Laurent Pellier in Sardinia: “We must build on our good performances”

Having never driven in Sardinia, what did you expect? Were you surprised?

Once again, we had to find out everything. I had been warned that it was a brittle round and that punctures would have to be managed a little, but no one had described this round to me as the most complicated of the season. In any case, in world championships, all the events are specific and what surprised me most in Sardinia was the variety of terrain. There are some pretty fast plateaus, especially under the wind turbines, portions where it turns almost as much as in Corsica and you take 21 minutes to do 20 km… I also expected it to be technical and I didn't was surprised.

In your opinion, the stages were not too deteriorated for your Fiesta Rally3?

I didn't find it mechanically brittle. In the Junior ranks, there were a lot of punctures, but it was not possible to anticipate everything. During the reconnaissance, we tried to note as many traps or embedded stones as possible. The passage of more than 45 cars before us also necessarily modified the surface. This was associated with rain. With our low quota of 12 soft tires, this added spice to a sauce that was already very spicy. Until our arrival, the wet conditions had worked in our favor. This allowed us to make our comeback and we were able to stand out. We also lacked a bit of success with a coil that broke after a few meters of racing in the superspecial on Thursday evening. The 16s lost don't seem to represent much in the overall event, but it immediately put us in the position of having to make up for them.

By finishing as the best performer, you showed your speed while scoring important points. Are you satisfied with the balance sheet for this event? Will it be enough to aim for the title?

It's a good question. After Croatia, where we were unlucky with a broken engine two stages from the goal while we were in the lead, I was afraid of having blown a joker. This abandonment penalizes us, because, in Sardinia, taking into account our three punctures and our passage through the superally, our 4^e place is not a bad result. We must manage to achieve overall all the good performances that we have achieved since the start of the year. I hope to have a worry-free weekend in Estonia (July 20-23) before going to Greece where the progress of Sardinia will serve as a benchmark for us and where the double distribution of points will make this meeting (7-10 September) essential.