Tyre choice hinders Subaru

11:44am Saturday 4th October 2008

Petter Solberg started the second day of the Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada today in fifth place after a tough opening day.

With the FIA regulations only allowing limited testing, the Banbury team arrived in Spain having done very little running on asphalt and therefore started the rally with realistic expectations.

The day started with high winds and low temperatures; conditions in which the team opted to run the three works Impreza WRC2008s on Pirelli’s soft compound P-Zero tyres to try to generate more heat and therefore grip from the rubber.

The opening stage of the rally was the trickiest that crews had to face on day one. The 20.48km La Mussara test twisted and turned into the La Mussara mountains, and it was apparent that all three of the team’s entries were struggling for pace having chosen the wrong compound tyre in conditions that saw the frontrunners opt for Pirelli’s hard compound alternative.

Team principal David Richards said: “The limited amount of time we’ve spent on asphalt testing is apparent from today’s times. However as the drivers become more familiar with the car in these conditions I’m sure the pace will pick up.”

With the morning’s stages completed and a change to hard compound tyres for the afternoon, Solberg and Chris Atkinson improved their times markedly on the repeat passes in the afternoon, by which time the temperature had risen significantly. Solberg and Phil Mills climbed from eighth to fifth, whilst Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot rose to eighth overall. Brice Tirabassi and Fabrice Gordon in the third Subaru Impreza WRC2008 continued their steady and impressive progress.

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