After the 1000 Miglia and the recent Rally Turkey, Simon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyère travel east again for the Croatia Delta Rally, the third round of the 2007 European Rally Championship (ERC). And as was the case for the two earlier events, their Citroën C2 Super 1600 will be prepared and run by PH Sport with staff from Citroën Sport also in attendance during the rally.
The first of this year’s ten-round ERC took crews to Brescia, in northern Italy, the second was based on Asian soil near Istanbul, and this weekend’s fixture is hosted by Croatia’s capital and biggest city, Zagreb.
The all-asphalt event features two legs of nine stages each. Friday’s menu essentially comprises a loop of three stages to the west of Zagreb in the Žumberak-Samoborsko- Gorje Nature Park, including the long Budlinjak test which finishes close to the Slovenian border. Either of the two attempts at this 33.17km stage (SS3/6) could well prove decisive, while the following day sees the route strike further north with three more tests in another Nature Park, the Medvednica.
The trip to Croatia marks a first for Simon Jean-Joseph and his co-driver Jack Boyère, as well as for the members of the PH Sport team. “Unlike the two events we have contested to date this year, I don’t know anything about this country, ” says Simon. “I have no idea what the stages are like and that’s one of things I love about this sport. Discovering new stages has never been a problem for me; you just need to be a little more focused during recce to make sure you take good notes. “
Meanwhile, the Citroën C2 Super 1600’s victory on this event in 2005 is a promising omen. “I think we have a chance of making it onto the podium because the gap compared with the four-wheel drive cars on sealed surfaces seems to be narrowing, ” continues the 2004 European Champion. “That said, the competition promises to be extremely fierce and a top result is by no means a foregone conclusion. Even so, I’m convinced that Citroën’s potential on tarmac will enable us to target a good finish, which would be great for our ERC bid. This event is a big, but also very stimulating challenge. “
Simon’s analysis is shared by Customer Competition Manager Yves Matton: “This visit to Croatia is a first for Citroën Sport and we are also delighted that Simon Jean- Joseph’s participation will give us a chance to see where the C2 Super 1600 stands in performance terms. Its times on the 1000 Miglia point to a possible podium finish, while this event is the first in a sequence of asphalt fixtures that could help us move up the championship standings. This trip to eastern Europe is a chance for us to score a good result and it will be up to us to seize that opportunity. ”
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