Preview: Rally d'Italia Sardegna.

Wednesday, 17th May 2006

The 2006 FIA World Rally Championship moves from the grassy Pampas of Argentina to the dramatic Mediterranean landscape of Sardinia this week for round seven of the 16-event series.

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Per-Gunnar Andersson and Patrick Sandell currently lead the series, joint first with 16 points and both are likely to figure at the front of the pack, along with Guy Wilks, Urmo Aava and the Citroen C2's of Brice Tirabassi and Martin Prokop.

Citroen Sport’s Junior WRC customer competition’s manager, Yves Matton has predicted though that the event could be a bit of a lottery for the S1600 runners.

"I think we can look forward to a pretty fierce scrap in Sardinia. That said this is a tough event for the small front-wheel drive cars which suffered a great deal from punctures last year, so it could be a bit of a lottery," he confirmed. "But that's something you've just got to live with and try to play as smartly as possible to pick up the top prize!"

Wilks' agrees that it is important to use your head in Sardinia: "I am looking forward to Sardinia immensely. It is going to be a very difficult rally though. Argentina was quite a rough rally and Sardinia is as well. Obviously with the junior cars not running any mousse in the tyres, punctures are going to come into play and also the strength of the car. So I think you have got to be definitely very quick to be at the front of the field but you have got to use your head a hell of a lot too - and make sure that once you have got to the front, you stay at the front. It is very easy to get carried away and try and think you can put time on your fellow competitors easily, but that is when you get caught in traps."

Britain's Kris Meeke is one of the three JWRC drivers who won't be contesting this round, along with Jozef Beres and Kalle Pinomaki.

Other significant entries:

Around 82 crews have entered the Rally d’Italia Sardegna, including 22 WRC cars. Kronos Citroen will again enter an additional car for Junior World Rally champion Daniel Sordo, while the Stobart VK team will also have a third car, driven by Luis Perez Companc.