Chris Atkinson has been as much a victim of Prodrive's nosedive in form as
Subaru team-mate
Petter Solberg of late, but the Aussie says he is simply pleased to have ended the year with a finish in Cardiff and is confident of happier days in 2007.
Atkinson came home sixth on last weekend's Wales Rally GB, the final round of a dreadfully dispiriting campaign that has seen him take a best result of fourth in Japan and Subaru endure their first winless season since 1992.
“It was ok, not our best event for sure but we just tried to keep a steady pace and make sure we got to the end,” the 27-year-old told
Crash.net. “The conditions were very tricky and we lost a little bit of time on the first day. Otherwise we would have been a few spots higher, but that's life.”
Still, a top six placing was a good deal better than the 38th place achieved on last year's event – his first appearance in the challenging Welsh forests – and not an altogether bad way to sign off his first full season in world rallying's top flight.
Reflecting on the year behind him – one that yielded five top six finishes and tenth position in the title chase – Atkinson said there were both happy memories and frustrating ones, but added he hoped to put the experience he had gained to better use in a far more competitive Subaru package in 2007.
“It's been difficult,” he admitted. “Leading Rally Australia and winning some stages there was good, but there were plenty of low points as well so we are just trying to forget those and move on.
“The team is working hard on next year's car and that's what we're looking forward to now.”
