Petter and Atkinson both got their hands on the all-new Impreza WRC2008 just prior to the summer break and while Greece and Turkey didn't go well for Chris, 'Hollywood' got his first podium of the year on the Acropolis and then backed it up with a solid sixth place finish in Kemer.
Speaking prior to this week's rally, Solberg noted that the Banbury-based outfit definitely feels like it has made a lot of progress since round eight back in mid-June: "I'm looking forward to getting back out again after the break. Finland is a good event, and one that we've gone well on in the past. It's not an easy event, as we have also seen in previous years, but for me it's a proper rally," said Solberg, who has competed there seven times with the SWRT, his last finishing come in 2005 when he was fourth.
"Fast, flowing, blind jumps, and so many crazy fans – Finland is great! I hope we'll have good pace there and can get another strong finish in the new car. The team have been working hard since Turkey and doing lots of testing, and we all feel that good steps forward have been taken."
Atkinson meanwhile is also looking forward to getting back into the Impreza WRC2008 and seeing just how they compare to their rivals. Unlike Petter though, he has only done the event four times, taking his best result last season when he was fourth.
"I definitely want to get back into competition, so I'm looking forward to Finland. We've done a lot of testing since Turkey and the guys have learned a lot, so I hope we can make some good steps in fine-tuning the car," continued the Aussie. "Finland is a rally of big risks and you have to push hard right from the start to get a good result. We've seen some good and close battles here in the past, and I hope we can be up there this year."
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally team:
[
Gigi Galli, car #7 and
Henning Solberg, car #8 and
Matthew Wilson, car #16]
Galli and Henning nominated.
Gigi Galli will be out to try and get a 'good result' this weekend on the Rally Finland after a frustrating end to the first half of the year, with retirements in Greece and Turkey.
