Sordo gunning for victory in New Zealand

Dani Sordo reckons Prodrive WRC Team chief Dave Wilock is underplaying the performance potential of the British firm’s John Cooper Works WRC on Brother Rally New Zealand next week.

Wilock has tipped the Spanish ace for a podium finish on the spectacular gravel event but Sordo says there is no reason why he can’t win outright and claim his maiden victory in the FIA World Rally Championship.

“I really like this rally,” said Sordo. “It is not my favourite but I enjoy racing in those fast and spectacular stages, the country is magic. As always, I will give my all and my goal is to win. I think we can get it.”

However, Sordo concedes the opposition will be tough with WRC title leader Sebastien Loeb set to be particularly hard to beat in his factory Citroen DS3 WRC.

“Loeb is very strong and [Mikko] Hirvonen is progressing very quickly with the Citroen DS3,” said Sordo. “The Ford drivers [Jari-Matti] Latvala and [Petter] Solberg will not be happy with anything else than a victory.”

Wilcock said Prodrive picked New Zealand for one of its remaining events with Sordo - it has also committed to ADAC Rallye Deutschland and Wales Rally GB and will add one further event later in the year - because of the likelihood of a strong result there.

“It’s a rally we know very well as a team and we really believe the car can perform well on high-speed technical stages,” said Wilcock. “Dani believes the car has taken a big step forward [following the launch of the evolution model in Portugal], his confidence levels have taken a step up and there’s no reason why he can’t compete for a podium.”