After the final day of competition on the inaugural Rally Ireland, the Subaru World Rally Team pairing of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills continued their solid pace to finish fifth overall. Petter headed into the final four stages of the rally focused on continuing to drive to a pace with which he was comfortable. Experiencing a punctured right rear tyre, which was totally flat by the third split of the day’s opener, Petter otherwise had a trouble-free rally. He ended the event on a high by winning the final stage while fifth place meant four points in the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships.
The Impreza WRC2007 of Chris Atkinson was unfortunately withdrawn at the final morning’s ten minute service. During the last service of leg two the team discovered an internal engine problem, and after analysing the data overnight and inspecting the engine again, the decision was made to retire as there was almost no possibility of the car reaching the end of the rally. According to Superally regulations the Australian still managed to collect two manufacturers’ championship points.
Petter and Chris’ Spanish team-mate Xevi Pons began the event on surfaces he had no experience of. He was just outside the top ten after the second stage of the event, until he slid off the road 5km into stage four, resulting in engine damage that forced his retirement from the rally.
Petter Solberg (5th)
“It’s been the most difficult rally I have ever done I think, but it’s been quite enjoyable. It’s been very special for Phil and me as you have to really work properly together as a team to get through this rally, and we have finished with no mistakes at all. The car is working better and we have had some good stage times, so it has been quite a good event for us. The result is not what we hoped, but we will now really, really work hard for Wales Rally GB. ”
Chris Atkinson (DNF)
“We faced some incredible stage conditions out there and were pushing quite hard so it’s disappointing not to finish the event. ”
Xevi Pons (DNF)
“My car left the road on a right hand corner about 5km from the start. I got going again, but the oil-cooler had been damaged in the impact and after a couple of kilometres the oil warning lit up on the dashboard and I had to stop. There was a little fire in the engine bay, which we quickly extinguished, and that was it – we could go no further. It’s a big shame because this is a very special rally, with completely different stages, and I wanted to get more experience here. ”
| 
|