Portugal : OMV Kronos Citroen WRT - FinishThe OMV Kronos Citroen team scored four points for the manufacture ranking at the Portuguese Rally thanks to the Swedish-French duo Daniel Carlsson/Denis Giraudet.
The Portugal winner from 2005 was able to move up to sixth
place on the final leg. Following their spin on Saturday, ninth place was the best possible result for Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor (A).
Carlsson was true to his word and really put his foot down on the final day of the Portugal Rally. Thus he already overtook Henning Solberg (Nor/Ford Focus WRC) during the first SS of the day. Sixth place wins the Swedish OMV driver three points in the driver ranking. “It was a very difficult rally and I am happy that we were able to finish it within scoring ranks. Thus we have scored at all three rallies that we competed in this year. Now we want to improve further and move up one or more places in Sardinia already.”
Following his spin on day two the momentum was lost for team-mate Manfred Stohl. After having thus lost about five minutes scoring points was no longer possible. Therefore testing new parts at the Citroen Xsara WRC under racing conditions became the chief objective. The differentials especially must be perfectly set up for the next rallies.
“The spin was my fault," admitted Stohl. "Unfortunately I lost a lot of time by this mistake. Following this it would have made no sense to ride an attack and risk dropping out. I am obviously disappointed. But only five out of 16 WRC-runs have been completed so far. Last year Hirvonen had only scored seven points after five events and in the end he finished third.”
OMV Team Principal still saw some positive aspects at the Portugal Rally: “Carlsson showed a good fight and thus was able to re-conquer sixth overall place on the third day. There the times were okay, as well. Now we'll have to focus on stability. Manfred didn't stand a chance following the spin. That can happen and shouldn't be overrated. His rallies are yet to come. Therefore I am confident for the future and looking forward to the next three gravel-runs in Argentina, Sardinia and Greece.”
Source Citroen Kronos WRT
