Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally team strengthened their provisional 2nd position in the overall standings of the manufacturers’ championship after team driver Mads Østberg finished in 5th place, increasing the team’s points to 115 pts.
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Sheikh Khalid Bin Faisal Al Qassimi finished Rally Sardegna in 7th position in the WRC category, following steady but cautious strategy aboard the DS 3 WRC.
“It was an extremely tough rally” said Al Qassimi and added: “The first two days were very difficult and we encountered a lot of problems, the stages were rough, slippery and it was tough to maintain a steady and balanced pace, I would say the afternoon loop on day two was a bit easier to manage, but overall I was a bit disappointed.
“The third day featured the longest stage in this year’s championship since 2002 and despite a fairly disastrous opening leg things started to improve.
“Thanks to the hard work of the engineers, we managed to improve the set-up over the course of the stages. I drove a bit more cautiously, perhaps too much so, but it helped us to move up the rankings.
“The last day was short but difficult with slippery and narrow stages but we continued to make progress. All in all, I’m very pleased to finish inside the top 10”.
Mads Østberg, finished day one in 8th place and advanced to 5th on day 2 giving the team high hopes for securing max points for the team especially after teammate Kris Meeke had an accident at day 2 which severely damaged his rear suspension preventing him from continuing his day.
During day 3, the Norwegian advanced to 3rd place with a comfortable margin over Thierry Neuville in 4th. However at the beginning of the final day he damaged his brakes and had to reduce speed until the end of the race causing him to drop 2 places and finish 5th overall.
Round 7 of FIA World Rally Championship will take place in Poland on July 2th -5th. Abu Dhabi Racing’s junior driver, Mohamed Al Mutawaa will be participating in the Junior World Rally Championship (“JWRC”) in Poland.
FINAL PROVISIONAL STANDINGS
1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 4:25:54.3
2. Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC) +3:05.4
3. Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +4:22.5
4. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:34.8
5. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (DS 3 WRC) +7:50.1
6. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +8:06.7
7. Yurii Protasov / Pavlo Cherepin (Ford Fiesta RRC) +14:57.7
8. Paolo Andreucci / Anna Andreussi (Peugeot 208 T16) +15:03.3
9. Jan Kopecky / Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5) +17:41.7
10. Khalid Al-Qassimi / Chris Patterson (DS 3 WRC) +19:12.2
24. Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle (DS 3 WRC) +1:04:11.4
DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Sébastien Ogier 133 points
Mads Østberg 67 pts
Andreas Mikkelsen 64 pts
Jari-Matti Latvala 56 pts
Elfyn Evans 53 pts
Thierry Neuville 50 pts
Kris Meeke 47 pts