“I don't have the experience necessary to attack freely on this sort of terrain. I will try to aim for a top five finish however, which would be an excellent result for me," he noted.
BP Ford WRT:
[Marcus Gronholm, car #3 and
Mikko Hirvonen, car #4]
Gronholm out to bounce back from Germany error.
Marcus Gronholm has said that his off on the Rallye Deutschland two weeks ago, when he threw away second after a mistake in the final test, will only make him even more determined to do well in New Zealand.
The BP Ford number one driver has an impressive record on the Auckland-based event and in addition to winning last season - nearly a minute up on his team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen, a result incidentally that ensured the M-Sport-run operation took the manufacturers’ title - he has also won there on three other occasions, in 2003, 2002 and 2000, as well as taking two second places in 2005 and 2004.
Speaking prior to the eleventh round in the 2007
FIA World Rally Championship, the Finn conceded though that he does need to raise his concentration a notch.
Indeed with
Sebastien Loeb only eight points behind in the battle for the drivers’ championship, with six rounds still to go, it is far from settled.
"I can win there but I need to score the highest points possible," he noted. "Losing second place on the final stage in Germany earlier this month has increased my determination for New Zealand.
“My focus and concentration are already high but I have to try to raise them even higher to avoid the kind of mistake I made then.”
NZ however should be the perfect place for Gronholm to bounce back as it shares a number of similar characteristics with Rally Finland, Marcus’ home event.
"The rally is quite similar to Finland but without the jumps,” he explained, “It's very fast but there are also some slow sections with more camber on the roads than Finland.
