Dani Sordo raced away into the lead at the pre-event Shakedown testing held for the Cyprus Rally, the second event on the WRC calendar.
The event took place at Listovounos, almost 16 kilometers from the rally base, and the cars ran over a 3.35 kilometer test track or road meant for the shakedown. The entire road was asphalt, unlike the rally stages, which will also have a lot of gravel portions. Despite the asphalt, all drivers decided to go on it with their gravel tyres to give their setups a bit of a run-in. The hard-compound gravel tyres will be the weapon of choice for the entire rally.
In clear conditions, Sordo made four runs through the stage and his Citroen C4 WRC had a 3:33:00 time on the second pass, which was the fastest amongst all in the field.
“Yeah, it’s a good time,” acknowledged Sordo. “It’s still not ideal driving on tarmac with gravel tyres but it was useful to get used to the feeling and work on the set-up. Now I’ve got some good confidence with the car. It feels very good and that’s the most important thing.”
He also mentioned that the shakedown stage had more gravel than most of Friday’s route but it still remains nothing but a testing stage. “It was most like Friday’s second and third stages which resemble the roads of Corsica and Catalunya,” explained Sordo. “But the first one tomorrow is smooth, wide and fast - it’s just like my home rally in Catalunya. It’s incredible.”
Peter Solberg was also looking ominous as he set the second fastest time, this time in a Citroen Xsara. The Norwegian was riding with a new engine and was noticeably happy, “It’s really great fun to drive,” he said. “I’m especially pleased I got the time later in the session when there was more gravel on the road.”
Sebastien Ogier finished a surprise third as Citroen’s Junior Team driver.