“On the last round in Turkey we showed that our performance is improving,” said Petter. “The small details that have changed on the car made a positive difference, and perhaps if the work that has gone on since then brings further improvements, we can aim for even more this week. As a driver, my confidence is higher than it has been for a while. All I can do is drive to the best of my ability now - and keep my fingers crossed that is enough. We’ll see.”
For Solberg’s team-mate
Chris Atkinson this event will be a special one as it is his home round in the WRC. Furthermore while he would dearly love a podium finish, he is not getting carried away, despite the team’s improved form last time out in Turkey.
“Of course it’s always special to compete on your home event, and the rally in Perth is one of my favourites - I’ve always enjoyed it,” he noted. “We were fast there last year, but this time we have to be a realistic - we still have some work to do to get the whole package working together again. We came away from Turkey feeling positive about the way the development programme was shaping up, and the changes that have been made so far are encouraging. We’ll just have to wait and see what we can do this week. My motivation is always the same; to get a good result, and that’s what I’m aiming to do.”
Subaru WRT sporting director, Luis Moya meanwhile is optimistic and reckons that Solberg and Atkinson both have a good chance to finish in the top five, with a podium also a possibility: “Our objectives are to give Petter and Chris good, reliable cars that will enable them to push consistently throughout the rally. In terms of finishing positions, I feel we should be able to get both cars into the top five. As long as they run reliably and keep out of trouble a podium finish is not out of the question for either driver. On this rally, consistency is key,” Moya summed-up.
Manufacturer 2.
OMV Peugeot Norway WRT:
[Manfred Stohl, car #7 and
Henning Solberg, car #8].
Bozian Racing will celebrate their 100th and 101st entries in Australia, when they run two Peugeot 307 WRC cars for Manfred Stohl and Henning Solberg under the ‘OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally team’ banner.
