The eagerly awaited first asphalt round of the World Rally Championship allowed the two CitroënJunior Team crews to show their potential. At the end of the Rally Bulgaria, Sébastien Ogier andJulien Ingrassia formed part of a historic one-two-three-four formation finish for Citroën, while KimiRäikkönen and Kaj Lindström set some top stage times.
While Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia’s objective was to maintain their fourth place overall today,Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström still needed to push to claim 10th place and the one WorldChampionship drivers’ point that came with it. As the result of a 10-minute penalty after going off theroad at the end of the opening day, Kimi and Kaj started the day in 14th place: 2m46.5s off the 10thplace that was held by Henning Solberg.
On the first stage, the Finns got back more than 40 seconds, followed by another 35 seconds on thefollowing stage. This was enough to place them 11th. “We’re pushing hard again today,” said Kimi.“Everything went well although I had a slightly strange feeling on the second stage. The team is going tochange the front anti-roll bar at service.”
Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia held onto their overall position. “After losing a minuteon the first day, we can’t fight with Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg anymore,” explained Sébastien.“That’s a pity, but it also allows us to concentrate on understanding our Citroën C4 WRC in asphaltspecification. We’re trying out some settings that maybe we wouldn’t have risked if we were in the middleof a tight battle and that’s very good for our learning process.”
On the final loop of stages, Kimi continued reducing the gap to the top 10 by taking more than 45seconds from Henning Solberg in Muhovo 2. But the Finn made a small mistake on the final stage andhad to settle for 11th overall in the end. “At least we tried!” he said at the finish. “Our feeling with thecar was very good throughout the rally and that’s extremely positive for what is only our first asphaltevent. We keep on learning and I have the feeling that we’re making progress now.”
Sébastien Ogier eventually finished fourth behind three more Citroën C4 WRCs, having set fastest timeon the final stage. The Frenchman was able to draw an extremely positive conclusion from the firstasphalt rally of the season. “It’s a great result for the championship,” he said. “We’ve shown as of nowthat we’re able to fight for a podium on asphalt, which is extremely promising for the rest of the season.Now we’re going to concentrate on the forthcoming Rally Finland, which we’ll be contesting for the firsttime with the Citroën Total World Rally Team. ”
Team manager Benoit Nogier concluded: “It’s been another good day for the Citroën Junior Team andyet another rally without any technical problems for us. That’s a great tribute to the whole team, whichhas once more prepared the two Citroën C4 WRCs perfectly. The team’s performance on Friday night,which allowed Kimi to restart the rally on Saturday, was equally remarkable. Citroën has again shownthat asphalt is a very strong surface for the brand, while our two drivers have displayed some fascinatingpotential for the future.”
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