Gronholm takes it steady

Finn Marcus Gronholm will not go crazy in his bid to retain his Rally Argentina crown.

The Peugeot driver holds a small lead over another double world champion - Carlos Sainz.

“I have been pushing reasonably hard without going crazy,” Gronholm told www.wrc.com. “This is fast enough to keep the lead. My plan is to carry on like this.”

Spaniard Sainz is only 8.4 seconds behind and pleased with his Citroen.

“I have felt very confident throughout the course of the event,” said Sainz. “This has always been a rally that I have liked. I have had no real problems at all. I am just pushing hard and we will see what happens.”

Sainz’s Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb, the championship leader, is third and just 33.6secs behind Gronholm.

The Frenchman is pleased with that, especially as his closest title challengers are out of the event.

“At the moment I am happy to be third. With Petter [Solberg] and Markko [Martin] both retired, that is good for the championship,” he said.