While the Ford drivers, who were quickest in the qualifying stages, elected to start the first day of the Rally Portugal behind their rivals, both Citroen drivers surprisingly decided to start at the front of the field.
Ford pilots Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg, who set the best performances in « qualifying », took the decision to start the first stage in the last positions of the priority drivers, in 16th and 15th places respectively, in order to take advantage of a clean road.
In comparison, Citroën gambled on the inconvenience caused by the dust raised by the first cars which could hamper visibility, especially as Thursday's three special stages will be ran at night.
"I don’t understand their tactic," Loeb said to newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace.
"I think they are wrong. We calculated that you might lose about 15 seconds by cleaning the road. But from their point of view, they will be caught in the dust of fifteen cars ahead of them. I do not see how they can deal with that…"
"That was a difficult choice," Latvala replied. "We talked about it a lot with the team, and we took time to take our decision. However, I’m quite surprised by Citroen’s choice. I did not expect them to start first on the road."
Thursday night's classification will reveal who was right, and who was wrong...
Ford pilots Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg, who set the best performances in « qualifying », took the decision to start the first stage in the last positions of the priority drivers, in 16th and 15th places respectively, in order to take advantage of a clean road.
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| Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford Focus. (Photo: Ford) |
In comparison, Citroën gambled on the inconvenience caused by the dust raised by the first cars which could hamper visibility, especially as Thursday's three special stages will be ran at night.
"I don’t understand their tactic," Loeb said to newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace.
"I think they are wrong. We calculated that you might lose about 15 seconds by cleaning the road. But from their point of view, they will be caught in the dust of fifteen cars ahead of them. I do not see how they can deal with that…"
"That was a difficult choice," Latvala replied. "We talked about it a lot with the team, and we took time to take our decision. However, I’m quite surprised by Citroen’s choice. I did not expect them to start first on the road."
Thursday night's classification will reveal who was right, and who was wrong...