Solberg: “I’m sure it will be even better in Corsica; we have some things in our pocket”
Oct 09, 2007
Subaru
After a quick trip east from last weekend’s event in Catalunya, the Subaru World Rally Team has arrived on the Mediterranean island of Corsica for the French round of the World Rally Championship.
Corsica, situated off the south-eastern coastline of France, is well known for its picturesque, unspoiled countryside, which is dominated by forests and mountains. On the abrasive asphalt road surface tyre wear is high, and the rally is amongst the most punishing of the year. The narrow roads hug the sides of the mountains, and drivers are often faced with sheer rock face on one side and steep drops on the other.
Absolute precision is crucial at this event. Similar to Catalunya, drivers need to adopt a clear racing line throughout the stage to carry speed through the corners. There is no margin for error and the concentration levels are at their highest as drivers wind their way through the ‘Rally of a Thousand Corners’. Characterised by the hard acceleration and heavy braking that comes with each twist and turn on the island roads, the g-forces generated are the highest in the championship.
Rally Catalunya – Costa Daurada Review The Subaru World Rally Team completed Rally Catalunya with all of its three cars inside the top ten. The Impreza WRC2007 of Petter Solberg / Phil Mills was best placed, in sixth overall, while Chris Atkinson / Stephane Prevot finished eighth and Xevi Pons / Xevi Amigo ninth.
Friday’s first leg was particularly challenging for crews as overnight rain left the asphalt stages wet and greasy. The roads dried steadily, but more rain in the afternoon made car set-up and tyre choices hard to call. Chris Atkinson gambled on a hard tyre early on, but as the roads took longer than expected to dry, the Aussie was unable to match the pace of the competition and he dropped to 11th overall. Xevi Pons also had a tough start. After showing excellent pace at the pre-event shakedown, when he was second-quickest, Pons had brake troubles during the first loop of stages. Xevi was enjoying a better afternoon until broken windscreen wipers and a heavy downpour slowed him on the final stage. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills led the team’s charge on the opening day. The pair held sixth overall after a reliable and consistent performance in the number seven Impreza.
Despite recording some top four stage times on the second leg, all three Subaru drivers remained in the same positions as they ended leg one. And the story continued on Sunday, when none of the top ten positions changed at all. With the time differences between the top ten well-cushioned, the Subaru drivers used the day to adjust the setup of their cars in preparation for the rally in Corsica this weekend.
Petter Solberg (6th) “I’m pleased. We experimented with a few things on Sunday 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 (8th) “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 (9th) “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.”
A rally weekend in the life of the Subaru World Rally Team What does it mean for a team to compete in a round of the WRC? Sixteen rallies that are spread from January to December each year, as far reaching as Australia, Japan and Jordan, and teams need to be wholly self-sufficient at each and every round. That means that the Subaru World Rally Team consists of more than just the core team of engineers, each of whom have different travel arrangements and need to be in different places during the course of a weekend. swrt.com take a look at what is required of the team during a typical European event.
Xevi gives Oleguer the ride of his life! Xevi Pons took FC Barcelona football star Oleguer Presas for a passenger ride during shakedown at Rally Catalunya. Click on the link below to read more…
Click here to visit our multimedia portal to listen to Rally Operations Director, Paul Howarth’s preview for Rallye de France -Tour de Corse and to see our Rally Catalunya – Costa Daurada video edit.
