The three Subaru World Rally Team cars of Petter, Chris and Xevi all finished inside the top ten after the final leg of Rally Catalunya. The third and final day of the event saw the pace of the Impreza WRC2007s improve, recording better stage times throughout the day.

On a day where none of the top ten positions changed, Petter finished sixth, Chris eighth and Xevi ninth. With the time differences between the top ten well-cushioned, the three drivers used the day to adjust the setup of their cars in preparation for Corsica just next week. All three feel comfortable with the handling and balance following the changes made and are looking forward to a fresh event.

Richard Taylor, Subaru World Rally Team Managing Director: “We’ve got all three drivers to the end of the rally in the top ten, however the results are not what we wanted or expected before the rally. We have however learnt more about the car on asphalt and expect to be able to show some further improvement in Corsica next week.”

Petter Solberg: “I’m pleased. We experimented with a few things today and it seems to be working better again. This weekend we’ve ended up doing quite a bit of useful testing ahead of the next rally. I’m sure it will be even better in Corsica; we have some things in our pocket and I hope we can show some better performance there. Overall the weekend has been good, the team has been working well and we’ve taken a good step forward.”

Chris Atkinson: “We brought the car to the finish okay, but I’d like to have got a better placing than eighth. Unfortunately this weekend we weren’t able to match the times we set in Germany. But it’s certainly not been a bad rally, and there’s a lot to be optimistic about ahead of the next asphalt events. I think Corsica and Ireland will suit us a little better than here, so I’m looking forward to them.”

Xevi Pons: “It’s good to get to the finish, but it hasn’t been my best year on this rally. We had quite a few problems on Friday. Okay, yesterday was good, but today it’s been difficult again. It’s been very useful though, and we did a lot of testing for Corsica which should help us next week.”

Leg One
Petter Solberg and Phil Mills had a consistent day in the top six. The duo finished with a solid drive to fourth fastest in the treacherous conditions on SS6 while being unable to change from a dry setup for the sudden rain. The Norwegian’s confidence in the car allowed him to close on Francois Duval in fifth position to narrow the gap to just 9.6 seconds. Using the day to make small setup changes, Petter felt the balance of the car improved, and there is still more to come for the next two legs.

With conditions for SS1 damp and slippery, Chris Atkinson took a gamble on harder tyres, finishing sixth fastest in the first stage but experiencing a serious lack of grip in the second. He overshot a junction and, while the car was undamaged, had slipped to 11th by the time he finished. The first service of the day allowed a change of BFGoodrich compound that allowed Chris and co-driver Stephane Prevot to return to posting top-six stage times and climb the overall standings steadily to eighth at the end of leg one, 11.0 seconds behind Latvala in seventh.

After an encouraging shakedown session in which Xevi Pons was second fastest, Friday morning was a little more challenging for Subaru’s local boy, who encountered brake troubles during the first loop of two stages. Having improved the situation, he climbed to seventh overall before a stall dropped him to ninth by the end of SS3. Buoyed by the enthusiasm and cheers of the local fans, Xevi drove through the rain on SS6 with malfunctioning windscreen wipers, greatly impeding his visibility, to consolidate ninth overall by the end of the day.

Leg Two
Petter Solberg made various suspension and setup changes throughout the day to try and improve the grip and feel of his Impreza WRC2007, but he felt a change after SS8 made his car too stiff for the last two stages of the morning and he lost time. After the midday service, the Norwegian finished fifth fastest on the opening stage of the afternoon and felt more comfortable with the car. He consolidated his sixth overall, but will continue to look for more speed tomorrow to close on Francois Duval ahead of him in fifth during the third and final leg.

Chris Atkinson started the morning well but had a near miss during special stage eight. He slightly misjudged a corner and slid wide on the exit of a left-hander, ending up on two wheels and was lucky not to roll. With two damaged wheels, the Australian endured heavy steering vibration for the remainder of the stage and dropped 20 seconds to Jari-Matti Latvala, who was in his sights lying just ahead in seventh.

Xevi Pons attacked the stages harder as the day progressed, keen to close on team-mate Atkinson, just one place ahead. He suffered a small off-road excursion during special stage nine which lost him a few seconds, but showed his potential on the La Serra d’Almos stage. The shortest stage of the event at only 4.11km, Pons finished fourth fastest on the first visit, and second fastest when it was run again as SS14. Just seven tenths of a second behind Marcus Gronholm, Pons finished the leg comfortable with the car and will start leg three looking for more of the same speed in the closing four stages of Rally Catalunya.