Sebastian Loeb has won the first five rounds of this years WRC World Championship andthere are no indications that things will change this weekend. The Frenchman has won the Italian stage of the championship three times and is looking to win again while adding to the impressive points lead he has established.
BP Ford will be looking to take their first win of the year and are definitely looking to recover from the problems of Argentina that saw Mikko Hirvonen retire for the first time this year. However, as usual, Loeb will make the Fords push to maintain pace which opens them up for accidents and failures due to the extreme level in which they have to push the Focus in an attempt to maintain pace. As we posted in an earlier article, Danni Sordowill be looking to push the limits in an attempt to take over the second spot from Hirvonen and help Citroen secure the 1st and 2nd position in the drivers championship. Sordo currently leads Mikko by 1 point heading into the Italian leg of the championship.
Petter Solberg has received upgrades to his 2006 Xsara and will be looking for a podium as well. Earlier in the break between rallies, Solberg was threatening to switch to a Peugeot 307 WRC if he was unable to secure the necessary upgrades for his Citroen. While he probably will not be challenging for victory, Solberg has made it difficult for some of the front runners when problems occur on the stages. Along with Petter, the Stobart Ford boys will be looking to add on their success in Argentina. Henning Solberg took the final step of the podium last event and will settle for anything less this weekend. The usual Citroen Junior Team will also be looking to have a great finish for its drivers as well. The early rounds have not been too friendly to the three young drivers with numerous offs and accidents plaguing the team.
The rally will start at 19:00 in Italy and will be live on the WRC radio channel. Corso Umberto in Olbia will be the Official Start Ceremony as the teams begin this the sixth round of the World Championship.