Jolly Club happy to toil for Acropolis success.

The preparation of a World Rally Car is one of several homework tasks every professional rally team must approach thoroughly, especially if it wants to be successful, and the Czech Republic's Jolly Club team is no different.

Its mechanics are currently hard at work preparing the ex-works Ford Focus WRC that resides in its workshops for the upcoming Acropolis Rally, where the promising Czech rally tandem of Roman Kresta and Jan Tomanek will make their World Rally Championship debut.

Marek Sutera, Jolly Club's senior mechanic, is the man charged with carrying out the 'homework', the pre-event test and the set-up of the Focus, a highly sophisticated rally machine, incorporating some of the most advanced technologies ever developed by motoring specialists.

Asked how difficult it is to get such a car ready for an event, Sutera explained that preparation was not an easy - or quick - task, with each and every component demanding special attention and time.

"This is a very complex question," he answered, "Precision and tuning are required all the time in respect to every component and the whole car. Some of the most complex work always needs to be carried out on the electronic control units for the engine, transmission and its active differentials. The car's suspension, dampers and their set-up are relatively much easier.

"We are unable to compare the Focus WRC with any other currently-made World Rally Car, but we are aware of the fact that the car has been designed and constructed in a manner keeping in mind its functionality, accessibility and service maintenance during tests and rally events. The car is fitted with many sensors that help the engineers monitor and control how the car works and performs. We have never done a rally in Greece before, but we are aware of the complexities and extremities, which await us there. We would be pleased to see our Focus have a trouble free run without any technical complications even on such a rough gravel surface."

Colin McRae drove the Focus in question to victory at the 1999 Rally de Portugal. The car is currently being upgraded and improved relative to its former specification, as the Jolly Club team attempts to further improve the car's performance.

"All the major changes come in the form of software that has been improved over the period of a year or so," Sutera explained, "As for other mechanical or technical changes, there will not be many to see. It is also logical that current developments on the factory Focus WRC have progressed, even though the car is still derived from the original version. Many components were redesigned, more sophisticated materials were used, engine and transmission development and performance have moved up to a higher level."

Sutera is not alone in carrying out the preparation, but carries a lot of responsibility for the car's final appearance and performance.

"The final preparation of the Focus WRC is supervised by the team's chief mechanic - I am effectively his right-hand man," he said, "At the same time, I am also responsible for the car's logistics. There is a small group of other people, including another mechanic and two engineers, while, at times, we are also provided with direct assistance from M-Sport HQ in the UK. More mechanics both from the Czech Republic and abroad are expected to join the team right before the event, which is in the middle of June. The project is co-ordinated by Enrico Bertone, whose international experience is priceless. As the team's sporting director, he is a real asset."

The team will be heading to Greece for a test a couple of days prior to the event, where Kresta will be able to try the Focus for the first time, as well as to set the car up to better suit the Acropolis conditions and his driving style. Despite the additional cost of the early trip to Greece, Sutera reveals that the test will be more beneficial than running in the Czech Republic.

"It is all about our time schedule and the road conditions," he said, "The Greek roads will be far better than roads in the Czech Republic in terms of their similarity to the actual rally route. It will also be easier for Kresta to tune up the car to his liking. There he can advise us what we should change and how we can make the car even better."

Although this will be Kresta's first start on a World Championship rally, those around him are more experienced and will provide a solid grounding for the Czech, without demanding too much of him on his debut.

"Most of the team's mechanics and myself have already been on numerous WRC events," Sutera points out, "We do have an idea of what we can expect there, though we do realise that the Greek event has many specifics. For us, it is important that we have been working together with only minor changes in the team since 1991 and that we took part in many World and European rally events together. We have also been working with Enrico Bertone for many years, so we know one another well. We look forward to contesting this year's Acropolis and hope to enable the Kresta-Tomanek crew to gain as much international experience as possible."

The Acropolis Rally runs between 14-17 June.