After a tough Rally Sardinia, Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prevot collected a crucial three championship points for their sixth position finish, keeping the duo third in the drivers’ title hunt. Similarly, the Subaru World Rally Team remain third in the Manufacturers’ race.

Day One

Atkinson and Prévot made a strong start to the event, finishing the first three stages of the morning sharing third overall with Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen. Solberg and Mills meanwhile lay fifth.

Having made some changes to their car during the midday service, the Norwegian traded position with his team mate in an afternoon of change, snatching third position as Atkinson slipped to fifth with Hirvonen splitting the SWRT crews. The Australian remains within reach of the podium still, promising to keep this battle fuelled into the longest day of competition tomorrow.

“The positive improvements the team has made to the dampers since Jordan are obviously paying off and both Petter and Chris should be very pleased with their performance today” said David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal.

After a ceremonial start on Thursday night set against the multi-million dollar backdrop of the Porto Cervo resort, where the sprawling abodes are dwarfed only by the five storey superyachts anchored just off shore, the action returned on Friday to the industrial port of Olbia for the start of competition.

The first day of Rally Sardinia started with the unexpected return of rain, although it was only a shower before the first stage as opposed the torrential downpours that turned roads into mud baths earlier in the week. Nevertheless, the dowsing made the roads more slippery than many crews expected which, coupled with the very narrow routes, got this fifth Sardinian event off to an unforgiving start typical of the Italian island.

“I’m pleased with third and it’s very good for Subaru and for the whole team” said Petter Solberg. “This morning I wasn’t so comfortable but this afternoon was much better and I was really able to push. The team have been working hard and things are going well. A podium would be very, very good but there’s so many things happening on this rally. But at the end of the day it’s good and I am happy with third. Tomorrow we will have to push very hard to keep the third place, but I am feeling good at the moment.”

“Yeah, it’s not been a bad day today” echoed Chris Atkinson. “It’s good to get through the day with no problems though as it’s been tough. The guys behind are going well and are fast, so we’ll have to pick it up a bit tomorrow to stay in the fight. It’s a close battle for third, and there are a few people quite close who will join the fight tomorrow so it’ll be hard, that’s for sure. I hope we can find a bit more to stay in the top five, but it’s not a bad start.”

Day Two

“Given the positions we held at the end of yesterday, today has been disappointing for us” said David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal. “We had taken some steps forward yesterday, and Petter was an encouraging third, but we seemed to face a new challenge of getting heat into the tyres in the cold conditions we faced today. Both drivers did a very good job under difficult circumstances but it is clear that we haven’t got everything working correctly in these temperatures.”

The fifth running of Rally Sardinia is the coldest edition of the event yet, an average of six degrees cooler than in previous years. The Impreza WRC2007 is remarkably light on its tyres; a virtue normally much sought after in the hotter rallies where tyre wear can be crippling.

In the slippery conditions seen on this event however it actually became difficult to generate sufficient heat in the hard compound Pirelli tyres to realise their full grip. The very nature of the island stages exacerbated the issue as Solberg and Atkinson could ill-afford to slide their Imprezas excessively through the narrow and rock-strewn routes.

“We’ve still been pushing hard today” said Chris Atkinson. “We knew the Fords would be quick so it’s no surprise to be sixth. I felt I drove well today, and that is all I can do. I drove the best I could and pushed as hard as I could, and I made no mistakes and we didn’t have any problems so that is good. We’re still in a good position, but we just didn’t have the pace to stay with the front guys.”

Telling a similar story, National Norwegian day was not to bring the joy Solberg had hoped for. He and Mills lost five minutes in the first running of Monte Lerno with a puncture and the pair slid to fourteenth overall before mounting something of a comeback to put both SWRT entries inside the top ten.

“It’s been a very, very hard day for us today” said Petter Solberg. “We tried but we just didn’t have the pace today. We started with a good third position from yesterday, and we knew today would be tough, but even without stopping to change the wheel in stage eight, we just couldn’t keep it.”

Day Three

The final day of this rally proved no let-up for the team as Atkinson and Solberg were not able to match the pace of the front-runners, who were pushing hard in their own battle for the win. The day comprised the event’s roughest stages, whilst stage fourteen’s river crossing added patches of thick mud to the mix.

“It’s been a disappointing rally but in spite of the setbacks both Chris and the team retain third place in the championship” said David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal. “We must now focus all our attention on ensuring that we arrive in Greece with an improved setup for the conditions we are likely to encounter there.”

Atkinson and Prévot retained their comfortable placing from yesterday to complete the event in sixth position overall, demonstrating their consistency this year to add more points to their championship tally. It is their fifth points score from the six rallies this season, retaining third place in the championship and consolidating their impressive start to 2008 whilst keeping them in touch with the top of the leaderboard.

“OK, it’s good to get more points and to still be third in the championship, but it’s definitely not been an easy weekend” said Chris Atkinson. “I drove the best I could and made no mistakes, and that’s it.”

Petter Solberg and Phil Mills had another hard day aboard their number five Impreza, slipping to twelfth before doggedly climbing to finish tenth overall, eking some impressive split times from their machine including second fastest time on the final stage. With the third place they held on day one only too distant, the vociferous Norwegian was uncharacteristically subdued, letting the team do the talking for him.

With Subaru’s all-new Impreza WRC2008 on the horizon, drivers and the team alike are eagerly awaiting its first public appearance.