Wilson tells Duval to attack
Ford rally team boss Malcolm Wilson has given Francois Duval the green light to attack this week's Cyprus Rally right from the start
The Belgian actually led the Acropolis Rally after the first stage, but crashed out only a few stages later. Wilson refused to criticise the 22-year-old for the off, saying it was all part of his young driver's learning experience.
"This wasn't an accident where he cooked it too far, this was concentrating on correcting the note rather than listening to the notes he was being given," said Wilson. "He thought the note he had been give was too slow so he was telling Stephane [Prevot, his co-driver] to correct it for the second run. Doing two things at once knocked his mind but I class this as a lesson learned.
"On some rallies where Francois doesn't have much experience we have asked him to drive with caution in mind and make sure he finishes. There are some events where he knows the roads quite well and that gives us and him the opportunity to attack from the start. It will probably only be Rally Australia where we will ask him to be more cautious from now on."
Duval hurt his neck during the accident in Greece and has been receiving physio to relieve the pain.
"It was quite painful," conceded Duval. "The team decided that I shouldn't do the test immediately after the rally and I returned home for treatment. I've seen my physiotherapist three times since returning and it now feels much better so I think all will be OK."
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