Sordo talks down Mini expectations

Sordo's target on the six rallies he will contest in a John Cooper Works WRC in 2011 is to achieve a podium, but he feels the team will have his work cut out to make the top three this year.

This week's Rally d'Italia is the first WRC round in almost seven years Sordo is starting in a car other than a Citroen; 80 of his 84 WRC entries have been with the French firm, but his immediate future lies with the British-based Prodrive team which is running Mini's WRC effort.

"I'm happy," said Sordo. "I have confidence in BMW and Mini and everybody knows what Prodrive can do in rally. But, it's not going to be easy this year. I think we're a little bit behind the others right now, but that's normal when we have done less kilometres than they have."

Asked what he thought of the DS3 WRC his former employer Citroen had turned out for this season, he replied: "It looks fast. I drove it a little bit right at the end, but from the television I have seen, it looks good, everything is working well."

Sordo met the Citroen team on Rally Portugal and said, after working with the factory squad for four years, the feeling was strange.

"Being on the outside was not so nice," said Sordo. "It was a little bit frustrating in Portugal, I had been on the inside for so long, but now I am a Mini driver and I'm really looking forward to the year. If I make a podium this year, it will be nice.

"It's not going to be easy to win with the Mini this year. If I do that, I will be very happy! First, though, I will try to beat Meeke, my team-mate he beat me for five years, so now I will try to do that. It's nice to be back with Kris again."