A share of the unexpected for Citroen Sport in Jordan

The fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship will stop for the first time in Jordan during the fifth round of the 2008 season. Citroën is fielding two C4 WRCs for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí, and two private C4s, followed by the PH-Sport team assisted by technicians from Citroën Technologies, are entered by Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior and Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk. A candidate for several years, Jordan is one of the main new additions to the 2008 calendar.

His route, very compact (only 983.44 km), is organized according to WRC standards. Spread over three stages, eleven special stages are to be raced twice, for a total of 359.26 timed kilometers. The uniqueness of this event lies in its course near the Dead Sea and in the Jordan Valley, with many kilometers to cover below sea level.

« Participation in a new rally always involves an element of the unknown », details Xavier Mestelan-Pinon, technical manager of Citroën Sport.

« The last two we discovered, Portugal and Ireland, went quite well… but I won’t forget Norway! Testing in Jordan is prohibited, so we tried to prepare for this event with the information we had: non-fracturing dirt roads, descending to -400 meters below sea level, probably high temperatures, maybe sand winds… By integrating these parameters, we defined settings that we will refine with the crews’ feedback following their reconnaissance. »

« It hasn’t happened to me often to start a WRC round with more experience than some of my opponents », jokes Dani Sordo, who participated in the reconnaissance of the previous edition.

« Overall, it’s a fast rally on fairly wide roads. The surface is as hard as concrete and should not be too degraded after the first loop. The pace will be high, and caution is needed with the layer of gravel that will cause changes in grip. It’s forbidden to deviate from the tracks and since the roadsides are sometimes deep, going off the track at all is forbidden! Our goal will be to get on the podium. »

We don’t have much information regarding the ‘Jordan Rally’, which I approach with caution, explains Sébastien Loeb. The event doesn’t seem too demanding for the cars. However, opening the road might be a handicap. Apparently, there are similarities with Mexico where our C4 WRC performed well, which is encouraging. The goal is to win to increase our lead in the ‘Drivers’ Championship and allow Citroën to continue fighting for first place in the ‘Constructors’ standings. If Daniel and I succeed, it would be our 40th world victory. It’s not an obsession, but it would just make a round number!

According to a Citroen Sport press release