Shakedown setback for Panizzi

"It's potentially a worry," said the Frenchman. "But it's far better to happen in shakedown and not in the rally."

As a precaution, Peugeot checked the cars of team-mates Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns, but the team is confident the fault was a one-off and shouldn't affect its drivers' rallies.

There were no such worries at rivals Ford, with Colin McRae's co-driver Nicky Grist saying their shakedown went by without a hitch.

"It was a pretty straightforward shakedown," said Grist. "The road was representative of the stages but a lot of people have been complaining because it was extremely dirty with lots of gravel and mud."

Ford had been testing a lower seating position for Grist, in an effort to lower the centre of gravity of the car to make it more stable. However, the Welshman confirmed he will have his usual seating position for Corsica - so he'll be able to see out the window!

"We haven't lowered the seating position for this rally so I'm sitting normally. I can enjoy the pretty scenery in Corsica and keep my head down in Spain!"

Panizzi was not the only driver to hit trouble in the shakedown - both Skoda's Roman Kresta and Freddy Loix in the brand new Hyundai Accent had a fright when they were caught out by slippery road conditions. Kresta's Octavia ended up on its side, while Loix gave his car's roll cage a more thorough test. However, the accidents happened at relatively slow speeds and both cars will be repaired in time for the start of the rally at 7.56am (GMT) tomorrow.