Co-driver: Miikka Anttila
It was really nice to go to Corsica because the previous rally in Spain ended well. I was seventh and I had improved my driving on tarmac a lot during that race. Corsica is known as the rally of bends and corners, but I have always liked that rally because the tarmac there is more aggressive than elsewhere meaning better grip. Friday was opened with new stages and the roads were dry and the weather sunny. I liked to drive, the car and the tires worked well and I drove as well as I could without risks. No bigger mistakes on Friday and we finished the day in sixth position, only 3,3 seconds behind Petter Solberg. On Saturday the stages were more familiar. The first stage was very dirty and my driving wasn’t very successful which was why Petter got more lead. On the next stage I pulled myself together and pass Petter. I was now fifth leading Petter Solberg by 1,9 seconds. When we came to the afternoon service I was still fifth but only 1,3 seconds ahead Petter. In the afternoon my driving got better and I was able to leave Petter more. At the end of the day he was seven seconds behind us but we were aware that on Sunday he would push as hard as he could. Our position was fourth now because Duval had to retire due to a technical fault. On Sunday the stages were very familiar. The driving went well but I wasn’t able to increase my pace because I knew how extremely important it was to get to the finish. I couldn’t risk that. In the morning our pace was the same as Petter’s. In the afternoon he was only 3,9 seconds behind us. I decided to drive in the same way as earlier with no risks and I also tried to drive without mistakes. It paid well because Petter was 7,7 seconds slower than us on the last stage. We finished in fourth position. That was my best performance on tarmac ever – so far – hopefully we will develop further in the future.
4th
Car: Ford Focus WRC -06
Service Team: Stobart