Abu Dhabi: Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally team finished inside the top 10 in an incident-packed Rally Poland. Round 7 of FIA World Rally Championship was full of drama with an incorrect tire choice at the outset affecting the grip in both cars and preventing them from competing for top positions as planned. Despite this setback, however, Kris Meeke finished in 7th and Mads Østberg in 9th aboard the DS 3 WRC, strengthening the team’s 2nd place in the overall standings.
After a difficult start to the Rally, Day 3 saw things improve for the team. Østberg managed to move up to 9th place, and Meeke, who was in 8th place, put in some good times, closing the gap on 7th place, ex formula 1 driver, Robert Kubica.
The drama continued on Day 4 which consisted of 1 stage repeated twice with a total length of 14.6 km. Meeke continued to close the gap on 7th place Kubica, with just 5.4 sec separating them by the end of special stage 18 (penultimate stage). During the final stage, Kubica punctured his rear right tire, costing him a lot of time and his 7th place to Meeke.
“Unfortunately I think we lost the race before it began, when we had an accident during shakedown,” said Meeke, adding: “However I think we showed great competitive spirit until the end and we’ll be looking forward to rally Finland”.
In the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC); Abu Dhabi Racing junior driver Mohammad Al Mutawaa and his co-driver Stephen McAuley also managed to finish rally Poland inside the top 10, aboard their Citroën DS 3 R3-Max, following a steady but cautious driving strategy. “I enjoyed Rally Poland a lot with its fast but tricky stages and numerous blind corners. We took it at a steady pace and the strategy worked”. Al Mutawaa said, adding: “I am extremely happy with the result particularly as this is the 1st time I have participated in such a difficult rally. We picked up a few mistakes in the pace notes which we will try to avoid during rally Finland.”
Round 8 of FIA World Rally Championship will take place in Finland from July 30th till August 2nd with the participation of Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally driver Shaikh Khalid Bin Faisal Al Qasimi in addition to Abu Dhabi Racing junior driver Al Mutawaa in the JWRC.
