Auriol guns for second title with Peugeot

The Frenchman won the world championship driving for Toyota in 1994, but reckons Peugeot could be the team to take him to the top spot again.

"What I would dearly like to do is to be world champion again, this time with a French team," said Montpellier-born Auriol in this week's Autosport magazine.

But will the fact that his new team mate and 2000 world champ Marcus Gronholm will also be going for a second title phase the 42-year-old? Apparently not...

"I expect sometimes he (Gronholm) will be faster, other times me," he said. "I have always had a close feeling with team mates in the past."

Auriol, who moved from departing WRC contenders SEAT to Peugeot last month, was speaking after testing the 206 in Sweden last week. His initial feelings towards the car that propelled Gronholm and Peugeot to world titles were positive.

"The car seems to react quite well and is quite easy to drive," he said. "The engine feels very good, quite different from the Toyota or SEAT."

The French team heads to Spain next week for more testing in preparation for the 2001 season - which kicks off in just five weeks' time with Rally Monte Carlo on January 18-21.