BP Ford Abu Dhabi's
Jari-Matti Latvala will be hoping he has found a better balance for the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the latest round in the 2008 World Rally Championship.
Latvala had to settle for a seventh place finish last time out in Jordan after he hit a rock on the final day and damaged his left rear suspension - losing him around ten minutes.
Despite being in contention for the win until that incident though, he still wasn't totally happy with the set-up on his Focus RS WRC07 and he was looking to tweak it ahead of the first of three Mediterranean rallies before the summer break.
"My final position on the last round in Jordan was disappointing after challenging for the win for most of the event, but I came away with more positives than negatives. I was happy with my speed and I plan to work on the car's set-up during the pre-event test," he noted.
"I was a little too sideways in Jordan and I want to find a better balance with the car on these tyres."
Latvala's best result from two starts in Sardinia is ninth last year and so the 23-year-old is eager to improve upon that this time out.
"For some drivers Sardinia is not a favourite but the island holds good memories for me," he added. "Before graduating to the WRC I drove two national rallies on the island on similar roads and last year here I led a world rally for the first time.
"The roads are narrow and fast, but there are many rocks on the inside and outside of bends so I will need to be precise in my driving because it's easy to hit one and damage the suspension."
Khalid Al Qassimi meanwhile will join Jari and
Mikko Hirvonen on the event and compete in the 'third' car entered by the BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT. This will be Al Qassimi's first time in Sardinia and so his main aim is just to get to the end.
