After finishing fourth in Turkey at the weekend, double world champion Carlos Sainz has been persuaded to drive for Citroën one last time in the upcoming Acropolis Rally in Greece.
After finishing fourth in Turkey at the weekend, double world champion Carlos Sainz has been persuaded to drive for Citroën one last time in the upcoming Acropolis Rally in Greece.
CARtoday.com reported that Sainz had stood in at the Turkish event for the struggling Francois Duval, who had been dropped by Citroën after crashing out in Cyprus and an acrimonious split with co-driver Stephane Prevot. The Spaniard – who drove for Citroën in 2003 and 2004 – admitted during the weekend that he would consider competing in more WRC events if Frequelin asked him, but has now insisted this second event will definitely be his last.
“It was a pleasure to be back behind the wheel of the Xsara again, as well as working with the team and Sebastien,” Sainz said. “My mind is made up, however. I have no intention of making a comeback to the WRC. This will be my final contribution.”
Frequelin said he was delighted that Sainz – and co-driver Marc Marti – had agreed to do another rally: “What Carlos brought was fantastic. Especially given the conditions, which were particularly difficult. But that’s how you recognise a great driver. On top of that, the team derived such pleasure from working with him again that I naturally asked him to stand in for us one final time. But I’m aware that I’m asking him to make another big effort. I’ve sworn to respect his request not to ask him to drive again.”
Meanwhile, Citroën kingpin Sebastien Loeb qualified for the Le Mans 24 Hours on Monday, despite facing a race against time to get from the victory podium in Turkey to the Le Mans circuit to post some laps before the end of the official test session.
Loeb will drive a Pescarolo Sport Judd V10-powered prototype in the race, sharing the car with Eric Helary and Soheil Ayari. Le Mans regulations require rookie drivers at the event to complete 10 laps to a certain standard during the official test session to be eligible to compete in the race on June 18/19.
Loeb was allowed to miss the post-rally press conference in Turkey to make the final stages of the test session. Despite a flight delay and a rain shower during his session, Loeb helped to qualify the car second overall, just behind the other Pescarolo car.
“The conditions were very difficult,” Loeb was quoted as saying. “At the end of my run, I was out on slicks when it was raining. Both Pescarolo cars are at the front and that means they’re doing a good job. It’s funny because people were asking me at the rally if I was thinking about Le Mans, and people at the track were asking me if I was thinking about the rally.”
Former F1 test driver Stephane Sarrazin, currently the Subaru team’s asphalt specialist, tested with the Aston Martin team, which is run by the same Prodrive outfit which runs the Japanese manufacturer’s World Rally Championship campaign. The car the Frenchman will share with fellow F1 tester Darren Turner and sports car ace David Brabham was second in its GT1 class.