himself with the Skoda Fabia, a top ten position would be a success in this distinguished field. The usual goals apply for Andreas: Learn and learn again, drive consistently with no mistakes if possible and bring the car home to Ajaccio.
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Tour de Corse : Shakedown times
1.
Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) 4:14.4
2.
Marcus Gronholm (Ford) 4:14.7
3. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) 4:16.7
4. Daniel Sordo (Citroen) 4:17.8
5. Jari Matti Latvala (Ford) 4:18.8
6. Petter Solberg (Subaru) 4:19.2
7. Xavier Pons (Citroen) 4:21.4
8. Jan Kopecky (Skoda) 4:23.1
9. Manfred Stohl And Alexandre Bengue (Peugeot) 4:23.3
11. Stephane Sarrazin (Subaru) 4:23.5
12. Harri Rovanpera (Red Bull Skoda Team) 4:23.8
13. Matthew Wilson (Ford) 4:25.0
14. Andreas Aigner (Red Bull Skoda Team) 4:26.2
15. Gigi Galli (Mitsubishi) 4:26.6
Press release Red Bull Skoda Team
