Magic Marcus Promises Swedish Fightback

Three-time Swedish Rally winner Marcus Gronholm has promised a fight
back to the top after being deprived of the lead by a power steering
problem on the opening day.

Marcus set fastest time on the first of today's five stages and held
the lead until stage three - the longest of the rally at 53
kilometres. He ends leg one of the Swedish Rally sixth overnight,
less than a minute behind the leader. His team mate Freddy Loix ends
a difficult day in 10th, after struggling with the set-up of his 307
WRC.

Sweden is the World Championship's only true winter rally and the
stages are traditionally covered in snow. But unusually warm weather
has forced crews to contend with mud and gravel, as well as ice and
slush. The cars run on skinny studded snow tyres, which rapidly lose
their effectiveness on gravelly surfaces. Today's action consisted of
five stages, including two runs through the longest stage of the
rally, Granberget.

Marcus was quickest on the opening stage, but as the weather warmed
up he struggled for grip on the second stage. He was quickest again
halfway through the first run over the long stage, but lost his power
steering 20 kilometres from the end. The cause was a loose screw on
the fluid reservoir.

"It was really hard work, but I knew I had to keep on pushing," said
Marcus. "I tried to limit the time loss as much as possible, but we
still ended up losing a minute. It makes life difficult, but we're
certainly not giving up. We still have some good chances to do
well."

Freddy lacked confidence in the car's handling on the opening loop of
stages, and made some changes at first service. Although this helped
his feeling with the car, the Belgian was disappointed with his times
during the afternoon. His stage times improved as the day progressed,
but Freddy still feels there is more to come.

Freddy said: "It's been a very frustrating day for me. In the
morning, I lost time on the slower corners as I didn't have a good
feeling with the back end of the car. We made some changes and I
thought I was driving well, but when I saw the times I was
disappointed. We need to think very carefully about why this is
happening and try to find a solution."


Tomorrow is the longest day of the rally, with eight stages totalling
152 competitive kilometres. The crews leave parc ferme in Karlstad at
0530 and return at 1936.


-peugeot-


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