Marcus Gronholm has finished second on the Swedish Rally, claiming
the first podium for the all-new Peugeot 307 WRC. The Finn's strong
performance has also moved him up to second overall in the driver's
championship.

The Finn started this morning 40 seconds behind the leader, but a
time-consuming spin in the slippery conditions of SS14 denied him the
chance of a fourth Swedish Rally victory. Nonetheless, Marcus kept up
a strong and consistent rhythm to set three fastest times today.

Deep snow covered today's fast and flowing stages, run in typically
cold and wintry conditions. The final leg's action consisted of six
stages, separated into two groups of three. A dramatic day yesterday
proved just how difficult this world-famous rally can be, and Marcus
decided not to take any risks in order to be sure of making the
finish.

"After I spun this morning, I knew there was no point in risking
everything to push hard," he said. "It was just a typical spin,
nothing special, but it cost us half a minute. Then I concentrated on
making sure that I could come back and score the first podium for the
307 WRC. The car is still very new, and this is a good result under
the circumstances. I made a couple of mistakes and we also had a
problem with the power steering on the first day, so I think we
definitely had the possibility to win here. But there is still a lot
more to come from the car ? it's not perfect yet."

His team mate Freddy Loix was unfortunately forced to retire from a
points-scoring position on yesterday's penultimate stage, after
encountering engine problems. "It wasn't an easy rally for me," said
Freddy. "The engine started misfiring on the second day, then 14
kilometres into SS12 it stopped completely. The most positive thing
is that I've done more kilometres in the 307 WRC, so hopefully we can
use that experience to improve our performance."

Peugeot Sport team principal Corrado Provera commented: "It is the
first podium for the 307 WRC but not on the step that we hoped for.
Marcus could have won, but we handicapped him by one minute with a
power steering problem and lost the rally. On the one hand we are
happy that the car is demonstrating its speed despite being a long
way off its full potential. On the other hand, we are sad that our
series of Swedish victories has been interrupted. But we have to be
philosophical. We will get better!"

The World Rally Championship crosses the Atlantic Ocean for round
three of the series, swapping the ice and snow of Sweden for the heat
and dust of Mexico. Rally Mexico - which takes place from March 12-14
- is a brand new addition to the World Championship, based in the
Mexican leather capital of Leon. The rally route is the highest of
the year, with the fast gravel roads sure to provide a tough
challenge for the factory Peugeots of Marcus and Freddy.

-peugeot-


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