“I’m
totally convinced we’re going to win a Tarmac rally this year - I
don’t know which one it will be but I really feel confident.
Wherever there has been Tarmac this year - okay it’s been with a
gravel set-up on gravel tyres but everywhere we’ve been quickest.
Mikko [Hirvonen] was quickest [on the Lisbon superspecial stage in]
Portugal, while Jari-Matti [Latvala] was quickest in Argentina. Okay
the cars were a long way off being on full Tarmac settings but from
what the drivers are saying after the Tarmac testing we have done is
very, very encouraging.”
Mikko Hirvonen took fastest time on the
Lisbon Super Special stage in Portugal, and Jari-Matti Latvala was
fastest on the tarmac in Argentina, beating both the tarmac-dominant
Citroens (though both these stage wins were on gravel tyres on gravel
suspension set-ups). The last non-Citroen victory on tarmac was in a
Ford Focus, driven by Markko Martin in Spain in 2004. Indeed, Marcus
Gronholm did win Rallye Monte Carlo in 2006, but that was after
Sebastian Loeb spun off the road on SS6, losing almost 4 mins.
Martin's Spanish win in 2004, too, came after Loeb was forced out of
the rally.
Loeb has proved to be the fastest
driver on tarmac for quite a while. Since taking his first win in
Germany 2002, Loeb has won all but 5, winning 26 events.
Nevertheless, Wilson is confident his team can break Citroen's
strangle-hold on the tarmac events.
Gerard Quinn, head of Ford of Europe's
Motorsport division, is equally confident, made even more confident
by Latvala's Argentinian pace and an air of confidence from both Ford
drivers.
“But
both Jari-Matti and Mikko have shown flashes of what they can do on
Tarmac this year. We’ve seen in Argentina on the 20-kilometre
Tarmac section the pace we showed with Jari-Matti. The drivers are
very eager to get back onto Tarmac so there’s an element of
confidence we didn’t have previously. I’m hoping we can
capitalise on that confidence.”
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