Citroen stars not daunted by service limitations

Citroen aces Mikko Hirvonen and Sebastien Loeb insist the limited opportunities to service their DS3 WRCs on the first full day of competition on the Acropolis Rally won’t affect their approach on the gruelling gravel contest.

Friday’s itinerary consists of eight stages over a competitive distance of 169.12 kilometres. However, instead of a return to the permanent service park in Loutraki, crews will be restricted to two 15-minute service halts in Itea on the shores of the Gulf of Corinth.

It means that in the event of a major technical fault or damage, crews will be faced with the prospect of trying to nurse their cars to the finish of the day or being forced to retire altogether due to restrictions imposed on the amount of work that can be undertaken using only components carried in competing cars.

“Friday is a long day with no full service between the stages so that makes it especially complicated if you break something on the car,” said Loeb. “But I don’t care because this is the regulations and we are trained not to break things.”

Loeb’s team-mate Hirvonen said: “The stages are not that bad in terms of the possibility of damage but you might get into trouble for sure.”

Evgeny Novikov’s co-driver Denis Giraudet added: “I don’t like this regulation so much but this is the way it goes and we have to adjust our pace.”