Preview: Rally Norway.

Wednesday, 14th February 2007

Just four days after crossing the finish line in Sweden, the WRC is back in action in neighbouring Norway this week for the third round of the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship.

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“It’s going to be a very special event for me,” said the Subaru ace. “Already things are building up ahead of the rally, there have been lots of press interviews in the last two days and people I know are arriving here for the event.

“I won’t really have a home advantage though because I have never seen these stages before. It is completely new for me, as it is for all the other drivers.”

Chris Atkinson meanwhile has confirmed that he will adopt the same approach in Norway as he did in Sweden, namely to start steady and then gradually build-up the pace. The Aussie’s strategy almost worked last weekend too and he was up to fifth, having passed Daniel Carlsson, when an off on Backa 2 on the final day dropped him down the order. He eventually finished eighth - and took the final drivers’ point.

“I think it is going to be a pretty exciting rally, although a lot more technical than in Sweden,” said Chris. “We were quite happy with our pace in Sweden against some drivers who have a lot more experience of that event. In Norway everyone should be on the same level in terms of knowledge of the stages. Our approach to this rally will be the same as in Sweden: we’ll start steadily and gradually build our pace. Hopefully we’ll get the fifth or sixth place we should have had there.”

For the record, this will be the team’s final event with the 2006 spec Impreza, as the Banbury-based outfit will switch to the new car for the Rally Mexico.

Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally team:

[Jari-Matti Latvala, car #9 and Henning Solberg, car #10]

Henning Solberg has set his sights on finishing on the podium on his home event. Henning comes into the event off the back of a strong fourth place finish in Sweden and considering he is the one of the few top drivers who took in the WRC candidate event in Norway last year, an event incidentally, which he won, the Ford driver stands a good chance of achieving his objective and giving the Stobart squad there best finish in the WRC.