Canary Islands – Léo Rossel: “Nobody is putting pressure on us”

For his second WRC2 appearance, Léo Rossel will be competing on terrain that should be more favorable to him than Monte Carlo or what will follow on gravel. At the wheel of the PH-Sport team's C2 Rally3, the Gard native, however, prefers to be cautious about his objectives on the Spanish island.

Published 23/04/2025 à 21:43

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Canary Islands – Léo Rossel: “Nobody puts pressure on us”

Third in Monte-Carlo, Léo Rossel would like to achieve a similar performance in the Canaries, but he is wary of the competition (Photo: Bastien Roux/DPPI)

One of the downsides of the WRC2 championship is that competitors don't compete in every round. There can therefore be long breaks, as Léo Rossel just experienced.^e After missing Monte-Carlo in January for his debut in the competition, the Frenchman had to wait almost 3 months before making his comeback.

To prepare for this, he participated in and won the Giraglia round in Corsica with Jean-François Mancini at his side. This gave him a first impression of Hankook tires. It is certain that it changes a lot from what I knew until then., he emphasizes. I didn't find them catastrophic. It seemed to me that these tires were quite consistent over time. I think that for the Canaries the Hard will probably not be consistent enough, so we will have to manage it. We managed to define a setup that works, but there may still be some adaptations to be made in my driving once the race starts. »

As will be the case throughout the season, Léo will be discovering the roads. The videos he was able to watch have nevertheless given him an idea. This looks beautiful, he says. I feel like it's been a long time since there was a rally asphalt of this type. By that I mean a race during which there will be very little pollution on the road. The weather could muddy the waters, because we start at 50 m above sea level and climb to over 1600 m with a chance of finding rain or fog. We will need to have the right tires at the right time. »

Discovering the terrain and adapting to the tires forced him to moderate his objectives. Deep down, I would like to be able to aim for a place in the top 5, he smiles, but I also looked at the entry list and it's clear that there are at least 10 contenders. On asphalt, we can perhaps have slightly higher ambitions, because it's a surface on which I know the C3 well, but I still think that, as in all the other rounds, we have things to learn. Beyond the finishing position, what I really want is to succeed in reducing the gap per kilometer compared to the fastest. I know that Guillaume (Mercoiret his co-pilot) and I are in an ideal situation. No one is putting pressure on us regarding the result. We have to increase the pace crescendo to try to progress throughout the rally.» With 18 special stages and a little over 301 km of timed runs, they will have plenty to perfect their training.