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Hirvonen And Sordo Take Over
After two unusual events, the WRC begins a series of six gravel rallies in Mexico. The Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, which currently leads the Manufacturers’ World Championship, will be represented by the crews Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen and Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio. The DS3 WRC of the Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT will be driven by Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot.
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As it celebrates ten year since joining the WRC, this year’s Rally Mexico will be different for several reasons. The first of these is that the list of entrants at the third round of the season does not include the no.1, as Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are not taking part in the rally. This has not been the case since 2006, which means a new line-up for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT. Alongside Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, nominated to score points in all thirteen rounds, Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio will be competing for the works team for the first time this year.
Mikko Hirvonen has high expectations for this first gravel rally: "For me, this is where the season starts for real. We now have a very good idea of the level of our rivals. I think we can say that we’ll have to fight on every stage and produce a series of flawless performances in order to win rallies. Last year, I was pretty close to Seb for long periods of the race. I know I am capable of producing very good performances on this surface and I like racing here. We have done a lot of work in testing since Sweden, both on my driving and on the set-up of the car."
"With Seb not competing, maybe this rally is a little bit peculiar for Citroën Racing," continued the Finn. "It really is the start of a new era for the WRC, but I don’t think that it means there is any additional pressure on me. My job is to get the best possible results and to help Citroën to win. All the people supporting me want that too. I feel full of positive energy and I can’t wait to show everyone that I can win."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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Also in WRC Rally News 2010: |
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