Gronholm optimistic for Italy

Gronholm lies fifth in the points standings and is no longer in the hunt for the world title, but second place is not yet out of reach and both he and Peugeot are now set on gathering as many individual rally wins as possible over the closing four rallies of the season. The Italian round of the WRC, switched from asphalt around Sanremo to loose surface roads in Sardinia this year, could give him a real shot at victory.

"I had the opportunity to test in the region where the rally is held," explained the double World Champion. "On the whole, the tracks seem to be faster than those of Cyprus and Turkey. They are more reminiscent of Portugal or Argentina. I quite like this type of road and I believe we have a good chance. The only question mark concerns the surface. The test stage we used was fairly soft and the roads could cut up after the first pass."

Gronholm's team-mate Harri Rovanpera last year won the rally's precursor, the Rallye Costa Smeralda - a lesser-status event run on similar ground in Sardinia.

"I obviously have a fond recollection of this event, especially since the atmosphere with the spectators, as is often the case in Italy, was very nice," said Rovanpera. "My knowledge of the stages won't give me much of an advantage, however, since only 12km of the 2004 event were used last year. But if the character of the rally is the same as last year, it promises to be a fast, narrow and very technically demanding. So it's going to be quite difficult. The team has worked hard to prepare for this event. I hope we will be able to benefit from that because it's true that success has tended to elude us in recent rallies."