Rally Japan : Subaru World Rally Team - Leg 1
Subaru`s Petter Solberg dominated the action on today`s first Leg of Rally Japan and holds the overnight lead by a margin of 22 seconds. Solberg, who won the rally in 2004, enjoyed a trouble free run in his Impreza WRC2005 and set the quickest time on three of the day`s nine stages.
Remarkably, Petter`s closest competition on the first three stages was his young team-mate Chris Atkinson in the second works Impreza. Atkinson who has driven this rally twice before, but never in a four-wheel drive car, took two stage wins and even wrestled the lead of the rally from Solberg after SS3.
Petter Solberg
“I`m very happy to be back fighting for stage wins again! To be honest the day has gone better than even I expected, we had a few punctures in the afternoon but apart from that it has been just perfect. I love driving and when the package works as well as it has done today then there`s no better feeling. Of course there`s a long way still to go but I feel positive after what we`ve achieved today and everyone in the team is hungry to succeed.”
Chris Atkinson
“The day started out very well and to lead a round of the WRC was something special but the aim this weekend is to get experience and a solid result without taking too many risks. We had a bit of bad luck this afternoon being caught in the dust behind Anthony Warmbold who had some problems in the long stage and then on the final stage we had to deal with some very foggy conditions on a road surface that I would say was one of the worst I have ever driven on. I think we could have chosen a slightly harder tyre compound for this afternoon`s stages but overall it has been a very pleasing day and when you look at the fact that the only guys ahead of us are world champions we have to be happy. The aim now is to continue this pace for the remainder of the rally and gain a good result for the team.”
David Lapworth, Team Principal
“An excellent start to the rally. Both drivers have driven faultlessly and are ideally placed. Obviously it`s great to see Petter leading again in Japan but Chris`s performance on the first couple of stages was equally satisfying. The cars have run well and the tyres have been good, we couldn`t really have asked for a better start to the event. Tomorrow could be a tricky day, the forecast is for unpredictable weather but in this mood Petter should take it in his stride.”
Cars leave the Kita Aikoku parc fermé from 0630 for a 10 minute service before heading north east to the areas around Ashoro, approximately 25km from Obihiro. The second Leg of Rally Japan comprises 100 competitive kilometres and 12 special stages, including two further passes through Pawse Kamuy and a repeat of the Satsunai spectator stage.


Tags: subaru, japan, asia, impreza, wrx,