Leading the Rally Croatia in WRC2, the Rossel brothers want to "bring home the double victory"

It took talent and a bit of luck to navigate the pitfalls of Saturday's race. Rally from Croatia. Yohan and Léo Rossel have both delivered strong performances and head into the final day of the rally this Sunday in the top two positions in the WRC2 standings. For the elder Rossel, it would be a chance to secure his first victory in the category this season after a Monte Carlo Rally that got off to a bad start. It would also be an opportunity to bring Lancia back to victory in the World Rally Championship, even if not yet in the top category. Battling with his teammate Nikolay Gryazin, the driver from Nîmes had to manage the situation after the Bulgarian's Lancia suffered mechanical problems in the afternoon.

“It was a good day. We were able to maximize what we wanted, we made the right tire choices, which allowed us to increase the gap without taking any more risks than necessary. This afternoon, after Nikolay's problems, it was a different race. On Sunday, there are four stages left, we'll have to stay focused, avoid any silly mistakes, and bring a good result back to the team.”

With a lead of over a minute on his brother Léo, one might think that Yohan can easily see what's coming, but as SS14 proved, anything can happen on a Croatian rally that sometimes resembles an asphalt event! Punctures are a real risk, and for the Lancia driver, managing to contain his attack while not becoming complacent is key to victory.

“It was intense! I tend to say that when the road is covered in gravel and you have a series of corners, everything can change very quickly. I was five or six seconds behind the intermediate timers and in the end I finished the stage in the lead. The risk-taking is too great at a certain point, and I tried to stay clean, to maintain my rhythm, which is what we have managed to do throughout the rally so far. On Friday, we pushed very hard and on Saturday we maximized everything.”

As for his younger brother, Léo, the rally season has obviously been positive so far. Winner of the Monte Carlo Rally at the start of the season, the younger brother is now competing in his brother's shadow, but could still score significant points in the championship. “So far, the rally is going well for us. Especially for Yohan, because he’s done incredibly well so far, and we’ll try to maintain that pace for another day. Behind us, the competition is fierce, so we can’t afford to make any mistakes and need to make the right choices tonight and Sunday morning. There’s a bit of a cushion, but we know they’re driving so fast that if we relax, we quickly lose easy seconds. In WRC2, you always have to drive flat out.”

Léo Rossel will indeed start the final day in his 2C Compétition Citroën with a 15,5-second lead over Roope Korhonen (winner in Sweden), 28,5 seconds over a still-dangerous Gryazin, and 38,9 seconds over Alejandro Cachón. The Finn, the Bulgarian, and the Spaniard all experienced some tire or mechanical issues on Saturday afternoon, so they will need to push hard to maintain second place. After a tricky first day with his C3, Léo Rossel now feels much more comfortable.

“In any case, I think I’ll sleep much better than last night! I’ve been thinking a lot because I didn’t have a good feeling with the car on Friday, but the car worked much better on Saturday, we made some good adjustments. There are big changes on every stage, especially here, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we have to finish the job tomorrow and we’ll try to bring that one-two finish back to Saint-Jean du Gard!”

We can only wish the two brothers the best! And as Yohan says: "Once we've done that, all that will be left is the WRC In any case, we don't want to stop there.

Interview by Pierre Barré, in Croatia

ALSO READ > Leading tonight in Croatia, Thierry Neuville savors the moment: "We really weren't expecting this."