Marcus Gronholm is confident his new Ford team are 'hungry' enough to break Sebastien Loeb's stranglehold on the World Rally Championship.
Two-time world champion Gronholm was forced to switch to Ford for 2006 when Peugeot pulled out of the series but he approaches the coming season in buoyant mood.
Loeb won his second consecutive title in record-breaking fashion last year but that has not deterred Gronholm, who was encouraged by Ford's recent testing displays.
He said: "We are expecting a lot, and so is the team. Our first tests in December in Sweden and France showed us that these expectations are well reasoned.
"The new Focus is not only fast, but also incredibly reliable after such a short development. A change always gives you an extra injection of energy and this is our first move after working seven years for Peugeot. It was a bit sad to leave the team where we have had everything in our career."
He added: "We have lots of nostalgic memories from the past years. Now we face the pleasant challenge of learning the way our new team is working and to get to now all the people involved.
"It makes me feel confident when I know that it is not only me who is hungry for wins, but the whole team have committed themselves to achieve success."
Gronholm gets his first chance to challenge the dominance of Citroen and Loeb when the new season starts in Monte Carlo on January 20.
