2007 World Rally Championship: Rally Ireland

11/9/2007 -- One thing is certain: the outcome of the 2007 World Rally Championship will be decided in the British Isles, and quite possibly on the first of the season's last two fixtures – the inaugural Rally Ireland – for which Citroën Sport has entered two C4 WRCs for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí.

After visits earlier in the year to Norway and Portugal, the Irish round is the third and final newcomer to the 2007 WRC calendar. The event is based in Sligo, in the northwest corner of the island, and a special feature of the route is the fact that it straddles two countries: the Republic of Ireland and Ulster. A total of 20 stages are programmed over the three legs, the first of which is the longest of the rally with no less than 168km of against-the-clock action… practically half the weekend's total competitive distance.

To find out whether the island's asphalt roads warranted their reputation, Citroën Sport paid an exploratory visit to the Donegal Rally with a C4 WRC for Sébastien and Daniel. The combination of the data collected during that outing and the team's desire to perfect its preparation for the fifteenth round of the 2007 championship prompted the French squad to organise a second dry run, this time on the Cork Rally, for which Seb and Daniel, were joined by Dani and Marc to give the Spanish pair a chance to familiarise themselves with the terrain, too.

These two events enabled Citroën to gauge just how virile the Irish stages promise to be. "There's no other asphalt event like it in the WRC," recognises Sébastien Loeb. "The stages in the Sligo region might turn out to be a little different to those we saw in Donegal and Cork, but we are expecting them to be very fast, narrow and bumpy, and lined with big banks. They are likely to be a very difficult cocktail, especially when you consider that it is imperative that we win. It will doubtlessly be close but we'll give it everything we've got!"

Seb's analysis is echoed by Dani: "Although the Cork Rally took place in the south of Ireland, it still showed us how specific the Irish lanes are," he reports. "They were a big surprise to me, especially the grip which is low even in the dry. So I can only imagine what it will be like if it's wet!" Indeed, the Spaniard's remark highlights a factor that could well play a big role this weekend: the weather. The region in which the event takes place is by no means immune from fronts moving in from the Atlantic.

"The stages are atypical with many potential pitfalls. Adverse weather conditions would obviously make them more selective still. Rain would also make tyre choices even more complex which is another important factor. All the ingredients are in place to ensure that the inaugural Rally Ireland will be no stroll," predicts Guy Fréquelin. "The result in Japan and the effect it had on the situation in the Drivers' championship make me glad that we decided to prepare our visit to Ireland so thoroughly. To keep their title chances alive, Sébastien and Daniel need to win. Meanwhile, Dani and Marc will again do what they can to finish between his team-mates and Marcus Grönholm. The Citroën C4 is unbeaten on asphalt this year and we hope that we will manage to keep up that record on this very different sort of terrain. Everyone at Citroën Sport is aware of the size of the challenge we face but we couldn't be more motivated…"

Source: Automobiles CITROËN