by Russell AtkinsDavid Richards has tipped his downtrodden Subaru team to fight back in 2007 following its first winless campaign in more than a decade last year, as the
World Rally Championship enters what he believes will be a bright new dawn.
The Prodrive chairman faces the arduous task of leading the Japanese marque back to the top step of the rostrum after a dire performance that saw
Petter Solberg and
Chris Atkinson register a mere four podium finishes between them on their way to a distant third position in the manufacturers' championship in 2006. While he knows it will be an uphill struggle, though, Richards is adamant the major problems have been addressed and steady but substantial progress can now be made.
“It was a very frustrating season,” the former WRC-winning co-driver told
Crash.net, “the worst one we have had in a decade. We didn't get a single win last year, and that's extraordinary given that in other years we have won numerous events and world championships, but these things happen even to the best of teams. We've seen it in other forms of motorsport – we've seen Ferrari in the doldrums in
Formula One and look what happened shortly after that.
“What we have got to do now is regroup. We have had a careful look at the car. We understand what the principal issues are and have really gone back to basics and started all over again, and as a result of that we believe we will make sensible progress this year.
“In the early part of the year we will be using the old car. The first three events are always a bit of a lottery, but Petter has always been extremely good on the snow rallies in Scandinavia and obviously he wants to do well on his home event in Norway. Then when we get the updated car in Mexico I think we will see a significant step forward. We have resolved a number of issues with the new car, so by the middle of the year I would expect to see us back to winning ways again.”
The other major string to the 54-year-old's rallying bow is that of holder of the televisual and commercial rights to the WRC, and he insists although the sport has come in for a good deal of criticism of late for dwindling numbers of manufacturer entries, that is to overlook the considerable potential of the private teams, and the promise of the talented new drivers entering the fold.
“Citroen are back in the championship and still running cars in private hands with the Kronos team, we've got Mitsubishi out again and Subaru are clearly back in the fray too,” he argued. “Everyone says there are only a few manufacturers, but the reality is there's a lot of depth in the private teams and a big shift towards that. Just look at the strength of the Ford team under Malcolm Wilson now – I've lost count of how many cars he's fielding!
“There are new young drivers coming in too, and they don't come through as quickly in rallying as they do in circuit racing. In rallying you need years of experience, but the chances that are being given to the likes of
Matthew Wilson for example and some of the other young drivers coming along is encouraging.”
As to his predictions for 2007, Richards said it would likely be very much a case of as-you-were, with Sebastien Loeb's victory on the Monte Carlo Rally earlier this month a precursor of things to come. He predicted the Frenchman would not have things entirely his own way, however.
“The facts of the matter are that Sebastien has shown the rest a clean pair of heels on most events, on most surfaces and under most conditions,” he acknowledged. “He is a bit of a star turn. But Marcus (Gronholm) has proved on his day he is equally as quick, and when Petter is on-form and has the right car underneath him he can challenge as well. Those have to be the three leading lights this season, and I would hope there will be some new young talent coming to the fore too.”
