Subaru team leader,
Petter Solberg was unable to take the fight to OMV Kronos
Citroen's
Francois Duval on Saturday and in the end the Norwegian slipped further back in his Impreza WRC car.
Petter ended the first leg of the Rally Catalunya on Friday just 9.6 seconds behind the Belgian, however he lost considerable ground in the morning loop and the gap went up to 34.3 seconds.
Although 'Hollywood' tried to fight back on the repeat runs in the afternoon he couldn't make much difference and as such he finished the second day 33.6 seconds behind.
Speaking in service F, Petter noted that he felt more comfortable with the car as the day progressed, but his times remained quite disappointing and he managed just one top-five time.
"We had a little understeer during the stages this morning, but overall no real problems. I made the suspension slightly too stiff which caused understeer, so in the mid-day service we changed the setup for the afternoon loop.
"It's not been a bad day for us. We've gone steadily with no problems and the whole package has been working well. The car is getting better all the time, but we still have to keep working to take it forward a bit more."
Duval meanwhile showed flashes of the pace that everyone expected after his form on the Rally Deutschland, but ultimately opted to ease off to keep his Xsara WRC in one piece for next weekend's Rallye de France-Tour de Corse.
"The weather conditions were perfect - no rain, bright sunshine. In the third stage today my co-driver was unable to read the notes for 3-4 kilometres and I had to drive without help," he reflected. "I then decided it was better to secure a fifth and to preserve the car for the Tour de Corse. My plan for tomorrow now is going to be the same as today's one."
