Chris Atkinson and Xevi Pons were left disappointed with the result of Wales Rally GB, despite the
Subaru duo both finishing inside the top ten on the final round of the World Rally Championship.
Atkinson went into the final leg embroiled in a battle with
Stobart VK MSport driver
Matthew Wilson for sixth place but saw his chances hit on the morning loop of stages when he lost over 20 seconds to the young Briton and slipped down to seventh place.
Despite a set-up change during the mid-day service, Atkinson was unable to catch Wilson and had to settle for seventh - although he was at least able to console himself with the fact that he climbed above
Jari-Matti Latvala in the championship standings.
"Of the three times I've attempted Rally GB this has been the most frustrating," he reflected at the finish. "As a driver I can honestly say I've tried my best, but for a number of different reasons that hasn't been enough to get decent stage times. We have experienced a variety of small issues but the main hurdle has been the inconsistent handling of the car.
"This morning we tried a set-up which worked well on Friday, but for some reason today it didn't work at all. We have a lot of questions to answer in the off-season and a lot of testing planned to enable us to turn things around. We want to be fighting for wins again, for Subaru and the fans as well."
Spaniard Pons, running in the third works Impreza, suffered from a fogged windscreen during the morning loop but held a comfortable lead over Mads Ostberg into the afternoon loop.
Although a charging Latvala would move ahead of Ostberg into the top ten, he was too far behind to close in on Pons who ended the event in ninth place.
"It was very muddy and more slippery than yesterday, and this afternoon was harder as there were more ruts," he said. "We had a small moment when we overshot a tight junction and hit a bank but fortunately the car wasn't badly damaged and we were able to carry on.
