Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Total WRT team return to the WRC in Poland having won the Rally de Portugal with Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle. Having taken it in turns to compete for the team since the start of the season, the young crews of Craig Breen/Scott Martin and Stephane Lefebvre/Gabin Moreau will line up at the same event to be held from June 30-July3 for the first time.

One of the most popular events of the season, Rally Poland is the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team’s fourth outing of the year, after Monte-Carlo, Sweden and Portugal. Sometimes described as ‘Rally Finland without the jumps’, the stages through the forests and plains of Warmia-Mazury are very quick. In 2015, the winner completed the event at an average speed of over 120km/h!

For this rally, the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team is going for youth by entering two crews still looking for their first WRC podium finish. After competing at Monte-Carlo and Portugal, Stephane Lefebvre and Gabin Moreau will team up with Craig Breen and Scott Martin in Poland.

In order to prepare as effectively as possible for this round, both drivers took part in special physical training sessions at the start of the week. Meanwhile, the PH Sport engineers, who run the cars, used the data collected in 2014 and 2015 to define the right set-up for the specific features of the Polish course. On Monday, Stephane and Craig will take part in a test day in their race cars. The information gathered during the test will help them to fine tune the set-up before the start of the event.

“I like Rally Poland and the type of fast stages you get here. A couple of years ago, I won this round in the FIA Junior WRC. And last year, I was fighting for the WRC2 lead when I had to retire due to a mechanical problem. This year, I think that I’ll need a bit of time to adjust to the conditions, given that I have never competed here in a World Rally Car. My aim will be to quickly get back to the same performance level that I had in Portugal,” said Lefebvre.

“It’s been a long break since Rally Sweden! I’ve kept myself busy, however, winning in the ERC at the Circuit of Ireland, and taking part in testing for the 2017 WRC. It was a fantastic opportunity to work with Citroen Racing’s development team. But I’m pleased to be back racing in a round of the WRC! I have only competed at Rally Poland once before, back in 2013 as part of the European Rally Championship. It rained throughout the weekend and many stages were cancelled, so I didn’t really get anything out of it. I don’t have a lot of experience in the car on gravel so I’ll need time to build up some confidence,” revealed Breen.

Rally Poland features a fairly classic itinerary, with two long legs on Friday and Saturday, followed by a short final day on Sunday. Given their positions in the World Championship standings, Stephane Lefebvre and Craig Breen will start in eleventh and thirteenth positions respectively on the first two days. Depending on the road conditions, their place in the running order is just as likely to prove to be an advantage as a disadvantage.