Canary Islands – Yohan Rossel: “I’m here as an outsider”

Among the names that come up repeatedly when it comes to designating the favorites of the rally Canary Islands in WRC2, there is inevitably that of Yohan Rossel. Winner at Monte-Carlo, the Frenchman gave up playing beads with his little boy to return to competition this weekend. We tried to prepare well for this meeting., says the man who will have Arnaud Dunand at his side in the C3 of the PH-Sport team. We did a test session near Alicante in southern Spain and then we were able to do some testing on the island before the event. »

The Gardois is one of the drivers who already has experience in this event, but he believes that he still has a lot to discover. I came in 2019 when I was doing the program with the Peugeot Rally Academy, he explainsI have excellent memories of it. We present ourselves with a completely different label, but that doesn't bother me, because we did a good job. "Among the major topics that are on everyone's mind in Spain, there are inevitably Hankook tires." It's definitely different from what we used previously., confirms the Citroën driver. We had a real soft and a real hard and today I would say that we are closer to a medium. You feel that the casing and the rubber are softer. This does not prevent the Hankooks from being very durable with the same level of performance. The tire moves quickly and we lose aggressiveness whether entering, in the middle or exiting the corner. This has changed the balance of the car and we have to get used to it. I have enough experience to adapt to it and I think it should suit my driving. We will all have the same envelopes and I think we anticipated things well with the team. I appreciated the way in which everyone got to work to understand this new feature. »

Winner of the Monte-Carlo, Yohan Rossel approaches this 4^e round of the season with caution. We will come up against locals who are very sharp and who know the terrain very well., he explains. We're coming in as outsiders. I don't think we're the favorite, but I think our package should allow us to be in the fight for victory. For two months, we'll be in the heart of our season, and the upcoming deadlines will be very important. I won't do everything to win, but we have to score big points. »

Author of 3^e Shakedown time this morning, the Citroën crew got their weekend off to a perfect start.