Sainz fired up for Finland

While pre-Finland testing did not go according to plan for the Spaniard, Sainz is confident his Xsara and the Citroen team can come up with its sixth win of the season, despite the rally traditionally favouring the Scandinavian drivers.

"I was down on luck during our test in Finland because it rained," Sainz said. "The conditions weren't at all ideal. But the Xsara is very good and the whole team is fired up for a top result. I still think the locals - Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera - will be a serious threat, as well as Markko Martin who won there last year.

"Rally Finland is superb. It's a great pleasure to drive on these very wide roads It's exciting and extremely exhilarating, even if you have a big moment from time to time."

Team-mate and current championship leader Sebastien Loeb admits the rally will not be easy and accepts that on Friday he will assume his usually role as road-sweeper for the day.

"With the exception of 2001, with the Saxo Super 1600, I have always found this rally difficult," said the Frenchman. "Early on in last year's event I was slower than my team-mates for the first time. It's an event where I have sometimes had the impression that I'm going well only to find that I wasn't quick enough. I believe experience of the terrain is primordial, so I was pleased to learn that only 20km or so will be new this time round compared with 2003.

"Of course, I will perhaps face a road-sweeping session on Friday," he added. "That goes hand in hand with the joy of being in the lead of the championship. How much that will cost in time terms over the 80km of the first two loops remains to be seen. But winning the world title is more important than finishing first in Finland. My position in the championship means I can take a step back to look at the overall picture..."