Reactions – Loeb is lurking… Sordo OUT

At the end of the first day of the 5th ‘Rally Mexico,’ Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena placed their Citroën C4 WRC on the second step of the podium, 9.6 seconds behind the leader. Their teammates Dani Sordo/Marc Martí unfortunately had to withdraw after a suspension arm broke due to a collision with a rock. They will restart in SupeRally.

The start of the day for the Citroën Sport team proved to be complicated. A few kilometers after the start of ES1, ‘Alfaro,’ the C4 WRC of Dani Sordo and Marc Martí was reported stopped. “I don’t know what happened,” lamented Sordo upon his return to the Poliforum service park. “In a left-hand curve, I followed the tracks on the inside. There must have been a rock because we broke a suspension arm. It’s a big disappointment. Until then, we had found a good rhythm, and the split times were good.” The Spanish crew’s race will resume as part of the SupeRally.

« After our misadventures with Loeb’s engine yesterday, this new blow was not easy to digest, noted Olivier Quesnel. « However, the entire Citroën Sport team immediately regrouped to prepare for the rest of the rally for Sordo and Marti. At the same time, Loeb and Elena won the ES2 and then the ES3, getting closer to first place and boosting the team’s morale. We were always ready to fight! »

« During the morning loop, I had a bit of trouble finding the right feeling, detailed Sébastien Loeb. « On stages that were not yet sufficiently swept by the drivers in front of us, the grip provided by our Pirelli Scorpion hard compound tires wasn’t perfect. We tried to reduce this issue by slightly modifying our setup before SS2. It paid off. We closed in to 4.4 seconds from the leader. This afternoon, by maintaining the same pace, we managed to keep the gap under 10 seconds. We will continue to work on our settings tonight during the final service and keep pushing tomorrow. »

« The outcome of this day is mixed, concluded Olivier Quesnel, the team’s director. « This first stage proved to be very difficult, as evidenced by the many withdrawals. Behind the wheel of a Citroën C4 whose settings did not completely suit them, Sébastien and Daniel superbly limited the damage. They are in a good position to attempt to strike the final blow during the two remaining stages. Dani and Marc will also be back tomorrow with the objective of trying to bring back ‘Constructors’ points. »

According to a Citroen Sport press release