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Although this is round six of the 15-event championship, the speed tests on Italy's sun-kissed holiday island mark the first occasion in which Ford's WRC gladiators will taste European gravel this season – it is quickly followed by Greece and Turkey.
The industrial town of Olbia, below the shimmering Costa Smeralda coastline in the north-east of the island, provides the rally base while Porto Cervo, one of Europe's most luxurious resorts, hosts the start and finish ceremonies.
A key characteristic of Sardinia's speed tests is their narrowness and drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila know mistakes can be punished as rocks line the edge of the tracks, waiting to batter a car's suspension or attack its tyres.
A sandy surface masks a hard base below and roads can be rutted and rocky during the second pass, demanding strength from the team's Focus RS World Rally Cars and durability from Pirelli's Scorpion tyres.
Hirvonen's first win of the season, in Jordan, helped Ford extend its manufacturers' series lead to seven points and took him back to the top of the drivers' table with a five point advantage. Hirvonen finished second here in 2006 and 2007 so knows what it takes to be successful on this challenging event.
A sandy surface masks a hard base below and roads can be rutted and rocky during the second pass, demanding strength from the team's Focus RS World Rally Cars and durability from Pirelli's Scorpion tyres.
Hirvonen's first win of the season, in Jordan, helped Ford extend its manufacturers' series lead to seven points and took him back to the top of the drivers' table with a five point advantage. Hirvonen finished second here in 2006 and 2007 so knows what it takes to be successful on this challenging event.
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