Gronholm wants reliability

Reigning World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm says Peugeot must up its game and improve reliability if he is to stand any chance of retaining his driver's title, according to this week's AUTOSPORT magazine

Jun 26, 2003, 10:23 AM

Gronholm retired from his second event in succession on last week's Cyprus Rally and he admits his patience is starting to wear thin.

"The car has to be more reliable," he told AUTOSPORT. "We have retired three times because of this. I don't know why.

"I don't know what is going on, but it is starting to get a little bit annoying. I have won three times - OK, I have made one mistake in Monte Carlo, but after that there has been three technical problems. Without them, we could have been having a fantastic year."

Team boss Corrado Provera accepted Peugeot was under-prepared for the Cyprus Rally, but he expects an upturn in fortune in the second half of the season.

"The first half of the year was made up of tougher rallies than last year," he said. "But we have won six of the seven rallies still to come, they are more adapted to our car and the year gets easier for us from here."