Catalunya : Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team focussed on development during Leg two of Rally Catalunya. Chris Atkinson continued to move up the overall classification as his experience on asphalt increased and achieved his best stage finish on a sealed-surface event with seventh in the third stage of the day. The Australian finished the Leg in 9th position.

Petter Solberg rejoined under Superally regulations following his accident in Leg one and concentrated on accumulating valuable asphalt data by testing new settings on his Impreza WRC2005. The Norwegian nevertheless set competitive times, including fourth quickest in SS10.

Team-mate Stéphane Sarrazin did not restart the rally after his car was badly damaged in the final stage of Leg one.

Petter Solberg
“Today has been a good day with the end much better than the start! We`ve been trying lots of different things to try to improve the car and I think that we`ve found a few small areas that we can work on. I`m very happy with the way that the car drives now, although there`s more to try tomorrow in the suspension and diffs, so we`ll keep pressing on.”

Chris Atkinson
“Today was probably our best day on tarmac. Sometimes it can be frustrating that we are not challenging the top of the leaderboard, however we have to be realistic given our limited tarmac experience. Tomorrow`s a short day, so we`ll probably only make some minor setup changes and try not to make any mistakes. The car is working well and I`m getting into a good rhythm and feeling comfortable with the car on tarmac. We`ve improved a lot today from yesterday and we`re going to try and carry that forward again tomorrow.”

David Lapworth, Team Principal
“After yesterday`s events, today has seen the team quietly get on with a lot of hard work. Chris has put a good deal of thought into where he could make some steps in performance and, while still driving comfortably, is picking up his pace all the time. We`ve been impressed with his attitude and encouraged by some very good split and stage times. Petter`s focus today has been completely different. He has been trying as many new set-up ideas as possible under rally conditions. This is all the more important as it is only another four months before we are back competing again in Spain on these same stages.”

The final Leg of Rally Catalunya features just three tests and 68 competitive kilometres. Crews leave parc fermé from 0730hrs for a 10 minute service before a loop of two stages, both of which were run during Leg two. After a 30 minute service crews will then negotiate the final test of the event, the classic Vilaplana, before returning to Salou for the podium finish at 1329hrs.


Tags: subaru, catalunya, spain, atkinson, solberg, sarrazin,