Sarrazin aiming to beat Solberg

The Frenchman admitted he took longer than expected to re-acclimatise himself with his Impreza WRC 2006 at this morning's shakedown stage, but once into the rally, he says he will be gunning for his team leader Petter Solberg.

"Yes, I think I can beat Petter," he said. "But, it's not just Petter in this rally. There are lots of other drivers who will be tough to beat."

Despite the radically different disciplines, Sarrazin says the Sebring race has helped him.

"It's seat time in competition, so it does help, it keeps you sharp," he says. "I found this morning I was braking a bit too early, it took me a little longer than usual to get on the pace. By the fourth run, everything was fine, though."

Sarrazin has benefited from an extensive test programme ahead of his second outing of the season. He works jointly for SWRT and Pirelli, so he has conducted an endurance asphalt tyre test, a rally length test and a pre-event test.

"I've had good seat time recently," he said. "Now I need to do it on the rally. That's what it's all about."

Sarrazin ended the shakedown eighth fastest, 1.9s off the fastest time.