Citroen had a Thursday… a bit too surprising
The first edition of the Rally Ireland in the WRC World Championship opened this morning with the traditional shakedown. Starting in the dark, this final pre-race test session then took place under the sun. This shakedown was scheduled at an unusual time (7:00 a.m.) and its duration was reduced from four to three hours due […]
The first edition of the Rally Ireland in the WRC World Championship opened this morning with the traditional shakedown. Starting in the dark, this final pre-race test session then took place under the sun. This shakedown was scheduled at an unusual time (7:00 a.m.) and its duration was reduced from four to three hours due to the logistics required for tonight’s superspecial in Belfast. The 2.87-kilometer stretch of road chosen for this exercise was located a few miles east of the service park set up for the entire event on the campus of the Sligo Institute of Technology.
The day had not yet dawned when the Citroën C4 WRCs of Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí set off for a first run in the shakedown. Back at the service area, the two Citroën crews shared their comments. « The first surprise is to find a road with grip! That won’t be the case throughout the rally », warned Dani Sordo. « The road profile is quite similar to what the entire rally will offer », confirmed Sébastien Loeb. « The road is narrow, fast, and quickly gets dirty with the passage of competitors. The big difference between this morning and what awaits us starting tomorrow is that there are fewer bumpy sections. »
After a quick stop at the service area, the two Citroën C4s set off for a new lap, during the day this time. “It’s a good thing to have been able to drive in both conditions. It was also a pretty representative warm-up of this new asphalt stage with its pronounced specificities,” explained Seb. “We were able to find our bearings and adjust our settings.” “The morning went well,” concluded Dani. “We had a few small things to refine, and everything went perfectly.”
After this shakedown, the competitors will head to Belfast (200 km east of Sligo) where the starting ceremony will be organized, followed by the superspecial staged in the Stormont area where the Northern Ireland Parliament is located. The crews will get down to business tomorrow with a very long day of 169 kilometers of special stages.
According to a Citroen Sport press release
