Khalid adjusting to tough new terrain

Sligo, Ireland: After a fairly unnerving start to the first leg of Rally Ireland on Friday, ace UAE driver Shaikh Khalid Al Qasimi was a picture of confidence on Saturday..

However, caution continued to be the key word for Shaikh Khalid, the Abu Dhabi-backed BP-Ford World Rally Team driver, as he got off to a rather careful start to yesterday's stages.

Careful

Speaking to the media during a pit-stop break in the afternoon, Shaikh Khalid expressed his satisfaction over the way things have progressed so far in Rally Ireland - his debut season in World Rally Championship. "I had to start carefully and take things as they came by because this is a completely new terrain for me.

"For someone who is used to driving on the desert sands, Rally Ireland offers a wonderful learning experience. "It's something like a baby learning to walk.

"He or she first starts to crawl before actually beginning to walk.

"It's the same for me on the rally circuit.

"Driving through slippery, often slushy surface, with the intermittent rains, is quite a challenge for me and I'm enjoying every bit of it," said Shaikh Khalid during a free-wheeling chat.

"It is interesting how the road conditions can change over a day in this part of the world."

Questions

"When we started off this morning, it had not rained and the roads were still quite dry.

"But later it started pouring and we knew there would be a whole lot of puddles lying around. Back home, drivers from other parts of the world would sometimes tell me: 'Wow. How did you manage to keep that pace,' or 'take that turn over sand?!' Here, it's me who would perhaps ask them the same questions."

Gronholm still buoyant

Rain-swept Sligo has handed out a rude shock to Marcus Gronholm, the Abu Dhabi-backed BP-Ford World Rally Team driver. Gronholm, who had suffered a severe crash on Friday, was forced to retire from Rally Ireland.

With the Finn all set to retire after this season, the blow could not perhaps have come at a worse juncture for the Ford driver, who currently heads the drivers' standings.

Though arch-rival Sebastien Loeb of Citroen Total navigated the second leg's first two stages unscathed, to cement his outright lead, Gronholm still believed the championship was far from over.

"It will be hard to lift the drivers' title if Loeb wins in Ireland, but there are a lot of kilometres remaining here and on the final round in Great Britain, so I'm not giving up yet," said the Finn.