It's a real pity we lost all that time in the morning: it was just a stupid thing where we slid a bit wide. I was quite surprised that the whole tyre came off the rim. I actually quite enjoy these vineyard roads; when it is going well I can get into quite a good rhythm with the car. Tomorrow we have the opportunity to make up some places, so we've got to attack -- even though I don't really like the Baumholder stages. |
Since the summer, Markko has been happier at the wheel of the 307 WRC and the engineers at Peugeot Sport have a clearer understanding of the sort of set-up that suits him. Everything's moving in the right direction and that's the main thing, both with a view to defending Peugeot's chances in its bid to win the manufacturers' title as well as to maintaining our own, very real chance of finishing in the top-three in the drivers' championship. We haven't given up! |
The only thing we can do is keep fourth now, so I have to be happy with that. We made up some places today, but this is where we stop. The only way that we could improve things is to have one or two less Citroens in front – but I doubt that is going to happen! I'm quite glad that it didn't rain today, otherwise the stages would have been incredibly risky. |
This was quite a straightforward rally for me. I lost time on the first day when a tyre came off the rim, but by the end of it I was back to fourth again and from then on it was just a question of holding that position. I had a bit of excitement today when the Ford of Daniel Sola held me up in the morning and I had to overtake him, but apart from that we had no dramas. It was a good, solid performance from ourselves and the team. |