Abu Dhabi: Citroen Total Abu Dhabi head to Sardinia, Italy, this weekend, June 11-14, for the Rally Italia Sardegna, round six of the 13-stage FIA World Rally Championship.
The team, consisting of Kris Meeke, Mads Ostberg and Shaikh Khalid Al Qassimi, will look to build upon their current second-place ranking in the manufacturer’s standings in their three DS3 WRCs’.
Ostberg finished second at this stage last year, while Al Qassimi came tenth and Meeke finished 18th.
“There doesn’t appear to be much difference between this years’ Rally compared to last,” said Al Qassimi. “Most of the stages are the same so we will benefit from last years’ experience, especially on the Monte Lerno stage,” he added of the longest stage in this season’s calendar.
“Rally Sardegna is one of the team’s favorites but there is very little margin for error, it is made up of fast and narrow roads with bushes and rocks on the edges which usually causes some retirements. I believe Rally Sardegna is a great opportunity for the team to win a large number of points towards the championship.”
Rally Italia Sardegna, consists of 24 special stages, totaling 402.88km and road section stages of 1,162.82km with the town of Alghero playing host to the service park.
The Rally kicks off in Cagliari on Thursday, with a 2.50km Super Special Stage. Friday, consists of nine stages totaling 142.40km. Saturday, sees ten marathon stages totaling 212.58km, including “Monte Lerno”, a 42.20km stage. And Sunday consists of four stages totaling 45.40km.
