What are Citoens chances of winning the manufacters tiltle?

**Finni** · 19th February 2007, 13:16

Originally Posted by Zes

I just don't get it how some people think Citroen will automatically get full points from all tarmac rallies. Ford is not that far away. Don't you remember Spain 2006? Marcus was actually fastest there, he won 10 stages out of 16. He would have won it easily without mechanical problems. Also in TdC Marcus won Sordo with 1.5minutes. I haven't seen anything that would prove C4 to be better car compared to Focus than Xsara was last year.

Of course it's not impossible that Marcus is involved to winning battle in some asphalt rallies. My opinion anyway is that Sordo and Loeb are biggest favourites in every tarmac rally. I think that C4 is faster than Xsara on asphalt and Sordo is only marginally behind Seb. C4's perfomance in loose snow is not indicaticative about tarmac pace. And it's far from clear that C4 was worser on snow than Xsara. Actually C4 looked very strong at some points but in some conditions it behaved badly (when there was much snow on the road).

**bigtom** · 19th February 2007, 13:23

I think its going to be tough for Citroen to beat Ford in the constructors this year, gronholm and Loeb are very similar in strength, so its going to come down to the second cars performance. And Hirvonen is better than Sordo. I guess its mostly going to depend on retirements.

**Karukera** · 19th February 2007, 14:39

Citroën's chances of taking the manu were very little before the season started.

Citroën can spot 2 pilots on a podium on 5 rallies, including Eire, a rally Ford has already practiced.

Ford can reasonably expect their 2 pilots to be on the podium on about 11/12 rallies.

If reliability is the same for both marques which would be nothing but normal for Citroën considering the 2 years testings and assuming Seb and Marcus fight for the wins plus Mikko being closer and closer if not ahead in every rally, Dani will do well but will logically be behind the big 3, plus the 2nd Citroën's car will lose points from Subaru, Stobart and Kronos.

Then, there are big chances for Ford to pocket their 2nd title in row at the end of Japan, a rally Mikko will win.

Vamos Dani !

**jens** · 12th March 2007, 10:44

C4 looked very good on gravel - probably even better than expected, being able to match Focus. Besides Loeb also Sordo is clearly more competitive on gravel than on snow, so Citroen's hopes for manufacturer's title are still open.

**Wim_Impreza** · 12th March 2007, 11:17

Originally Posted by jens

C4 looked very good on gravel - probably even better than expected, being able to match Focus. Besides Loeb also Sordo is clearly more competitive on gravel than on snow, so Citroen's hopes for manufacturer's title are still open.

Don't forget that Citroën was always very strong in Mexico.

**I am evil Homer** · 12th March 2007, 11:35

Originally Posted by bigtom

I think its going to be tough for Citroen to beat Ford in the constructors this year, gronholm and Loeb are very similar in strength, so its going to come down to the second cars performance. And Hirvonen is better than Sordo. I guess its mostly going to depend on retirements.

I take issue with the idea Mikko is better than Dani - he's got a lot more experience in a WRC car, and Dani is still learning a lot. But I agree the title is more likely to go to Ford as Mikko can out pace Dani on most events.