''I almost couldn't believe it''It was a difficult day for the Subura World Rally Team following high hopes being dashed by mechanical upsets.
Team Principal Richard Taylor comments on the first Leg of Rally d'Italia Sardegna, as do drivers Petter Solberg and Chris
Atkinson.
Richard Taylor
"The day started very brightly, with both Petter and Chris showing great competitiveness and establishing themselves in the top four. Unfortunately this afternoon has not been so kind to us: Petter experienced some problems with the brakes from SS4 and we have to take our hats off to him for the way he managed to drive around the issue and then carry out interim repairs on the road sections. Although he lost some time, the most important thing is that he is still in the rally in a points-scoring position. Chris's retirement was through no fault of his own: on SS5, about 1km from the end of the stage, he was unable to avoid two large rocks in the middle of the road and went off, losing several minutes. Without those issues, we would have been right in the mix and the Impreza's pace on the morning stages suggests we're not out of the hunt for the podium yet. We're less than one minute off third place, so we're confident Petter will be able to get back on the attack on leg two tomorrow."
Petter Solberg
"We got off to a really good start today, and after service we were going well too – matching the pace of Marcus and Sebastien on the first couple of splits on SS4 – but then we lost the brakes and that ruined everything.
I did my best in the circumstances, but with no brakes we had no chance and now we've dropped a long way back. From being in a position where we were fighting for the lead it's pretty frustrating, and I almost couldn't believe it, when I knew what was happening. Still, we've shown that we can be in the fight and tomorrow, when the car is back to 100 per cent I'll do all I can to get the time back."
Chris Atkinson
"It's been another tough rally. I don't like to make excuses, but it was almost as if somebody had put the rocks there. We came around a blind corner and there were two big rocks in the middle of the road, right on the line. I suppose it was a good job it was on a relatively slow section, as the damage doesn't seem too bad, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. I think the car will be fine and we'll be able to get back out again tomorrow. We've got to keep moving forward with the development of the car and our performance. We've seen today that there's still room for improvement and that's the main focus."
Subaru World Rally Team
