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The Citroën C2 dominates the Juniors
After a satisying opening leg yesterday, the Juniors set off this morning for the longest day of the Rally Mexico. The Citroën – Equipe de France FFSA crew of Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are still dominating the JWRC classification, and so claim the provisional lead of the championship. As for the drivers entered in the C2 Junior Experience, Aaron Burkart, Shaun Gallagher, Francisco Fanari and Martin Prokop occupy 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th places respectively at the end of the day.
Aaron Burkart (D) – Michael Köelbach (D) (Citroën C2 Super 1600) Born 20/09/82 – Single – Lives Berlin (Germany) « I’m pleased with the behaviour of my C2 Super 1600 but less happy with my own driving as I’ve not felt comfortable on today’s stages. It was hard for me to find the correct line and stay on it. During the second run through the stages I was able to improve my times but I’m still not satisfied with my position at the end of today. »
Francisco Fanari (I) – Massimilano Bossi (I) (Citroën C2-R2) Born 07/07/83 – Single – Lives Spello (Italy) « We got underway well this morning but on the second stage of the day we broke the gearbox. We managed to get to the end of the loop with just two gears, but there was not enough time to fix everything at midday service. We therefore decided to call it a day, and we will start again tomorrow under the SupeRally regulations. »
Shaun Gallagher (EI) – Michael Morrissey (EI) (Citroën C2 Super 1600) Born 07/06/80 – Single – Lives County Donegal (Ireland) « Today went a bit better than yesterday, certainly as far as my physical health is concerned. Nonetheless, I found it hard to get into the right rhythm and I picked up a puncture on SS13. The C2 is great, but I’m worried about getting caught out by something so I’m not pushing as hard as I could. The heat and the altitude are two more things holding me back here. I’m not used to competing in these conditions, and that shows in my stage times. »
Sébastien Ogier (FR) – Julien Ingrassia (FR) (Citroën C2 Super 1600) Born 17/12/83 – Single – Lives Gap (France) « We just drove a sensible rally today. We didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks as it was vital for us to hang onto the lead. We managed to maintain our advantage, despite some attacks from Patrick Sandell. Tomorrow, we’re going to continue with the same plan in order to reach the finish ramp and fulfil the objectives set for us by our team and ourpartners at the start of the year. »
Martin Prokop (CZ) – Jan Tománek (CZ) (Citroën C2 Super 1600) Born 04/10/82 – Single – Lives Jihlava (Czech Republic) « I started off with a better rhythm than I had yesterday. We didn’t make any mistakes and we set some very good times this morning despite the difficulty of the stages. On the first stage of the afternoon we lost a lot of time with the same problem we had yesterday – an engine sensor – but this time we were able to change it on the road section justbefore SS13. »
Rally Mexico ‘Junior’ classification, end of day 2 1. S.Ogier/J.Ingrassia (Citroën C2 Super 1600) 3h 31 min 10,6s 2. J.Mölder/F.Miclotte (Suzuki Swift S1600) + 1 min 32,1s 3. M.Kosciuszko/M.Szczepaniak (Suzuki Swift S1600) + 2 min 32,6s 4. P.Sandell/E.Axelsson (Renault Clio S1600) + 5 min 29,2s 5. A.Burkart/M.Koelbach (Citroën C2 Super 1600) + 7 min 44,5s 6. S.Gallagher/M.Morrissey (Citroën C2 Super 1600) + 14 min 48,2s 7. F.Fanari/M.Bosi (Citroën C2-R2) + 44 min 57,1s 8. M.Prokop/J.Tománek (Citroën C2 Super 1600) + 49 min 54,8s
Day 3, Sunday 2 March 2008 : Day 3 : 143.13 km including 60.69 competitive km (4 stages, 4 different stages). Parc fermé out, service F (07:45/15 min) – SS17 : ’León’ (16.09 km) – SS18 : ’Guanajuatito’ (22.30 km) – SS19 : ’Comanjilla’ (17.88 km) – SS20 : ’Super-Special 5’ – service G (12:07/10 min) – Podium at 13 :00.