Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 - (Page 69)

RALLY TURKEY IT WASN’T QUITE the glorious sequel to the exploits in Greece, but Rally Turkey provided another step in the right direction for the SWRT thanks to Petter Solberg’s sixth place. Coming just two weeks after the toughest event of the year, Turkey offered little respite to the crews as the narrow and rocky roads around Kremer in the heat of the Mediterranean summer proved just as punishing. Returning to the WRC after a year’s absence, Rally Turkey was back with a vengeance. Two years ago the roads turned to mud baths after heavy rain swamped many stages, but this time the dry, loose surfaces were soon made more difficult as rocks and debris began to make the drivers’ jobs even harder. Following his success in Greece, Solberg maintained a level-headed approach in the face of the harsh conditions, recording four top six times on Leg One, the longest day of rallying on the event. The Norwegian, who was rewarded for this steady progress with sixth place overnight, 49.1 seconds behind rally leader Sébastien Loeb, stressed that he and the team were playing a cautious game. “It was so, so tough,” he said. “I don’t want to hit rocks or have any problems. We just need to take things step by step.” The problems were left to Chris Atkinson instead. For the second rally running, the Australian was left to rue his bad luck, although after his teammate’s recent run of misfortune he might have thought it was just his time for bad karma. Having followed the same cautious approach as Solberg, Atkinson was in ninth place when suspension damage struck. Unable to fix the problem, he was forced to retire from the Leg. His rally didn’t get too much better on Leg Two. Rally of Turkey 2008 Round 8, 12 - 15 June 2008. Kemer, Turkey Day One 1 Day Two 16 Day Three Rally start time Local 17:00 GMT 14:00 3 25 9 Antalya 15 17 19 Distances Kms Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Total Special Liaison Combined Stages 154.90 137.66 67.56 360.12 414.28 325.91 163.43 903.62 569.18 463.57 230.99 1263.74 6 4 7 Kemer 8 11 12 14 13 18 10 2008 Result - Top Eight 1 M Hirvonen 2 J Latvala 3 S Loeb 4 D Sordo 5 H Solberg 6 P Solberg 7 M Wilson 8 C Rautenbach Ford Ford Citroën Citroën Ford Subaru Ford Citroën Key HQ 5 HQ Start Rally Stage Stage Rally Special Rally Service Overnight Finish Location HQ Start Finish Route Stage Direction Location Stop Location Location After a steady morning, his run was hampered by an electrical problem that meant he left midday service late. He came close to securing the new Impreza’s second stage win on SS12, but was then delayed by a hydraulic problem on SS14. Solberg remained in the points and felt more comfortable with his car as he continued to use the rally as a test event — although the searing temperatures outside (48-degrees Celsius) made the task anything but comfortable — and proceeded in the same fashion on the final Leg to finish sixth overall and record a second successive points finish, the first time he had done so since the opening two ral- lies of the season. That contrasted with Atkinson’s failure to score points for the second time in a row, a result that dropped him to fourth in the drivers’ standings at the halfway stage of the Championship. But both Atkinson and Solberg can look forward to the second half of the Championship knowing that the remaining rallies are more tests of speed than of endurance. The speed of both drivers is undeniable; now it’s up to the new machinery to take them to the next level. —David Hobbs SUBIESPORT MAGAZINE 69

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Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 Features Contents Editor Letters Readers' Rides New Products Subaru News 2009 Impreza WRX East Meets West Shoebox Sleeper Bettering the Breed ...Even the Kitchen Sink WRC Rally Greace WRC Rally Turkey Rally America: New England Rally America: STPR 2008 STI Open Class GCRallyX R4 Where to Buy Subiesport ICY Racing E85 & Methanol Rebuild Your Heads Budget Building Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008

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