Provera criticises Gronholm

Gronholm had been enjoying a spectacular battle with eventual rally winner Petter Solberg in the early part of the event, the pair swapping the lead six times in the first 12 stages, but then Solberg began to draw away towards the end of leg two. Fighting hard to stay in contention on Sunday morning, Gronholm rolled on the Rammen stage and damaged his suspension too badly to continue.

The Swedish Rally was the last event prior to Provera's retirement, and he was not impressed with the manner of Gronholm's exit from it.

"It's a huge pity for Marcus, who has made a huge mistake," said Provera. "Instead of understanding that maybe the car was not exactly the one he wanted to allow him to win the rally, he kept trying to win it and lost all the points for himself and for us.

"We are not leading the championship as we could have done if Marcus had succeeded in keeping the car on the road, but we are competitive - really competitive - and we will be fighting to win the manufacturers' title again this year."

Provera had kinder words for Markko Martin, who inherited second place despite struggling for confidence in his new Peugeot 307. The Estonian moved to the team from Ford late in the winter, and has admitted that he does not yet feel comfortable in the very different 307 WRC.

"I'm full of admiration for the excellent job that Markko Martin and his co-driver Michael Park have done in order to get to grips with their new Peugeot 307 WRC, even though there is still some work for them to do to before they have complete confidence," said Provera.