Citroen number two driver, Daniel Sordo was quickest in the shakedown for the Rally d'Italia Sardegna on Thursday, the seventh round in the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship.

Sordo, who was third overall on this event last year, completed the 3.36 kilometre test that is situated 15.47 kilometres north-west of the Olbia service park, in 1 minute 54.3 seconds.

"The car is OK," said the Spaniard. "Seb worked hard on the car in Sardinia during our tests, and I'm confident for the rally. At the shakedown I've found a lot of people, they were displaced very well, at the start and at the finish".

Mikko Hirvonen was next up for Ford, just 0.1 seconds slower. The Finn was delighted with his Focus RS WRC06: "The car is perfect, the target is to interfere in the fight between Loeb and Gronholm - and Solberg too may be an important outsider. I love the Sardinian gravel," he noted. "I want to have a great rally."

Marcus Gronholm meanwhile was third, just 0.3 seconds off Sordo and 0.2 seconds behind his BP Ford team-mate. The two-time world champion is determined to go for it from the off on Friday.

"I'm satisfied with the set up," said Gronholm. "The rally is difficult, but I will try to finish ahead of Loeb. Last year when I withdrew, I was 40 seconds ahead. I will attack from the start."

Juho Hanninen came in fourth in his privately entered Mitsubishi, while Subaru's Petter Solberg and pre-event favourite, Sebastien Loeb were fifth and sixth respectively.

"We had some problems with understeer but it is fixed now," reflected Petter. "The rest of the car is OK. The route has changed a lot - the special stages are always very fast. I haven't had have time to test the new tyres from BFGoodrich."

Loeb agreed that the route is very different, but unsurprisingly is expecting to be right in contention: "The rally is different from last year, there are many new things and it's not easy to remember all them. The road surface is always very slippery - it's easy to get it wrong. We made the most of our tests on gravel though and overall I'm confident."

Of the rest, Toni Gardemeister was seventh, in the other privately entered Lancer WRC05, while Subaru's Chris Atkinson and Stobart Ford duo, Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson rounded out the top ten.

OMV Kronos' Manfred Stohl ended proceedings in 13th, behind Jari-Matti Latvala and Munchi's Ford's Luis Perez Companc. The Austrian had hydraulic problems.

"My target is to score points," said Manfred. "It would be a great result if we can finish in the top five. Sardinia is a unique race and difficult because of the tyre of gravel on the roads - it hasn't got much grip."

The Rally d'Italia Sardegna now begins on Friday at 09.43 hours local time with the 31.13 kilometre Crastazza test. More to follow then…

Leading shakedown times:

1. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1mins 54.3secs M

2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 1mins 54.4secs M

3. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 1mins 54.6secs M

4. Juho Hanninen MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 1mins 55.3secs

5. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 1mins 55.5secs M

6. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1mins 55.7secs M

7. Toni Gardemeister MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 1mins 55.8secs

8. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 1mins 55.9secs M

9. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 1mins 56.8secs M

= Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 1mins 56.8secs

Key:

M denotes Manufacturer entry

all times unofficial