rb5 286
20 June 2003, 10:48
Hi everybody,
It's been a remarkable 10 days or so since Michael Park and I drove the new Focus RS rally car to victory on the Acropolis Rally in Greece. It was hot out there, the roads were rough and only the fittest survived but we did more than that - we won! Since then, I've had telephone calls of congratulation from both the President and Prime Minister of Estonia. The winning car was on display for all to see during the 100 year celebrations at Dunton last weekend.
I had a couple of days break at home in Estonia before flying out here to Cyprus for the seventh round of the world championship. The conditions are pretty similar to Greece with special stages that are just as rocky and, if anything, it will be even hotter because the roads are incredibly twisty so speeds are slower and there's less airflow to keep us cool in the car. But we don't mind that. The Acropolis victory has given the whole team a massive boost and both myself and team-mate Francois Duval are very confident here.
As in Greece, the Focus RS WRC has always performed well in Cyprus. It's won twice in the past three seasons and we both led on the opening day last year. The Focus is such a strong rally car that we can drive hard and fast even on these rough and tough events and wouldn't it be great to make that record three wins out of four?
We'll be trying our best, as always. We've broken a barrier by gaining the first win for the new Focus RS rally car and also the first world rally win for Michael and myself. Hopefully the second will come quickly! As ever, thanks for your support and make sure you pick up the action from Cyprus on the television this weekend. If it's as good as Greece, it will be worth watching.
Best regards
Markko Märtin
It's been a remarkable 10 days or so since Michael Park and I drove the new Focus RS rally car to victory on the Acropolis Rally in Greece. It was hot out there, the roads were rough and only the fittest survived but we did more than that - we won! Since then, I've had telephone calls of congratulation from both the President and Prime Minister of Estonia. The winning car was on display for all to see during the 100 year celebrations at Dunton last weekend.
I had a couple of days break at home in Estonia before flying out here to Cyprus for the seventh round of the world championship. The conditions are pretty similar to Greece with special stages that are just as rocky and, if anything, it will be even hotter because the roads are incredibly twisty so speeds are slower and there's less airflow to keep us cool in the car. But we don't mind that. The Acropolis victory has given the whole team a massive boost and both myself and team-mate Francois Duval are very confident here.
As in Greece, the Focus RS WRC has always performed well in Cyprus. It's won twice in the past three seasons and we both led on the opening day last year. The Focus is such a strong rally car that we can drive hard and fast even on these rough and tough events and wouldn't it be great to make that record three wins out of four?
We'll be trying our best, as always. We've broken a barrier by gaining the first win for the new Focus RS rally car and also the first world rally win for Michael and myself. Hopefully the second will come quickly! As ever, thanks for your support and make sure you pick up the action from Cyprus on the television this weekend. If it's as good as Greece, it will be worth watching.
Best regards
Markko Märtin