Great Britain : OMV World Rally Team
The OMV World Rally Team (Citroen Xsara WRC) has completed the first day of the Wales Rally GB. Not according to plan, perhaps, but WRC points are still absolutely possible, especially for Manfred Stohl. The 33-year-old Viennese lies in eleventh place after six special stages, only 26 seconds behind sixth place.
Xevi Pons has a more difficult time. The Spaniard complains about a “too movable car”. 19th place was the limit so far.
Better steering in the afternoon
Eleventh overall place after the first leg of the Wales Rally GB may not look too great but the time difference of 1:47,3 on leader Sebastien Loeb (Fra/Citroen) is nevertheless a positive aspect for Manfred Stohl. Lying 1:18,4 minutes behind in the morning, the OMV driver only lost further 29 seconds on the subsequent identical three special stages. Stohl: “That is quite okay. Especially since we solved most of the steering problems. Normally you`d be fourth with such a time difference. I can only marvel at the close intervals.“
Furthermore, Manfred Stohl also chose the wrong tyres in the afternoon. He went for soft ones but can`t be sure whether hard tyres would indeed have been the better choice since nobody used them. “Maybe a mixture would have been best but we don`t have this type of tyres,“ explained the Austrian of the OMV World Rally Team.
Hard work on each kilometre
Xevi Pons had to learn the hard way on the first leg. The 25-year-old OMV driver has already competed twice in Wales but an assignment with a World Rally Car is a different cup of tea. The Spaniard is driving in his Citroen Xsara more than two seconds per kilometre faster than with a P-WRC car. That is the main difference. And then there were several other problems, as well. He once again had to deal with a tyre damage in the afternoon. Furthermore he complained about a “too movable car”. In other words: the car feels extremely nervous. Pons: “A shock absorber probably broke. But we`ll only find out at the final service.“
No mistakes allowed on Saturday
Manfred Stohl knows what will be paramount on the second leg on Saturday: “You mustn`t make mistakes. The characteristics of the course almost don`t allow you to make up for lost time. But make just one mistake – and you`re a goner. The final judgement will be on day three for sure.“
The second leg will commence at 9.00 in Swansea with a length of 103, 86 special stage kilometres (7 special stages). It will be crowned by the super stage in the evening at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.


Tags: great-britain, wales, omv, manfred-stohl, xavi-pons,