"Okay, so I never thought that a rally could be like holidays, but I have to say that so far here in Jordan it’s been pretty nice. After the shakedown I had a bit of a chance to relax on the terrace at the hotel and look at the view over the Dead Sea. It’s such a hectic life that it’s nice to empty your head sometimes and think of nothing much. And what’s the point of going to all these different places if you don’t take the time to look at them occasionally? My life used to be a blur of airports and circuits and hotels but I’m determined to enjoy myself this year.
Jordan is a completely new experience for me, but that’s normal as more or less everything this year is new to me. Let’s just say that the whole atmosphere and way of working here is quite different to Formula One, but the challenges are even bigger for me.
I was thinking about that this morning when I drove the shakedown: I still have so few kilometres in the Citroen C4 WRC; basically a couple of hundred and that’s it. And now I’m starting a gravel rally that even the real experts say is quite tough. So I think it’s going to be an interesting few days. The main thing is to learn: you don’t suddenly find a load of time from out of nowhere in this game.
I have to say that I really like the world of rallying so far. It’s impossible to compare it to Formula One as it would be like comparing a square to a triangle, but everything seems just a bit more relaxed and friendly. Everyone has been very welcoming, but there’s still room for me to be myself.
The shakedown this morning was quite rough, but I think we could see some parts of the rally that are like this too, so it was good preparation. For me the main thing is going to be reaching the finish, as on an event that is as specialised as this one, you really need to see every stage. We had a good recce, although it was a bit warm as the air conditioning wasn’t working in the recce car. Strangely, it was actually cooler in the rally car at shakedown - as you have a huge air scoop in the roof that gives you a pretty good supply of cool air once you’re moving.
I’m still at the stage where there’s more time to come out of me than anything else. But if it all comes together - and even up to now, there have been a few moments where that has started to happen - I’d like to set a few decent times. Wish me luck..."
Source: WRC - www.pirellityre.com
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