"I've never been to Sardinia before," said the Brit. "I was meant to be there last year but I ended up watching the result from my hospital bed as it was a week after my big accident in Rally of Wales. I've never seen the stages before in person, only on TV but we should get a good idea on the recce."
Red Bull Skoda:
[Harri Rovanpera, car #11 and Andreas Aigner, car #12]
Red Bull Skoda team leader, Harri Rovanpera trashed the outfit’s Fabia WRC test car on Monday during the final day of their three-day test programme ahead of this weekend’s event.
Rovanpera began the test for the team on Saturday and while Andreas Aigner took over on Sunday, they shared the car on Monday. Initially Aigner drove on the third day, before Harri got another go, later sliding off the road in one of the final test runs.
"I came too close to the outside [off the road]," he explained. "There was plenty of loose gravel but unfortunately also a rock which destroyed the rim. Then the car rolled rather violently, thank goodness I suffered no injuries. Risto [Pietilainen – my co-driver] complained about a slight headache. Except for this incident our test was very informative though."
RBS’s head of technical staff, Dietmar Metrich added that while the test car was heavily damaged, it will not affect their programme for Sardinia. "The car is pretty badly damaged all over, we will probably need a new chassis but the incident didn’t affect either of the two competition Fabia WRCs set to run in the rally," he confirmed.
Aigner meanwhile was pleased with the work he did, which like Rovanpera focused on testing different suspension settings and tyres.
"It was most important to adapt from asphalt to gravel. I felt really good in the car, and I’ll go into this weekend’s Rally Sardinia with great confidence," added the Austrian.
Junior WRC:
In the Junior WRC the competition promises to be fierce, with 18 of the 21 drivers contesting the series opting to compete in Italy - only Finland will have more. It is a stark contrast to Argentina where only four JWRC drivers took part.
![Rally Italia Sardinia winners Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena on the podium with Petter Solberg and Phil Mills [2nd] and Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen [3rd]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/143183.jpg)
