by Rob Wilkins


TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH PETTER SOLBERG: CLICK HERE


Subaru's Petter Solberg was boosted by the arrival of the all-new Impreza WRC2008 just prior to the summer break - and having finished third with it in Greece and sixth in Turkey, 'Hollywood' was definitely left feeling more positive. Crash.net Radio caught up with the 2003 World Rally champion recently and spoke to him about his hopes for the rest of the year and found out about his rib injury...


Crash.net:
Petter, how have the team's preparations been going for Finland and Germany?

Petter Solberg:
The guys have a very important job at the moment to get the cars fast for Finland. They are still working and are very happy. It will be very interesting to test the car next week.

Crash.net:
Have you done much testing yet?

PS:
No nothing at all. We will start our testing next week. I must say I am really looking forward to it. I can't wait to see what the team has done to improve the performance.

Crash.net:
What areas are the team going to be focusing on in testing?

PS:
I think it is a lot of different areas. It is not just one major thing. It is a lot of details. But the team are in full control - definitely.

Crash.net:
We have three asphalt events in the second half of the season, how crucial is it going to be to get the car set-up properly for those tarmac rounds?

PS:
I think on tarmac and for Finland the car should be very good because of the low centre of gravity. The new car is also very good at high speed because of the balance and weight distribution. The package should hopefully be good straight away. But I can tell you more after the tests next week.

Crash.net:
Subaru switched to using the new car in Greece and that seemed to really pay off for you. How much of a step forward is the new car?

PS:
Of course it is a good step forward. But the team entered it on two of the toughest rallies in the championship and the main thing was reliability. We were not so concerned with making the car the fastest. I am very pleased with the performance on the first two rallies.

Crash.net:
What areas related to the new car did you and Chris Atkinson identify that most need attention prior to Finland?

PS: