Citroën wants to drive the point home

After a second place for the first rally of the season in Sweden, and three victories in Mexico, Jordan and Turkey, Loeb will try to increase his lead over his rival Petter Solberg (Petter Solberg WRT), already 40 points behind the six-time world champion. The reigning world champion WRC is therefore confident for this weekend.

“Everything is going well for us at the start of the season. The fact that our rivals share the places of honor allowed us to maintain a small gap in the general classification. Even though we have won this New Zealand rally twice, I remain on my guard because our opponents are always very strong on this terrain. Regardless, I'm excited to compete in this event. The special stages are magnificent and not very rough, it is one of the rallies where the driving pleasure is the most intense,” attests the Citroën driver. Sébastien Loeb is nevertheless relatively calm since he is guaranteed to remain at the head of the drivers' world championship after this round, whatever his result.

Everything is not going so well for Dani Sordo who has to deal with a difficult start to the season to say the least. He only had two fourth places, the other two rallies having ended with two retirements. “I hope that the wheel will finally turn and that we will find our way back to the podiums. Everywhere, we were in the fight with the best. There is no reason why it should not be the same in New Zealand,” says the Spanish driver.

Il se situe actuellement en septième position juste devant Wilson (Stobart VK M-Sport Ford) avec 24 points au compteur et doit combler son retard sur Villagra sixième à seize points. « Ce qui nous manque, c?est un peu de réussite pour transformer notre potentiel en résultats concrets pour l?équipe. Je m?y emploierai avec la même application sur cette épreuve que j?apprécie beaucoup. »

But the Citroën Total WRT team drivers will have to be wary because the New Zealand event is appreciated by most of the drivers who will do anything to claim victory. The drivers of the BP Ford team in the lead, who closely follow the Citroëns in the manufacturers' world championship.