Sordo and del Barrio finish third in the Mini team’s first tarmac rally
Dani Sordo and his co driver Carlos del Barrio finished third in Rally Germany in their Mini WRC. The podium finish for the car came in only its third rally in what the team defines as a test season.
Sordo and del Barrio moved into the third position on the first day of the rally, and stayed there for the entire event. They finished behind the first and second place Citroens of Sebastien Ogier and Sebastien Loeb, and ahead of the fourth-place Ford Focus of Mikko Hirvonen.
The second Mini, run by Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle, was competing for fifth with the Citroen of Petter Solberg until it exited the rally on the penultimate stage with an electrical problem. It had battled with Hirvonen for fourth until it was set back by a tire puncture on the first stage of the third day. (Text continues after photo)
Sordo said, “I am really, really happy for me and the team. For the first rally of the car on tarmac this is very good. This is a surprise and the times were so close to Ford and Citroen that we have a lot of confidence for the next rally. The car is really good on tarmac. We have a good set-up and the suspension is perfect. Obviously we can improve and get the car better and better but this weekend it was okay. We shall now work a lot to try and beat Citroen as well. I tried to push hard on the power stage and it was great to be third, but I didn’t want to take any risks. The mechanics have worked really hard and not made any mistakes so I hope to spend some time with them tonight.”
Stories and videos from Rally Germany are available at www.wrc.com and at www.minimotorsport.com.
The Mini WRC team will run next at Rally France on September 29-October 2.—Brian S. Morgan, motorsports editor, bmwcca.org
