Martin: Peugeot's exit makes my job tougher.

Peugeot new boy Markko Martin has admitted that it will be tough for him to win the drivers' championship in 2005.

The Estonian, revealed that with Peugeot set to pull out at the end of the season, it means he will have to do 'this year, what he planned to do in 2006', and that he will have no time to settle in.

Martin: Peugeot's exit makes my job tougher.

Peugeot new boy Markko Martin has admitted that it will be tough for him to win the drivers' championship in 2005.

The Estonian, revealed that with Peugeot set to pull out at the end of the season, it means he will have to do 'this year, what he planned to do in 2006', and that he will have no time to settle in.

"It's nice to go to a new place and meet new people and see how they work and experience a new car as well. It has been quite interesting so far," he told Crash.net Radio at the Autosport International, when asked about his move to Corrado Provera's team.

"It is a bit difficult [with Peugeot pulling out] because I wanted to be there a bit longer and have time to settle in and then benefit in the following year.

"But it is not going to happen, and we are going to have to do what we would have done next year, in the first year and move on from there," he added.

"We definitely need to get the championship for Peugeot. As for me, that depends on how it goes - I don't know. I haven't even driven the car on gravel, so I really don't know how competitive it will be.

"I expect us to be competitive but how quickly I don't know."

As for how the 307 WRC compares to the Focus he piloted in 2004, Martin reckoned that the difference wasn't 'night and day' - something that could help him take the fight to Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg and the rest of the leading WRC drivers.

"It [the 307] is not so different," he stated.

"We will see on the rallies - that is the true test to show what the car is like. So far it has been quite ok actually, I was surprised at how easy it felt but the real test will be when we hit the stages."

Martin will get his first taste of the 307 on a rally this coming Friday, when the Rallye Monte Carlo kicks off the 2005 season.

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