Petter: Subaru are back!

Petter Solberg took an incredible second place finish on the Acropolis Rally on Sunday with the all-new Impreza WRC2008 - and then declared that the Banbury-based outfit is definitely on the way back to its former glories.

'Hollywood' ran strongly on the seventh round in the World Rally Championship from the off and set some very competitive stage times - including ten-top five times on the opening two days, before he eased off on the final leg to ensure he took the runners-up spot.

In the end the result was a major boost as he it is his first points finish since the Swedish Rally back in February and his first podium in twelve months - the last one incidentally coming on this event a year ago, when he finished third.

"Ah! This is just incredible! I am so, so pleased. I can't put it into words! It is so good to be back here again, and so important. I'm so happy for the team who've put in so much work to get this car ready," he reflected.

"It's incredible, I can't believe it. First time in the new car, second is not bad at all! We knew it would be tough here but to finish second is just great.

"It's what everyone has been waiting for - Phil [Mills - my co-driver] and I, the team, the fans, everybody. This car has so much potential, I mean so much. This is it, we're coming back!"

Asked about his tactics on the last day, Petter confirmed that he had no intention of trying to close the gap to Sebastien Loeb, even if he did finish day two just under 30 seconds behind the Frenchman.

"I had a strategy all rally to get the car to the finish. Sometimes you give a little bit and sometimes you take some. This was about being consistent - nothing crazy. I can't say I was ready to fight with Sebastien yet, but we took a good result with no mistakes and no punctures," he continued.

"Obviously there were quite a lot of nerves before the rally. There's been a lot of hard work behind the scenes, but they have done a brilliant job. It's not like anything happened. We have been able to keep up on these very tough roads straight out of the box.

"The pace of the car is there and it's going to be a very interesting future with the new Subaru. I'm very happy with the start with this car. The guys are all working very hard; we have to do a little bit more to win, but hopefully soon we can do that."

Petter Solberg's co-driver Phil Mills meanwhile definitely believes that this is the start of a new era for Banbury-based outfit, which has had a tough two to three seasons and now hasn't won since 2005.

"Finland was the debut date for this new car. Four weeks ago the team took the brave decision to bring that date forward to this rally and since then the team has been working 24-hour shifts to get the car sorted out," he added. "I think we have rewarded everybody with this result.

"Hopefully this is going to be the turning point. The team has been working flat-out at the base - I mean literally 24-hour efforts. The whole project has been brought forward by 12 weeks - we're so pleased for what has been a team effort."