WRC Turkey: Loeb and Citroen again

The two stages which made up the final leg of the Rally of Turkey decided the podium places and even though Grönholm set fastest time on the last stage, it was not enough to take second place from Subaru’s Petter Solberg – who was fastest by nearly 10 seconds on the penultimate stage.

Marcus Grönholm, Peugeot WRC, third: “I did my best to pass Petter today – I even removed the air conditioning unit from my car at service in order to save a bit of weight, but there was nothing more I could do. We were very close until the last 7 kilometres of SS17, then Petter did a very good time. Of course I was pushing, but my instructions were to get to the finish and make sure of scoring some points for Peugeot in the manufacturers championship. Luckily we were able to do that and Peugeot remains in the lead.”

Markko Märtin, Peugeot WRC, fifth: “This has been a tough rally for me and we have struggled to find complete confidence in the car. It was also difficult to judge the tyre choices, but for the most part I think we got it right. We still have a lot of work to do, but at least we have come away with some points which are vital for both championships. Today we did not take any risks and just made sure we got to the finish with no problems. There was not much to get excited about !”

Jean Pierre Nicolas, Peugeot WRC : “Looking at the result, it’s clear that we have limited the damage by keeping the lead of the manufacturers’ championship, but to be honest that is not enough. Speaking objectively, we did not show ourselves to be capable of winning. We will take clear stock of the situation, first with Pirelli but also with our car – as our Pirelli-equipped rivals were frequently quicker than us. This was particularly the case on on the very slippery sections, where our technical team needs to improve the 307WRC, which currently seems difficult to drive. Marcus Grönholm has driven a very good and intelligent rally, which proves once more the progress he has made as a driver. Markko Märtin has been once more a model of consistency, as has been the case since the start of the season.”

Isao Torii, Head of Mitsubishi Motor Sports: “Again we finished the rally and with one car in the points. I must say thank you to the whole team; everyone has shown how they can perform and demonstrated great potential. The drivers become more and more confident with the car each time and they showed speed and confirmed that we are ready for the next stage of our strategy, namely to challenge for podium positions. I am feeling very optimistic about the rest of the season.”

Gigi Galli, Mitsubishi WRC : “We took a steady pace today as there was no point to risk anything. Despite the disappointment yesterday, I have to say I am very happy with this rally. We made some good times and we are very close to having a great result. For me, that’s in two rallies time, then it’s my turn! We have some new solutions coming up, things we have already tested that I think will mean we can challenge and make the podium.”

Harri Rovanperä, Mitsubishi WRC: “It’s been a difficult rally which really ended for us on Friday. Since then we have been testing various things to see if we can find solutions for different situations. We have learned some stuff, but overall the rally has not been fantastic for us. Overall the tyres have been working very well, the wear was good and we can look forward to Greece with some optimism.”

Mario Fornaris, Mitsubishi WRC Technical Director: “We had a good performance from the car and Gigi made a great drive. Harri was unlucky, but all in all I think we must be happy. It is the first time we have shown that we can be in the top ranking and that is my memory from this event. Gigi was in the top five throughout and he had two best times; that is the making of a podium position. We couldn’t achieve it here because of a technical problem, but we have shown it is possible for the future.”

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