Subaru World Rally Team number two driver
Chris Atkinson has said that he won't be thinking about trying to get another podium this weekend on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna.
Atkinson has enjoyed a tremendous season so far and his consistency has paid real dividends as he is now third in the drivers' championship with 28 points, just two less than four-time world champion
Sebastien Loeb and with just over three times as many on the board as his team-mate,
Petter Solberg.
Despite having taken four podium finishes from five events this year though, Chris insisted he will just be focusing on doing what he can again this weekend - a strategy that to date has served him well, as he bides his time ahead of the introduction of the new Impreza WRC 2008.
Although the Banbury-based outfit has still not set a date for the debut of its new car, Atkinson and Petter both had their first familiarisations run aboard the all-new Impreza recently and work is said to be 'progressing well' with further information due to follow in the 'coming weeks', with some reports noting its introduction might happen before the summer break.
"It's important to drive smoothly and without mistakes in Sardinia as the roads are very technical and narrow but it's a rally I enjoy," said Chris. "It's my fourth year here, and my second with Stéphane [Prevot – my co-driver], so I hope we can have a good event and run competitively.
"I'm not thinking about another podium finish, but just concentrating on our pace and fighting as high up as we can."
Subaru's operations director Paul Howarth meanwhile has warned that it could be a difficult one for Pirelli's hard compound Scorpion tyres.
"This has traditionally been a tough rally, especially because the stages are so soft and the surface becomes badly deteriorated by the second passes. With the combination of the soft surface and rocks in and at the sides of the roads, it'll be tough on tyres," he added.
