He's already on Sordo's level after 14 WRC car outings.
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Yeah judging by SD they are still behind.
Sure shakedown was wet which is not where Citroen tested, but there is not much improvement and this is faster roads which should suit the car. We will know more after the weekend but does not look good for Citroen atm.
As most here know Mikkelsen's result in Poland for last years are 2nd, 2nd, 1st. Yes that was with Polo but even back in the day he did some very good stage times with Fabia WRC there. Also he was clearly faster than Sunninen earlier this year in 2 rallies in R5. Now on SD it's at best same place.
What's more both Lefevbre and Breen were quite fast in Poland last year.
Meeke could come out in a stronger position after this rally despite not even competing. Mikkelsen, a driver who isn't even contracted for more than a rally by rally basis is getting first dibs on the only C3 with the new parts on the car, whereas the man who's dragged the car to one win (would've been two if the car didn't pack it in in Corsica) gets dropped. This is just as Matton admits the team has fucked up badly with their risky strategies. Breen also deserves the new parts ahead of Andreas imo, but the fact he hasn't suggests this is because the team absolutely needs Mikkelsen to be setting front running times. If Andreas still can't be right at the front in Poland shit is going to hit the fan big time.
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This is like half-full vs half-empty glass discussion.
You could say that even Mikkelsen can't make it go fast. Meeke has been driving the car for a year on tests and still he mostly managed a lot of DNFs. The one win could easily have been 0, pure luck saved him in Mexico. Also note that in Mexico all the other cars had overheating issues and Hyundai also had the fuelpump issues on SS.
Imo there is also some development factor involved. Hyundai has been consistently fast since the start, Toyota mostly as well with some reliability issues. Ford had turn-in issues that seems to have been solved by Portugal.
So other cars are getting faster and faster and their drivers get more and more confidence in the cars. While Citroen drivers fight the car and all development is focused on making it behave instead of making if faster. Note that up to Sardinia Breen was quite consistent with 4-6th times. Now he seems to drop down as well.
Anyway let's wait until Sunday.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll ask my village newspaper to send me out.
Let’s be clear: all journos in WRC official media and on the most influential motorsport press are brits. They tend to cover WRC in a biased way, forgetting the sport isn’t based in the UK and their public is worldwide spread. A little more independence would be very much welcomed.
24 possible combinations, don't tempt them...
When looking to the results at Poland Mikkelsen doesn´t seem to be the solution to Citroen´s problems.