Subiesport Magazine - November 2008 - (Page 80)

RALLY FINLAND PETTER SOLBERG WON his first stage victory in the new Impreza at Rally Finland but by then he was firmly in the list of also-rans as once again, Sebastien Loeb, stole the headlines and took another step closer to a record fifth successive title. On eight previous attempts, Loeb had never added the Finnish event to his list of conquests, but this time his focus and determination saw him through to a stunning victory on a rally that, with few exceptions, throws up a Scandinavian winner. He laid down the gauntlet to his chief championship rival, Mikko Hirvonen – who was racing on home turf – from the very first stage and went on to claim all but one of the first Leg’s 11 stages. He never lost his grip on the rally after that to put a huge dent in Hirvonen’s confidence as well as his title hopes. Meanwhile, Solberg and teammate Chris Atkinson were struggling with a lack of pace in their Impreza WRC2008s. The first two rallies for the new car – Greece and Turkey – had given hope to the SWRT that a corner had been turned. But those events were tests of endurance, not speed; Finland was throwing up a whole new set of challenges. Pre-event testing had been encouraging but it soon became clear that Solberg and Atkinson would struggle to match the leading times. Apart from Atkinson’s third fastest times on both runs through the Superspecial, day one brought little cheer in the Subaru camp with sixth-placed Solberg one spot ahead of his team-mate by final service. For Atkinson all that changed when he set off on a charge that would lift him into a podium position. At the end of Leg One he was 48 seconds 2008 Neste Oil Rally Finland Round 9, August 01 - 03, 2008. Jyväskylä, Finland 47 HQ 10 3 6 Rally start time Local 19:00 GMT 17:00 9 8 2 5 23 Jyväskylä 1 11 Jyväskylä 14 18 Distances Kms Special Liaison Combined Stages Leg 1 131.70 475.80 607.50 Leg 2 168.25 489.62 657.87 Leg 3 40.47 155.74 196.21 Total 340.42 1121.16 1461.58 2008 Result - Top Eight 1 S Loeb 2 M Hirvonen 3 C Atkinson 4 D Sordo 5 H Solberg 6 P Solberg 7 M Rantanen 8 T Gardemeister Citroën Ford Subaru Citroën Ford Subaru Ford Suzuki 13 17 15 22 24 21 20 16 19 12 Key HQ Start Rally Stage Stage Rally Location HQ Start Finish Route 5 Special Rally Service Overnight Finish Stage Direction Location Stop Location Location behind third-placed Henning Solberg but a succession of top six places in all the day’s 10 stages meant the Australian shot up the field. Citroen’s Dani Sordo had already taken Solberg’s place during Leg Two but with a stunning drive on the last test of the day Atkinson snatched third from the Spaniard to set up a dramatic finale. However, any fightback from Sordo was quickly extinguished on the first stage of Leg Three when Atkinson finished the 14.34m test 13 seconds ahead of the Citroen driver. After that, Sordo settled for fourth thus allowing Atkinson to claim his fifth podium of the season. More importantly it kept him ahead of the Spaniard in the battle for the driver’s title. Solberg’s reward was a third successive points finish in the new car that kept him in sixth place in the championship although as he admitted, it had been a tough weekend all round. —David Hobbs Photos: Subaru World Rally Team 80 NOVEMBER 2008

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Subiesport Magazine - November 2008 Contents Editor Letters Readers’ Rides New Products Subaru News 2009 WRX Test Drive Back on Easy Street Brothers in Boost Treasure Island ESPN X Games 14 Subiefest 3 Subie Extravaganza WWJCD WRC Rally Finland WRC Rally Deutschland Rally America: Ojibwe Forest Rally America: Colorado Where to buy Subiesport Orange Invasion - Europe 2007 STI Intake Test Dreadnought Widebody Install p2 Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - November 2008

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