Andersson bullish for Rally Sweden

Andersson's participation in the event was only made possible after more than 400 individuals donated cash to help him get to the start.

And despite limited testing, Andersson says breaking his World Rally championship duck is a possibility in Karlstad this week. The Swede drove his Ford Fiesta RS WRC for the first time on Monday, completing 30 miles in the car.

"I've never been in the position to say it before, but a win might be possible - it's better than saying we're looking for another finish in the top eight!" he said. "To win, I will have to be on top of it from the start and stay on top of it - these Finns won't be going slowly."

Andersson added that his limited testing time had hindered him slightly.

"Of course, it would have been better to have more time for testing, but it wasn't possible," said the double Junior World Rally champion. "I'm just very happy to be here, I didn't really expect this a few weeks ago."

Andersson admitted he had taken a big gamble putting his entry for the event in. "I told them [the organisers] I had €50,000 already," he said. "I had to, otherwise it would have been difficult to get the entry. But really I had nothing. I still can't believe what happened after somebody asked me for my bank account details.

"I've had 400 people putting money in my account and now there's enough money to do one and a half rallies, so I'm on my way to doing another rally as well."

Andersson discussed the finer details of the donations, revealing that putting €250 into his account ensured the bidder a rally pass for this event, €500 got them two and €1,200 was worth a ride in Andersson's Mitsubishi Lancer.

"I've got between 40 and 50 rides to give out," said Andersson, "but I really don't mind - it's a pleasure to do this after what everybody has done for me."

Andersson was sixth fastest at shakedown this morning.