"I'm excited about all these last six gravel events," said the 38-year-old. "I will start each of those believing I can win. I had absolutely no problems with the car in Finland and that's really encouraging. If a driver is happy about the reliability of his car it makes a big difference to his confidence and his general approach to an event.”
Gronholm goes to Japan this weekend knowing that his chances of taking the drivers’ title are virtually impossible, as he trails
Sebastien Loeb by 31 points. However with only 15 points between
BP Ford and Kronos
Citroen in the manufacturers’, that battle is far from over and as such he will be hoping he can repeat his form from last year, when he won in ‘The Land of the Rising Sun’ for the very first time.
"The stages in Japan are mostly narrow, but still fast, and there isn't much room to choose your line,” he added, when asked about the event. “The stages there remind me of those in Britain and some are even like Finland, but without the big crests and jumps. If I can be as fast in Japan as I was in Finland then I will be quite happy! It's important to take care coming out of the corners. The ditches are close to the road and there are usually bushes and leaves covering them so you can't really see them properly. Some are quite deep and it's quite easy to drop the car into one just because you can't see it."
Gronholm’s team-mate,
Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile will reach a milestone when he starts the Rally Japan, as it will be his 50th outing in the WRC. Hirvonen made his WRC debut in 2002 and since then has gone on to notch up 73 points, including taking four podium finishes, his most recent on the Rally Finland two weeks ago, when he brought his Focus World Rally Car home in third place.
"If I had to pick any highlights from the first 49 rallies, I would choose two," said Mikko. "The first would be in Spain last year when I finished third in a Focus as a private entrant. The second would be Finland last week. That was also very special."
