Rd.12 Rally RACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada
5 Oct to 7 Oct 2007
LEG THREE
All three SWRT cars finished inside the top ten
7 October 2007
Copyright © STI
Starters
71 crews of the original 102 starters left the service park for leg three this morning.
Route
Today’s route was the shortest of the rally, totalling just 85.66 competitive kilometres over four stages. As with the previous two legs, two stages were each run twice, meaning that competitors were faced with gravel and dirt dragged onto the routes on the second passes.
Weather
Sunday started with a slight chill in the air, especially in the mountain stages. Conditions were dry all day, and temperatures ranged from 14 degrees Celsius in the morning to a high of 23 degrees.
Subaru World Rally Team Summary
The three Subaru World Rally Team cars of Petter, Chris and Xevi all finished inside the top ten after the final leg of Rally Catalunya. The third and final day of the event saw the pace of the Impreza WRC2007s improve, recording better stage times throughout the day.
On a day where none of the top ten positions changed, Petter finished sixth, Chris eighth and Xevi ninth. With the time differences between the top ten well-cushioned, the three drivers used the day to adjust the setup of their cars in preparation for Corsica just next week. All three feel comfortable with the handling and balance following the changes made and are looking forward to a fresh event.
On a day where none of the top ten positions changed, Petter finished sixth, Chris eighth and Xevi ninth. With the time differences between the top ten well-cushioned, the three drivers used the day to adjust the setup of their cars in preparation for Corsica just next week. All three feel comfortable with the handling and balance following the changes made and are looking forward to a fresh event.
Team Quotes
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Richard Taylor, Subaru World Rally Team Managing Director
“We’ve got all three drivers to the end of the rally in the top ten, however the results are not what we wanted or expected before the rally. We have however learnt more about the car on asphalt and expect to be able to show some further improvement in Corsica next week.”
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Petter Solberg
“I’m pleased. We experimented with a few things today 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.”
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Chris Atkinson
“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.”
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Xavier Pons
“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.”
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* Non manufacuturer entry
Next event
The WRC makes the short hop to Corsica for the thirteenth round of the championship next weekend, the 12-14 October. In back-to-back asphalt weekends, drivers have used Rally Catalunya to prepare as much as possible, but Corsica will bring its own unique challenges. Stretching away from the service park, which is nestled against the sea in the port of Ajaccio, the asphalt stages are rough and bumpy, not at all like the new and smooth surfaces in Spain.