Citroen works team driver Dani Sordo will start Rally Deutschland with a new co-driver after splitting from his partner of five years, Marc Marti.
Sordo has replaced Marti with another Spaniard, Diego Vallejo, 37, in a bid to improve his competitiveness at a time when his place at the factory team is under scrutiny.
Marti began his partnership with Sordo in 2005, following the retirement of his previous driver, Carlos Sainz. The pair won the J-WRC that year and graduated together to Citroen’s WRC squad in 2006. Since then they’ve notched up 26 podium finishes but no wins.
This year, however, Sordo’s place in the main team has come under increasing pressure from his Junior team-mate, Sebastien Ogier. The Frenchman secured his first WRC victory two months ago in Portugal and has beaten Sordo on five of the eight rallies so far this season.
In a statement on his website, Sordo wrote that he and Marti had reached an ‘amicable agreement’ to stop working together and that he had decided to ‘move a lever to force a personal change’ which he believes will improve his performance.
“I need a change in the car,” explained Sordo. “Marc has been an excellent partner for all these years, he’s someone I am grateful to and with whom I have learned a lot, but I finally concluded that the best thing is for us not to work together as a pilot and co-pilot.”
Vallejo, 37, is a seasoned competitor in Spanish and European rally series and guided his bother Sergio to victory in the 2009 Spanish asphalt rally championship. Recently, he has worked as part of Sordo’s gravel note team on asphalt rounds of the WRC.
Sordo said that Vallejo had been chosen for several reasons: “I know him personally for a long time, so the human relationship is very good. Furthermore, we did a test for me to check his work and how it fitted with my needs. I am convinced will be a good co-pilot for me at this crucial juncture. ”
Sordo and Vallejo have a two day test planned before their competitive debut kicks off in Trier on 20 August.
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