Subaru World Rally team managing director, Richard Taylor has branded day 1 of the Rally Catalunya 'disappointing' for the Banbury-based outfit after his drivers' were once again left squabbling for points at the wrong end of the top eight.
Indeed while
Petter Solberg led the charge in his Impreza WRC, he could only finish the day sixth overall - more than 40 seconds off the final place on the podium.
Chris Atkinson meanwhile didn't do much better and after overshooting a junction in SS2, ended up in eighth, with Xavier Pons ninth in the 'third' car. Pons was slowed by brake problems this morning and then lost time in the last rain-affected stage when malfunctioning windscreen wipers impeded his visibility.
Speaking in service C back at Port Aventura, Taylor stated that they will try and make some changes tonight to improve the Impreza WRCs and get them closer to the pace on day 2.
“Following our recent good pace on asphalt in Germany and in tests here in Spain, today has been disappointing for the team,” he confirmed.
“The results have not been what we expected, so tonight we will check all our data very carefully and start tomorrow afresh with a view to getting all our drivers higher up the leaderboard.”
Petter for his part was trying to stay positive and with
Francois Duval only 9.6 seconds in front in fifth, he has a clear aim for the second leg.
"We've had no real problems today - just a stall on a start line one time - but that's it. The weather conditions certainly made things interesting, and it was very tricky at times, but overall I'm happy with what I've done here,” noted ‘Hollywood'.
“Tomorrow we'll try to do the same again, but of course we'll always be looking for improvement wherever we can. I think it's possible to beat Duval – that would be good.”
