Rally Sweden / Round-up
Citroën World Rallyteam
After Monte Carlo all eyes
were on Kris Meeke again
and also Østberg could enjoy
quite a bit of interest, if only
because part of the Rally
Sweden runs into his home
country for some stages.
Meeke was just gaining experience in Nordic conditions.
It’s a good thing that Østberg
was happy. His podium finish is very important, both
for himself and for Citroën.
Meeke did a reasonable job.
After an excursion that cost
him some seven minutes he
came back and gained some
points. It seems Yves Matton
found himself a good team
with possibilities. If they can
really challenge Volkswagen? We doubt it. But they
are definitely a good team to
beat the rest.
Hyundai Shell World Rallyteam
17/42
For Hyundai WRC life is all about
getting experience in competitive circumstances. Their test
season last year comes nowhere near what Volkswagen
did in the build up to their WRC
quest so Hyundai now have to
find out how good their car and
their team are.
To start from the positive side,
the car seems to be fast. Reliability is still another factor.
The same seems to apply to
the team. We’re mainly talking
about the drivers now. Neuville
is a good driver there is no doubt
about that, but his very early off
in Monte Carlo is at least partly
due to his eagerness to show
how good he is. He has to bear
in mind that he already proved
that and that, in signing for Korean manufacturer; he has to wait
a bit.
Next is the car. It seems to be
quick; we already said that so
there is potential. The whole
operation doesn’t lack potential
but we cannot expect them to be
winning rally’s after such a short
period. Though the drivers make
mistakes, both in Monte Carlo as
in Sweden the wheels seem to
snap off a bit too easily, but that
could just be a coïncidence. And
the alternator problem of Sordo
in Monte Carlo is a typical example of a thing that happens to a
new car. Our conclusion: there
is a lot of work to be done, but
Hyundai will get there.