Gronholm's reliability worries
Double world rally champion Marcus Gronholm has admitted that he heads into this weekend's Rally GB not confident that he will finish it. The Finn and Peugeot team-mate Harri Rovanpera both suffered transmission problems with the 307's new five-speed gearbox in Japan, and it cost Gronholm a shot at victory
The team tested in Wales earlier this week but was unable to find the cause of the problem, which didn't occur throughout the evaluation.
"I'm not confident for this event," said Gronholm, who has been on the pace with the car all season. "I have no idea what the team have done. They have worked very hard to find the problem, but I don't know if it is solved."
The problem is believed to centre around the five-speed's double-clutch system, which was not used on the four-speed unit. The Finn doesn't really care which gearbox the team uses, he just wants to finish.
"I don't want to go back to the four-speed car," said Gronholm. "I don't see what the problem is with having a normal six-speed sequential gearbox. We don't know what to expect from this rally, we are going into it with our fingers crossed."
A Peugeot spokesman said that the team expects to do well in Wales, despite the gearbox issue: "We are more than confident for the rally. We know we are on the right road with the 307. Remember the Lancia Stratos? It had a difficult first season, but then went on to win and win."
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