Rally Japan : Subaru World Rally Team - Leg 2The Subaru World Rally Team had a successful day as Petter Solberg continued to lead Rally Japan. The Norwegian collected five stage wins during the Leg and pulled further ahead of the chasing pack. Petter will start Sunday`s final day of competition with a 30 second advantage over his closest rival, Marcus Gronholm.
Despite some extremely tricky road conditions, Chris Atkinson also had an excellent day locked in an intense battle for fifth place with some very experienced competitors. Chris will start the final Leg just 10 seconds behind fifth-placed Harri Rovanpera.
Petter Solberg
“It feels good, we`re on target but there`s still a long way to go. I`ve pushed to the maximum today, perhaps a little too much in the morning but my tyre choice was too hard and I had no option. We gave away a lot of seconds for free on the first group of stages but the afternoon was much better. It`s not easy out there, the stages have been terrible. My biggest fight today was not with Marcus, it was with the roads. It`s been a long time since I won a rally and it`s a feeling I want back. I`m sure Marcus will attack very hard tomorrow, but I want this win very much indeed.”
Chris Atkinson
“Although we dropped from fourth to sixth it was still a good day. We are only 10 seconds behind fourth place and very much in contention to achieve our aim for the weekend of a solid result in the points. This morning`s stages were very tough with the roads pretty rough but the changes we made in the midday service improved the set up for this afternoon`s run. Throughout the day we continued to play it safe to make sure we got through okay, we sacrificed a little time in the process but we`re still in the game. With it being so close for a spot in the top five it is going to be an interesting battle tomorrow on roads that we know well but our number one aim is make sure we get to the finish ramp.”
David Lapworth, Team Principal
“It`s been another great day for Petter. The conditions were very difficult this morning and in hindsight we could have chosen a softer tyre, but Petter did a great job of damage limitation and then more than made up for it in the afternoon. At the end of the day he has extended his lead slightly and, in such difficult conditions, that`s no mean feat. For Chris this has been probably the most important day of his time with our team. After such a great start yesterday he was under massive pressure and in such difficult conditions even an experienced driver could easily be caught out. In fact, he hasn`t put a foot wrong and has ended the day in a very strong position and in a great fight with some of the world`s top drivers for fourth, fifth and sixth places.”
Cars leave Kita Aikoku parc fermé from 0630hrs for a 10 minute service. At 85km Leg three is the shortest of the event and comprises two runs through the ultra-fast Panke Nikorpet and Penke stages located to the north west of Obihiro. The Superspecial at Satsunai is also repeated for a third time midway through the day before the podium ceremony in the service park at 1505hrs.
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subaru,
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