Ostberg: My style suits Mexico stages
Neat and tidy pays dividends
Rally Guanajuato Mexico: Fighting talk
Here’s our round-up of quotes from the WRC stars ahead of this week’s Rally Guanajuato Mexico:
Sebastien Ogier. Volkswagen Polo R: “The past two rallies in Mexico have shown how comfortable I feel there. And in recent years our Polo R WRC has always coped superbly with the thin air at high altitude in Mexico. We can only wait and see whether the same is true in 2015 and our powerful engine can compensate for our early starting position.”
Hayden Paddon. Hyundai i20: “These first events of the year will still require an element of learning for us and I am hoping that I can adapt to the conditions in Mexico as well as I did in Sweden. We want to be fighting near the front but we must acknowledge this is still relatively new territory so we’ll take each stage as it comes.”
Ott Tanak. Ford Fiesta RS: “We try to prepare as much as possible for the heat and altitude but that is not always so easy. I have a sauna every night but that’s not quite the same! The stages on the first day are quite tricky so it will be important to make it through them cleanly without any problems. Then, if the feeling is there, we can look to push a bit more.”
Dani Sordo. Hyundai i20: “I am really pleased to be rejoining the team for Mexico. It was the right decision to sit out Sweden and to rest fully. I joined the team for a test in Spain to get myself ready for Mexico, which is an event I know quite well. I didn’t compete there in 2014 but I finished fourth in 2013, so I hope we can compete near the front.”
Mads Østberg. Citroen DS3: “It’s good to be back in León and leave the Norwegian winter behind! We’re going to see how the upgrades to our DS 3 WRC respond on gravel. It will allow us to check whether the team’s hard work has paid off and to continue to learn for the rest of the season.”
Thierry Neuville. Hyundai i20: “Mexico has been one of my favourite rallies in recent years, and the scene of some great results. The team is pushing hard to develop the Hyundai i20 WRC and there are more improvements coming soon. I will continue to push to the maximum and hope we can celebrate in Mexico like we did last year – with a podium!”
Jari-Matti Latvala. Volkswagen Polo R: “I am looking forward to the Rally Mexico, as I have some amends to make and because, as the fourth-placed man in the World Championship, I have an ideal starting position. My goal for Mexico is to close the gap to Thierry Neuville, Andreas and Sébastien as much as possible. I missed out on points in Sweden. When you look back through the history books, most world champions have scored points at pretty much every race. As such, I cannot afford to make any more mistakes.”
Kris Meeke. Citroen DS3: “I was disappointed by my results in the first two rallies, despite winning stages in Monte-Carlo and in Sweden. I have to eliminate the mistakes to score points and turn my speed into results. I’m going to run my own race and I think our starting position will be an advantage.”
Andreas Mikkelsen. Volkswagen Polo R: “A lot of people are talking about how I missed out on victory at the Rally Sweden. To be honest, though, I moved on from that a long time ago. It was unquestionably very disappointing for me, as I came within touching distance of my maiden WRC win. However, I prefer to take the positives out of it and now travel to Mexico full of confidence.”
Elfyn Evans. Ford Fiesta RS: “I’ve got some good memories from Mexico. Last year was a bit of a surprise result for us. It’s a tricky event and a lot of people had problems which we were able to capitalise on. It’s important to keep out of trouble and if we can do that again whilst showing an increase in speed it could be another good event.”
