Mexico: Subaru World Rally Team - FinishThe last day of Rally Mexico comprised just four special stages. Three of the tests – Leon, Guanajuatito and Comanjilla – had not been used during the previous two days of competition, but some of the roads included within their routes
had been used as parts of other stages, so were already clear of loose gravel. To finish the event, the crews tackled the Superspecial in Leon again, although this time the two halves of the stage were combined to make a single 4.42km route.
Like the previous day, Sunday brought a mix of cloud and sunshine. Ambient temperatures during the shortest leg of the rally ranged from 14 in the morning to 26 degrees Celsius by mid-day.
Subaru World Rally Team summaryThe Subaru World Rally Team's latest challenger, the Impreza WRC2007, made a promising debut on Rally Mexico and successfully scored points in the hands of Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall. The pair started the third and final leg in fifth position and held that position throughout the day's four competitive tests. The potential of the new car had been shown earlier in the event when Petter Solberg/Phil Mills led convincingly for the first five stages of leg one. In all, the WRC2007 scored four fastest stage times first time out.
Richard Taylor, Team Managing Director
“Not a perfect result, but an excellent demonstration of the performance potential of the new car.
It's at a level we're really pleased with, and this weekend Petter and Chris have both shown that we've got podium pace. Of course we've got some fine tuning to do, which is what we always expected, but I think we can expect stronger results in the rest of the season.”
Chris Atkinson, Driver
"We came here looking for a top-five finish and although things could have been better, it's not a bad result to take away. We tried a different set-up for today's stages, but when we saw the split times it was clear that it was a step in the wrong direction and we had to back off a bit – on this occasion it was more important to finish. Overall I think we're all pleased with the way the new car has performed. On its first time out we've got a few stage wins, it's proved competitive on Superspecials, and works well on repeated stages too. It's already got better traction, more stability and a more consistent feel than last year's car. Now it's a case of fine tuning it for me and Petter after we've had a chance to analyse what we've learned in Mexico. But I'd say things are looking positive for Portugal.”
Didier Martin, BFGoodrich rally technician
“Before Petter's retirement he showed that on gravel the new Subaru and BFGoodrich package had the speed to win rallies. During the event Petter and Chris got on well with our wider gravel tyres, which confirmed the positive feeling they had at the pre-event test. We can already see that the new car is not as aggressive on its tyres as the previous model, and we look forward to working with Subaru to unlock more of its potential in Portugal.”
Next the Subaru World Rally Team shifts its focus to Portugal, the second consecutive gravel rally. This event is returning to the World Rally Championship for the first time since 2001. The rally will be based in southern Portugal, known for its magnificent beaches, marvellous landscape and thermal spas. The host town will be Vilamoura, with the beautiful marina the location for the ceremonial start. The rally service area is eight kilometres outside of Faro at the Algarve Stadium. The event's 16 gravel special stages will be a step into the unknown for most of the crews and will take places in the hills to the north of Faro.
Subaru World Rally Team
