Rally-eMag August 2013 | Page 19

Neste Rally Finland / Who’s not? 19/32 Who’s not? Dani Sordo Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Considering his results Dani Sordo is not doing bad this season. The experienced Spaniard is currently fifth overall in the championship standings a mere four points behind team mate Hirvonen and ahead of both M-Sport regulars Ostberg and Novikov. He landed a podium on his debut for the team in Monte Carlo and clinched a season best second in Greece. At the last event in Finland Sordo finished fifth, the spot the most coveted Meeke had been in. His pace was some way off the leaders but his consistency brought him back up in the charts. His problem though is the dominance of Volkswagen and the mediocre performance of Citroën as a team. A bit spoiled after many years of Loeb dominance the French team finds itself in unknown territory chasing the pack. Results are needed and Sordo seems to be the victim. Meeke impressed in Finland and will take Sordo’s spot in Australia giving Sordo the ‘chance’ to prepare for the remainder of the season outside the spotlights. With three tarmac events coming up Sordo returns to his favourite surface. He is capable of scoring good results there, and he needs to do so to retain his seat.