Portugal : Subaru World Rally Team - Leg 2The Subaru World Rally Team consolidated its position among the frontrunners on the second leg of Rally de Portugal. Solberg/Phil Mills started the day in fourth position and, despite difficult, varied weather, ended the six stages
still within striking distance of a place on the podium. There was bitter luck for the other entry of Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall: they went off the road on SS10 and could not continue.
Richard Taylor
"It's been a day of mixed fortunes for our two drivers. Petter has consolidated his fourth position overall and it was great to see him take time out of third-placed Mikko Hirvonen on the last two stages this afternoon. It bodes well for tomorrow's final leg of the rally. We've every confidence that Petter can attack Mikko and perhaps take third position, although our priority for this rally has to be a strong points finish and we have to ensure we don't take too many risks in our pursuit of the podium.
It was unfortunate for Chris that his mistake on stage ten resulted in an accident which ended his rally. It capped a tough weekend for him, but it's important to remember that there's plenty of potential still to be unlocked from the Impreza WRC2007 and we've every faith that he can exploit that."
Petter Solberg
"The conditions have been very hard out there today. But apart from SS10, when my pace notes weren't so good, it hasn't been bad at all.
On these roads it's been very difficult to keep the tyres in good condition for the groups of stages, and I had to back off a bit here and there, but it's the same for everybody. The car has run perfectly, and the set-up has improved steadily throughout the day.
This morning it was a little bit too soft, and the balance wasn't very good, but we made a few chassis changes later on and got a much better feeling on the last two stages. The plan for tomorrow is catch Mikko. The gap is just 13 seconds, and the way the car feels now I think that could be possible. We'll wait and see, but I will push as hard as I can."
Chris Atkinson
"It hasn't been the best weekend, that's for sure. It's a great shame because I thought this rally would suit my driving style and the car. This morning I struggled with the handling a bit, we had some balance and understeer problems and I was struggling to get the car turned in properly - especially on such slippery roads. We started the stage (SS10) pretty well but in hindsight I was thinking too much about the feeling, and not concentrating on the road. I missed a corner note, got on the wrong line and just went straight off.
Clearly the team and I have some work to do before we find a good, balanced set-up for wet and dry conditions. And while we experimented a bit here, it's not an ideal environment in which to test. We have a proper test planned shortly which should give me the opportunity to work on the set-up specifically. Petter and I have shown that the outright speed is there, but this is only the second rally for the new car and clearly there's a lot to learn."
The third and final leg of Rally de Portugal features just four gravel stages. The morning's tests - named Loule/Almodovar and Loule - are repeated in the afternoon and then the drivers return to the Algarve Stadium for a final blast around the superspecial (a repeat of the opening test of the rally). The competitive distance is 81.39km and the road sections total 189.06km, making a total leg length of 270.45km.
Subaru World Rally Team
