After dominating the recent Corsican and Spanish WRC events in his Ford Focus RS 04, Estonian star Markko Martin aims to make it three wins in a row in the Telstra Rally Australia this weekend.
After dominating the recent Corsican and Spanish WRC events in his Ford Focus RS 04, Estonian star Markko Martin aims to make it three wins in a row in the Telstra Rally Australia this weekend.
Martin on Tuesday said that second place for both himself and the team in this year’s World Rally Championship points standings would be a solid result after what has been a fiercely-competitive season for the top manufacturers.
The Estonian is just three points behind Subaru’s Petter Solberg heading into the final round of the year, but many observers expect that the Norwegian’s Impreza WRC Subaru will be superior to Martin’s Focus on the fast, loose gravel stages.
“I have the chance to finish second in the championship, and that would be my best position to date,” Martin said. “I don’t have a good record on this event, but confidence is high in the team and I think we can make a good rally.”
Martin’s team-mate, Francois Duval, has admitted that a high points finish would be the best result for him on an event of which he has comparatively little experience. He added that he’s changing his pace notes considerably this year to increase his pace.
“I think a top five finish is possible,” he said. “This year, we’ll use new pace notes for the rally. Last year, I changed my notes, and they weren’t good. This year, many of the stages use the same roads, but in a different route. So, rather than modify my notes again, I’m going to make new notes for every stage.”
