Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, led by the teams of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle and Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson, have increased preparations for round 7 of the FIA World Rally Championship in Poland by upgrading their DS 3 WRC car.
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The 72nd edition of Rally Poland, based in Mikolajki, starts next weekend from 2nd to 5th July.
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT are looking to strengthen their provisional 2nd place in the overall standings of the manufacturers’ championship and reduce the 64 point gap behid leaders Volkswagen.
The latest leg of the championship marks the second race for Abu Dhabi Racing’s junior driver, 22-year-old Mohamed Al Mutawaa and his co-driver Stephen McAuley.
Al Mutawaa is the first Arab Emirati driver to participate in a JWRC season, which features 18 drivers from various European countries.
Some testing pre @rajdpolski Lot more grass than expected! @OfficialWRC @AbuDhabiRacing1 #2motor @beatetorjussen pic.twitter.com/OHCZWH0lFU
— Mads Østberg (@MadsOstberg) June 26, 2015
“I made a mistake during Rally Portugal which unfortunately forced me to retire very early” said Al Muawaa. “So my goal in Poland is simple, to complete the Rally with zero mistakes, gain as much experience as possible and make the most of this opportunity to participate in the JWRC campaign given to me by Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi.”
First established in 1921, Rally Poland is considered one of the world’s oldest rallies in the world and was added to WRC’s first season in 1973.
Quick roads will see speeds approach those of Rally Finland, with tall grass lining many stages and limited visibility and hidden rocks in the grass increasing retirement chances for those drivers following racing lines when cornering.
Additionally, almost 90 per cent of the stages in this year’s Rally have changed from last year. Rally Poland consists of 19 gravel stages with a total length of 313.53 km.
