After the harsh conditions at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, the drivers in the WRC will get no respite when they tackle the Rally of Turkey roads.
This weekend marks halfway in the championship and the 19 gravel stages will be almost as demanding as the danger-strewn roads
of Greece.
After his win in Greece, four-time world champion Sebastien Loeb moved to the top of the table and leads Mikko Hirvonen by just one point, with Chris Atkinson back in third.
Of the seven rounds completed in the series, Loeb has finished in five and the worrying factor for his fellow competitors is he's won them all.
Hirvonen has managed to remain breathing down Loeb's neck by finishing in the top three in every event, amassing points as he goes. The hard-charging Jari-Matti Latvala looked like winning in Greece until mechanical gremlins dropped him to seventh, so is looking for a better result over the weekend.
Petter Solberg is pleased with the speed of his new car and his second place two weeks go was his best result since Portugal last year. There's more to come from the car, he says.
Championship leader Loeb will be first on the roads. "That will be really difficult for us," he said. "We face the delights of `road-sweeping' and that promises to be a big handicap, unless the conditions are damp."
The Kiwi Ralliart team with Juho Hanninen will want to put the disappointment of not finishing in Greece behind them and close the gap on the leaders.
