Mexico : OMV Kronos Citroen WRT - FinishThe OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team can be highly pleased with the Rally Mexico, the fourth run to the FIA World Rally Championship.
Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor finished in a solid sixth place. While last year the distance
to the top amounted to about one second per kilometre it was halved this time around. Additionally the OMV driver is obviously also happy about a successful gravel premiere with the Citroen Xsara WRC.
The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team also impressed with two best-times.
“The one on the longest special stage on day one makes me especially happy," said Stohl. "There we proved that we can keep up with the fastest. I am convinced that in the future we will be able to improve our consistency and reach top times over a longer period."
The brake problems of the Citroen, which had troubled the Austrian during the first three runs, seem to have been resolved.
“It is very comforting to score points again," he continued. "The next four rallies until the summer break will be completed on gravel. That makes me very confident for the WRC ranking."
According to Team Principal Marc van Dalen, his charge has fully tapped the potential.
“One has to state clearly that we were the best M2-Team here. Only drivers from absolute works teams are in front of us. I am especially pleased by Manfred's relative time-improvement as compared to the top. Last year he lost approximately one second per kilometre. Now it is only 0.5 seconds."
The Team Manager of 2006 is equally pleased with the development in the manufacture World Championship: “Even though we only competed with one car here we were able to keep the distance to Stobart and only lost one point on the Subaru works team. In Portugal Daniel Carlsson will rejoin the team. Then we can ride a full attack."
OMV Citroen Kronos WRT
