RT:
Very, very positive - you will have seen lots and lots of his quotes and he really believes the car has huge potential and can be a winning car. He thinks it is a lot easier to drive and just all-round is a really big step forward.
Crash.net:
While Petter finished second,
Chris Atkinson didn't finish in the other car and he retired on day two with an electrical glitch and on day three with suspension damage. What were his thoughts on the new car?
RT:
As we said, Chris got a fastest stage time on the Sunday morning, when on the previous two days we had said: 'Take it steady and learn about the car and lets see what we can do in what are clearly very difficult conditions'. Sunday morning we told him to go for it on the first stage - and obviously he was fastest. Unfortunately on the second stage he had a bit of a spin and damaged the car and wasn't able to fix it. But these things happen. Both drivers' had the same sort of feelings and reckon the new car has loads of potential. They are really pleased to be using it.
Crash.net:
Obviously the Impreza WRC2008 is very different to its predecessor - where has it been improved most?
RT:
It is all-round because we were able to start with a clean sheet of paper, which was the first time for a long time. The base is better in the sense of the wheelbase of the car, the weight distribution that we are able to get from it and the centre of gravity - all of those things are significant factors. We have got what we believe is the ideal car now to move us forward and to be competing for wins in the second half of the season.
Crash.net:
How is the team going to approach Turkey?
RT:
Similar to Greece to be honest - it is a slightly different type of event. It is still really part of our learning process. We will take it steady at the beginning and then we will see how it goes.
Crash.net:
Turkey of course though like Greece can be another rally of attrition can't it?
RT:
It certainly can be. Conditions can be variable. Sometimes it is dry there and sometimes it is very wet. It can certainly be a rally of attrition. But again the main thing for us is to learn a lot more about the car and make sure we cover as many miles as possible with both cars.
Crash.net:
How much testing has the team got planned during the summer break prior to Finland?
RT:
Obviously we will be doing some testing and indeed we have got to particularly work on the tarmac side of things. We have done very little tarmac work yet and that is only just beginning. Obviously three of the events in the second half of the year are on asphalt. But we believe that the new car will be good on tarmac. We think the whole set-up of the car - and going back to the weight distribution and the centre of gravity, the key factors that we wanted to get in that car, that will help us on those events.
