Novikov remaining positive in Mexico

Russian ace Evgeny Novikov has vowed not to give up despite revealing his frustrations at being unable to increase his pace on Rally Guanajuato Mexico.

Driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Novikov is on course for his third point-scoring finish of 2012 alongside co-driver Denis Giraudet from France.

After 14 stages of round three of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, Novikov is seventh overall.

“I’m happy with my start to the season, but actually not so happy with my performance on this rally,” said the 21-year-old. “It’s okay but nothing special: normally I think I am better than this. I don’t really understand what the problem is, because also Denis says that the driving is okay and we’ve not made any big mistakes. So maybe it is something to do with the altitude here.”

Novikov is currently trailing his M-Sport team-mate Ott Tanak, who holds sixth overall in his similar Fiesta. “I don’t measure myself against Tanak,” Novikov continued. “I just measure myself against myself and the stage times. But it’s true that this season has been a lot better for me so far than before and so I’m happy even like now when things don’t go so well. When you have some good results that helps to build your confidence and also Denis is a very good co-driver and this for sure helps me as well.”