Mitsubishi aims for step up

Frenchman Gilles Panizzi finished eighth on last weekend's Rally Mexico, and was sixth in the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally. But his team-mates Gianluigi Galli and Kristian Sohlberg have yet to reach the finish of a WRC round.

The new Lancer has suffered problems all season so far, mainly with its gearbox and suspension, but Mitsubishi Sport technical boss Mario Fornaris is confident that a programme of testing in Europe in the coming weeks will cure the glitches.

"Mexico was our first proper gravel run," he said, "so it's difficult to assess our position relative to other teams. Our testing was cut short before the rally, so our expectations for Mexico were fairly low as a result.

"The gearbox has been a good step. It is much better than it was in Sweden. I'm happy with the work we've done because we've all been under massive pressure to design and re-manufacture new parts in less than three weeks. We now need to ensure we keep the reliability we've found.

"We'll test in the south of France before New Zealand to set the car up properly. That will give us a better chance of working with the car when we get to the rally."