It's been a tough start to the season for the Red Bull duo of Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini and driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. Their win in the Super 2000 WRC category of Rally Mexico was rescinded and engine problems robbed them of a win in Jordan. The two will arrive in Sardinia hoping it's third time lucky…
Bernacchini and his driver - this year’s Dakar winner, Nasser Al-Attiyah - will contest the S2000 WRC round of Rally d’Italia in a Ford Fiesta S2000, starting from Olbia tomorrow and we asked the questions to Bernacchini ahead of the race.
Hometown hero… well, almost
I don’t live on Sardinia, but I am Italian. So for sure, it’s a good thing to come home. I like this place and I like the rally. This is my seventh time here. It’s also nice that there is an Italian Rally Championship round running as well. That means I can meet many of my former drivers and friends. It’s always nice to be at home, too. When you're at home, everything is normal - I understand the marshals, and they understand me.
Keep on keeping on
After a tough start to the year, we have zero points when we could have had maximum points. That makes our championship position very, very bad. But we never give up and we'll keep on pushing. We're here to do our best as usual. We had a very good time at shakedown this morning and we're in a good mood for this rally.
Getting that Friday feeling
Day one of this year’s Rally d’Italia is a new day for all of us. I've never been there, never competed on those roads before. We have to be clever. There are four stages run twice. The first one is very fast and quite simple, but the other three are very difficult. There is only one service and we can only make changes to the car using the parts we carry in the car with us - there are no spares from the team in this service. We'll try to do some good times tomorrow, but we'll take care so we can attack on Saturday and Sunday.
Happy memories
We won the Production Car WRC round here two years ago - that’s the only time Nasser and I have competed together in Sardinia before. We had a very good rally because we won after a fantastic fight with [Patrik] Sandell. Nasser likes this rally a lot and hopefully, after I've been here seven times, my knowledge will help as well.
Do as the locals do
If you do happen to be visiting Sardinia and the town of Olbia for the first time, eat some mussels. There are mussel farms here – it’s a bit of a speciality. As you can see from the size of me, I don’t eat much - and probably no fish or anything the day before a rally. If you’re trying out the local delicacies, you should try Mirto, a liquor coming from the myrtle plant, which grows across the island.
Want more?
- More motorsports action here
- Nasser Al-Attiyah profile on redbull.com
- Visit the official WRC S2000 site
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