Sordo seeking test breakthrough

Dani Sordo hopes a pre-event test for Rally Portugal will help get his gravel performance back on track after a frustrating time on Rally Mexico.

Mexico was Sordo’s first gravel rally for Citroen since he rejoined the manufacturer this year after two seasons with Mini. It was also his first taste of gravel with the DS3 World Rally Car, the model that replaced the C4 he drove from 2007 to 2010.

Sordo struggled to find a comfortable set-up in Mexico and he spent much of the rally frustrated by oversteer and a lack of traction.

His fourth place matched his best result to date on the event, however his stage times rarely troubled the leaders and he finished more than six minutes adrift of the winner Sebastien Ogier.

“The result was good for the manufacturers and drivers points but it was the best result we could take so we must keep working,” Sordo told wrc.com.

“It’s hard to say exactly what the problem was. I found the roads extremely slippery and that didn’t give me the confidence I needed. Maybe we need to look at the suspension and the differential?

“It’s difficult always on gravel and it’s a little more difficult for me than on other rallies, like tarmac, but we need to find something with the set-up to have more confidence - especially for the first pass through the stages.

“I could feel in a lot of places on the stages where I was losing time. We will work hard at our tests before Portugal and hope to have a better rally there,” he added.

Rally Portugal, round four of the 2013 World Rally Championship, begins on 11 April.