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What have the SWRT drivers been up to?
Letter from SWRT
22 December 2006
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| Copyright © STI |
The Subaru World Rally Team drivers and co-drivers have had a busy time in the two weeks since the 2006 WRC season ended with Rally GB.
On 4 December, just one day after the mud and gravel had stopped flying in the forests of south Wales, Chris, Glenn, Petter and Phil attended a post-rally debrief at the team's Banbury, UK, headquarters to discuss review the season and start planning for 2007.
Petter then headed back to his home in Spydeberg, Norway for a couple of days, but there was little time for rest: he had several guest appearances to make and interviews to do.
On 7 December he attended a seminar in Kristiansand with his personal sponsors, and gave some lucky children a ride in an Impreza road car. On 8 December he had breakfast with the mayor of Spydeberg, then later that day he appeared on 'Først og Sist', a popular Norwegian chat show, along with his brother, Henning. The following day Petter was the star on a children's programme called 'Psyjpopbaluba'!
After that he went back to England and got a brief taste of next year's Impreza WRC before jetting to Monte Carlo to spend the weekend with his family.
Meanwhile Chris and Glenn left the post-Rally GB debrief on 4 December and headed to Spain to link up with the SWRT test team. They spent two days in the Cardona region, testing the Impreza WRC that is due to be introduced for Rally Mexico next March. Chris then made a quick trip to Japan, before flying back to Europe in time to contest last weekend's Bettega Memorial Rallysprint in Bologna, Italy.
Both drivers will be back in an Impreza World Rally Car this week for the Subaru World Rally Team's pre-Monte Carlo test in the French Alps. After that, it's finally time for a well-earned Christmas and New Year break!
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Countdown to Rallye Monte Carlo!
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| Copyright © STI |
Not long to wait now...
It's just one month until the 2007 World Rally Championship season blasts into action on the icy mountain roads of the Rallye Monte Carlo. Stay with Swrt.com as we count down to the event and bring you all the news of the Subaru World Rally Team's preparations for the new challenge. As the rally draws closer, each day we'll bring you another fascinating fact about the team.
19 December 2006: 30 days to go
The Subaru World Rally Team's 30th victory in the World Rally Championship came on the Rally of Portugal in 2000. Richard Burns and Robert Reid won by just 6.5s after a gripping battle with Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot). The event, which was based in the coastal port of Matosinhos, marked the debut for the latest evolution of the Impreza World Rally Car.
As is traditional, the team decided to start the season with the previous year's machine to make sure the new car was as competitive as possible before it was introduced. It didn't disappoint when it hit the special stages for the first time, and Burns's success moved him to the top of the WRC points standings.
Next season Portugal's WRC event is back on the calendar after a six-year absence - can Subaru revive happy memories of the year 2000 when the rally starts on 30 March 2007?
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Bettega Memorial Rallysprint
Bettega Memorial Rallysprint: Chris finishes third
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| Copyright © STI |
Chris Atkinson capped his 2006 season on the podium: the Australian Subaru driver finished third in the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint in Bologna, Italy, at the weekend.
The rallysprint is part of the Bologna Motor Show and is held around a short stage laid out in the grounds of the exhibition centre in the Italian city. The event is held in December every year to honour the memory of the late Attilio Bettega, a star of the world rally scene in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Drivers go head-to-head against each other in true rallysprint style, and the winner progresses through to the next round of the event.
In his qualifying heat, Chris went up against another Subaru driver, Piero Longhi and the 27-year-old Aussie took victory by a slender 0.8s margin. Put head-to-head with rising rally talent Andreas Mikkelsen in his semi-final, Chris coolly dispatched the Ford driver to move through to the next round of the competition in his Impreza WRC2006.
For the semi finals, Chris had a tough draw against Gigi Galli (Peugeot), the defending champion of the event. It was a close-run thing, but the Italian just edged out Chris to go through to the final.
It was left for the 27-year-old from New South Wales to defeat Simone Campedelli (Peugeot) to claim third position in the final standings for the event.
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20 December 2006: 29 days to go
Solberg's 29th birthday
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| Copyright © STI |
Petter Solberg could be forgiven for not remembering his 29th birthday celebrations on 18 November 2003, because he'd already thrown one huge party that month! It was a momentous time for the Norwegian, because ten days before his birthday he had clinched the World Rally Championship in fine style, by winning Rally GB and eclipsing Citroen's Sebastien Loeb by a single point.
It was a brilliant way to end the year which had started slowly: Petter's first win didn't come until the seventh round of the season, Cyprus. Prior to that, he was a lowly fifth in the championship points, but the Solberg/Subaru package got stronger and stronger as the year progressed, and a remarkable run of four wins in the last seven events put him at the top of the points when the year was at an end. The celebrations when he returned to Norway lasted for some time…
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2006
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