Both tests were successful in developing a good base setup on the new Pirelli P-Zero championship control tyre on wet and greasy asphalt in France and on snow in Sweden. With fewer tyre tread and compound options available at each event this year, tyre choice will come second to a driver’s ability to make best use of his tyres on any given surface, making testing crucial to develop knowledge and experience of the tyres and the way they work on the car.

Petter Solberg: “Testing has been ok so far. I feel comfortable on the new tyres - tyre testing has gone well and I feel I have learned them very well. You need a little different driving style now to get the most from them, but I am happy going into Monte and Sweden. Thinking about punctures will be very very important. You can’t drive like before – one puncture and you’re finished. I think people will drive more cautiously and definitely not cut corners as much.”

Chris Atkinson: “The Monte and Sweden tests were both good – we covered a lot of ground, did some positive setup work and the engineers were able to suggest some new options on setup that we haven’t tried before. The Sweden test gave me a good opportunity to get more snow experience and a good base setup for the rally, and I feel more comfortable this year than I did last on this surface.” 

A separate testing programme with the Impreza WRC2008 is also well underway, ahead of its launch later in the season.

“The testing we’ve done so far with the car has shown no significant problems” said Paul Howarth, the team’s operations director. “It’s so important to conduct this rigorous testing from the start as it means we can eliminate elements of development we otherwise would need to do later on in the programme, allowing us to focus more on performance and reliability when Markko starts his testing programme.”

It will be Markko Martin’s first experience of the WRC2008 and, aside from the Bettega Memorial Rally last December, his first taste of the WRC with the team since he last competed aboard a works Impreza alongside Petter Solberg and Richard Burns in 2001.

There will be one more gravel test with the WRC2007 before pre-event testing with the car is ceased to gear resource towards the increasing test programme with the WRC2008.