IRC: Interwetten Barum Rally leg 1 midday report

Franz Wittmann/Klaus Wicha in excellent 11th overall place after five special stages

The Interwetten Racing Piloten meet expectations and now tackle a place within the top 10

A top 15 result had been the professed goal of Franz Wittmann/Klaus Wicha (Peugeot 207 S2000) prior to the beginning of the Barum Rally, a run to the IRC series 2010. And though Wittmann "played it safe" concerning the choice of tyres on Saturday morning - he chose a softer mixture which costs some speed - the Interwetten Racing duo is still within schedule. The Austrian lies in excellent eleventh intermediate place after five completed special stages and only misses 13 seconds on a top 10 place. For a points-scoring-place (first eight) he would have to catch up about 37 seconds.

Franz Wittmann: "It is very difficult to drive since the surface is extremely slippery. Sometimes one needs a piece of luck to stay on the road. Now it is up to us to continue the good work. We obviously want to reach the top 10 but not at all costs. Ater all, we absolutely want to finish this rally."

On the fifth special stage the Interwetten Racing duo had a lot of bad luck. While the first starters were able to finish the 30 kilometres long stage on dry surface, it began to pour just shortly before Wittmann's starting number (17).

"I did say that I hoped for rain - but not if the others can compete on dry surface. But that's rallying. Luckily we had two intermed-tyres as spare ones which we mounted just eight minutes before the start", says the Interwetten Racing driver.

-source: interwetten-racing.com