Tour de Corse - Subaru World Rally Team - Preview IIThe Subaru World Rally Team has entered three Impreza WRC2007s for the thirteenth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship.
The pairing of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills will drive car number seven, Chris Atkinson/Stephane
Prevot will drive car number eight, while Xevi Pons/Xavier Amigo will be in car number 17.
Petter Solberg
"We finished the last leg in Spain by making some changes I felt made the car a lot better, so I hope we can take this knowledge to Corsica and start well. The surface is very different, but like Spain the weather can play a large part with the chance of unpredictable showers. Tyre choice will be very important, so there is more to the rally than just fine-tuning setup. But the surface in Corsica suits the car so I hope we will be fast from leg one."
Chris Atkinson
"With Spain only last weekend, Corsica is the second asphalt rally in two weeks which is great for us. It is tough having two events next to each other, as we pretty much have one day off in two weeks, but for the last few weeks I've been training harder to counter this. In general October is a tough month which means I have been exercising more to build myself up. On the plus side, it means you can develop more of a rhythm between the rallies. I'm hoping for a good result and a strong end of the season."
Xevi Pons
"I am looking forward to France next weekend and hope we can be fast there. The Impreza WRC2007 is quick on that type of surface, so I hope we can have no problems and a good weekend.
Spain was a busy weekend for me with media interviews and live TV slots; it was a fantastic experience! Following that Corsica will be quieter, but I hope that means I can focus 100 per cent on my driving and deliver a good result for the team."
Richard Taylor, SWRT Managing Director
"Corsica is a very different rally to Spain, and the nature of the stages cannot really be compared. We feel that our car will work well there and suit the surface better. We learnt quite a bit from Rally Catalunya and look forward to applying that in Corsica, where our objective will be to get all three drivers in the points."
Paul Howarth, SWRT Operations Director
"While Corsica is the second round of this asphalt double header, we approach both rallies very differently. While on the face of it they may seem similar, the road surface in Corsica is very different to that of Spain. It is much more bumpy and rough, and the asphalt older and more abrasive. Although the roads are narrower, speeds remain high as there is a lot more grip. There is always a possibility of rain on the island so tyre choice will be critical. The nature of the event is different too as there are fewer corners, and they are all slower and shorter. There will not be any of the long corner loading on the tyres we experienced in Spain."
Subaru World Rally Team
