After a difficult event for the Subaru team, Petter Solberg crossed the finish ramp of Rally Finland in fourth place today to collect five World Championship points.
Locked in a close battle over the final four stages, Solberg carefully controlled his pace to remain ahead of local star Mikko Hirvonen, who was at maximum attack on his home rally.
Chris Atkinson continued to gain experience of his car in the specialist conditions, although his day was cut short by engine damage sustained in an accident on Leg two.
Petter Solberg
"It`s a disappointing result, but after the bad landing on Friday and the split brake pipe yesterday I have to be happy with fourth. I tried to push so hard and we made a number of changes to improve the set-up yesterday and today. I was happier with how we finished today and after a quick break I`m going to be working hard, as I want so much to be back on top again, it`s been too long now. We`re going to do some very intensive testing before Germany and I know the car will have lots of new parts for the rally. You can be sure I`m not giving up and so I`m looking forward to getting out there again."
Chris Atkinson
"I can take a lot of positives from this weekend. It`s my first time in a World Rally Car in Finland and I managed to set times that were quicker than some of the Championship contenders and the experienced locals. This shows we have a good pace, but we now need to keep building our experience. The car and tyres were good all weekend, and we didn`t change the set-up at all. We`re learning all the time and we want to come back next year and be quicker and more consistent to get a good finish."
David Lapworth, Team Principal
"It`s some consolation for Petter to have won the battle for fourth place. He and Mikko dominated the stage times today and to finish with a stage win is not a bad way to end the rally. Of course we`re here to win rallies and now we have to apply the lessons of this weekend to make sure that we can maintain Petter`s strong form at the next gravel event, Rally GB. Chris again showed good speed today. This is not a rally to approach cautiously. If he wants to win he needs to attack, which is exactly what he has done. Deutschland will be different ball game, as the first proper tarmac event of the year. This is an event that Stephane made an impressive debut on last year and we`re looking forward to seeing what he can do in a factory car."
Round 11 of the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship starts in three weeks` time, when teams travel to Germany for Rally Deutschland. The first classic all- asphalt rally of the season includes a complex variety of conditions including narrow, twisty vineyard roads in the Mosel Valley, rough, bumpy tarmac roads in the Baumholder military training area and smooth, fast stages in the Saarland region. The rally starts from the town of Trier on Friday 26 August.


Tags: finland, subaru, impreza, wrx, solberg, ramp,