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The Subaru World Rally Team entries of Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot and Petter Solberg/Phil Mills finished the first day of the season’s first gravel rally in third and fourth positions overall after tackling the harsh and unforgiving routes and oxygen-thin air of the Mexican mountains.

The rally on which Subaru has traditionally been strong started in characteristic form as Solberg and Atkinson held the top two spots after Thursday’s shakedown stage. On the first day of gravel-based competition of the season, Atkinson and Prevot held a consistent third position overall. Solberg and Mills experienced early brake troubles that slipped them to sixth, but the duo had a solid afternoon to climb to fourth with two stage wins.

“We’ve again shown that we have the pace to win stages on this event, and despite some problems this morning Chris is on the podium and Petter is close enough to have his sights set on the top three” said Subaru World Rally Team Principal David Richards. “It has been a hard day for the cars and drivers, and it is encouraging to see that Pirelli’s new gravel tyre has worked very well in what have been very tough conditions.”

Today’s roads were a combination of high-altitude dusty gravel stages that reached over 2700 metres above sea level and fast downhill sections, littered with large and jagged rocks. Road cleaning was a big factor in sweeping a lot of the loose material from the surface, leading to smoother roads and more grip for those further down the running order, but the risk of punctures in the sternest test yet for Pirelli’s new Scorpion gravel tyre was ever-present.

Solberg started the day fifth on the road and had a promising start being fastest in the opening section of the first stage. In the last five kilometres however he struck an obstacle in the road, damaging the front end of his car, and, in an unrelated incident, experienced problems with his rear left brakes. This resulted in a loss of braking efficiency for the remainder of the morning until the problem could be rectified at the midday service.

The Norwegian lost a total of 50 seconds over the course of the morning’s three stages and dropped to sixth position overall. Having sorted the problem during the half-hour service interval, Solberg and Mills mimicked their early performance by recording the fastest time on the afternoon’s first speed test. As Ford’s Gigi Galli and Mikko Hirvonen suffered troubles of their own, the SWRT duo climbed to fourth by the end of the day, beating Hirvonen and recording their second stage win in the penultimate head-to-head spectator stage that brought the day to a close.

The afternoon was not without added difficulty as all crews had to avoid the surprise of large rocks in the middle of the road. Solberg chose to go off the road twice to avoid such rocks, losing time as opposed damaging the car, as did Atkinson, who survived with all four tyres intact despite running over one of the rocks with the front right wheel whilst in sixth gear.

“Considering we lost a minute this morning, fourth today is not bad” said Petter Solberg. “We have won two stages, and we are pushing so hard but it will not be easy. We have two tough days left. The rocks in the stages this afternoon were incredible, just right in the middle of the road. They were so big, I don’t know how they got there. If I didn’t go off the road to avoid them, that would have been it. When you’re going flat out, it’s hard to avoid things like that but you still just have to commit.”

Atkinson meanwhile started just behind his team-mate in sixth on the road. The Australian had a consistent day in third position overall, despite driving one of day’s tricky and rocky stages with a malfunctioning intercom, meaning that he couldn’t hear Stephane Prevot’s pace notes and had to drive from memory. He didn’t feel quite as comfortable with the car as he did during yesterday’s shakedown route, but nevertheless recorded five top-three times from today’s eight stages. On the final back-to-back spectator stage, Atkinson beat rival Henning Solberg after the first lap but suffered a spin and a stall on the second lap, losing a few seconds.

“Today has not been bad for us and we’re in a good position to push hard tomorrow. We’ll have to see whether we can close the gap to Sebastien and Jari-Matti as it won’t be easy” said Chris Atkinson. “It was my mistake to spin in the final stage, and giving a few seconds away to these guys isn’t the smartest, but that’s how it goes. It won’t be easy for sure, and I have Petter and Hirvonen behind so we will push hard as always and see.”

The day started at 15 degrees Celsius and rose to a high of 28 degrees. The crews tackled three stages before the midday service, followed by repeat passes of each in the afternoon and two back-to-back passes of the spectator Superspecial stage between Leon and Silao.

The Subaru World Rally Team will travel west to the Americas for the third event of the season, the Corona Rally Mexico, after its late inclusion in this year’s WRC calendar. The first traditional gravel rally of the year is also the first long-haul event, and the only time the crews will visit the North American continent.

Based in the city of Leon in the Guanajuato region of Mexico’s central highlands, the event promises very different conditions to any seen so far this year in either Monte Carlo or Sweden. On the event where the Impreza WRC2007 was launched last year, crews will compete for the first time on Pirelli’s new Scorpion gravel championship control tyre, available in only one compound and tread pattern. It will be the third different tyre design crews have used in the first three events of the year.

Crews are banned from cutting the tread of their tyres this year, which on gravel typically meant opening up the tread pattern to maximise the tyre’s ability to cut through the loose surface. This will mean road position is crucial as those further down the order will benefit from road cleaning, meaning a smoothing of the loose surface that will afford the standard tread better traction.
The region’s hard-packed gravel roads are some of the highest of the year. Generally fast, they are tricky as they don’t naturally flow through the mountainous terrain. The challenging combination of high and slow-speed sections make it difficult for crews to establish a rhythm along the sometimes narrow and technical tests. Those who are smoothest will improve the life and therefore grip from their tyres on the abrasive surface where tyre wear is very high.

These conditions traditionally suit Subaru very well, and Petter Solberg and Phil Mills won here in 2005 and established an early lead last year before being forced into retirement. Chris Atkinson also held second position last year before running into difficulty and finishing fifth.

The route is much the same as last year with only minor additions to sections of the Ortega and El Cubilete speed tests. Rally Mexico is the most compact route in the WRC, and this year is even more so than last with a total distance of just 830 kilometres. The 354 competitive kilometres of gravel roads traverse the mountains of the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato to the east of Leon, reaching a peak altitude of just over 2700 metres where the oxygen is thin and engines struggle to develop power.

The event opens with a ceremonial start on Thursday night in front of the Alhondiga de Granaditas, an historic grain storage building which now serves as a regional museum. A change from the first two events, the weather forecast is dry and windy, with temperatures reaching 25 degrees Celsius. Each day is concluded by a 2.21km spectator stage, located 15km south-west of Leon, which will be run a total of five times over the three days to bring the action from the mountains to the local fans.

Entries
The Subaru World Rally Team have entered two Impreza WRC2007s for Rally Mexico. Petter Solberg / Phil Mills will drive car number five and Chris Atkinson / Stéphane Prévot will be in car number six. Solberg and Mills have finished on the podium twice in the last three years. Atkinson finished fifth last year, his best result in Mexico, but this will be his first running of the event alongside Prévot.

Team quotes
David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal: “Mexico is a totally different challenge to that we have seen so far this year. It’s an event on which Subaru have a good record, and it really demonstrates the strength of our engine. Petter and Chris ran strongly on this event last year and, using the same car that we debuted then, I expect our performance to put us firmly towards the top of the timesheets.”

Paul Howarth, Subaru World Rally Team operations director: “We’ve gone well in Mexico in the past and the conditions suit both drivers and our cars. Recent tests with Pirelli’s new Scorpion tyre have been positive, but have shown that tyre wear will be a real factor in what we consider to be an endurance event. The stages will be a lot cleaner for the second passes and road position is important. You will lose time starting first on the road as for those further back there will be more grip as the surface becomes cleaner. The roads do get very abrasive though as the loose surface is swept away, and as grip increases, the tyres have to really work hard.”

Driver quotes
Petter Solberg: “We go to Mexico knowing that we have won here in the past, but we don’t approach it any differently to Monte or Sweden. We made some good steps forward in the test last week, so we go to Mexico with a good setup. We’ll drive our own rally, push as hard as we can and see what happens. I hope we will be strong again here as it’s good for everyone if we can be fighting at the front.”

Chris Atkinson: “It’s a difficult rally with the altitude and the conditions, but we approach it with the same strategy as we have started this year with. Last year we had a good result and good pace on the first day, so if we can maintain consistency throughout the event then I hope we can get a good finish. We have a strong engine in the car that seems to perform well at altitude which I think is one of the reasons we go well here. I like the feeling of the rally as it’s good to have such a variation in speed and conditions that keeps you entertained! Visually it’s appealing and very different, and that’s what rallying is all about.”

Between the rallies
After the Swedish Rally both Impreza WRC2007s travelled straight to Spain for a four day gravel test ahead of Rally Mexico. The duo of Solberg and Mills completed two and a half days, and the pairing of Atkinson and Prévot completed one and a half days to develop a setup for Mexico and the remaining gravel rallies and to test Pirelli’s new gravel tyre. The team also tested suspension and damper components in what was the final test for the WRC2007 as the emphasis shifts to the Impreza WRC2008.

The Subaru World Rally Team has all three cars within the top ten at the end of leg one, after a tough day on the asphalt roads of Rally Catalunya. With conditions starting damp, the asphalt was greasy and the level of grip hard to predict for the first two stages, but dry by the time the drivers started SS4 at 13:34. As grip was improving, the drivers were thrown a final curveball when heavy rain fell just as SS6 started, catching most teams by surprise on a dry setup for the last 26.48km of leg one. Petter Solberg finished the day sixth overall, Chris Atkinson eighth and Xevi Pons ninth.

Petter Solberg and Phil Mills had a consistent day in the top six. The duo finished with a solid drive to fourth fastest in the treacherous conditions on SS6 while being unable to change from a dry setup for the sudden rain. The Norwegian’s confidence in the car allowed him to close on Francois Duval in fifth position to narrow the gap to just 9.6 seconds. Using the day to make small setup changes, Petter felt the balance of the car improved, and there is still more to come for the next two legs.

With conditions for SS1 damp and slippery, Chris Atkinson took a gamble on harder tyres, finishing sixth fastest in the first stage but experiencing a serious lack of grip in the second. He overshot a junction and, while the car was undamaged, had slipped to 11th by the time he finished. The first service of the day allowed a change of BFGoodrich compound that allowed Chris and co-driver Stephane Prevot to return to posting top-six stage times and climb the overall standings steadily to eighth at the end of leg one, 11.0 seconds behind Latvala in seventh.

After an encouraging shakedown session in which Xevi Pons was second fastest, Friday morning was a little more challenging for Subaru’s local boy, who encountered brake troubles during the first loop of two stages. Having improved the situation, he climbed to seventh overall before a stall dropped him to ninth by the end of SS3. Buoyed by the enthusiasm and cheers of the local fans, Xevi drove through the rain on SS6 with malfunctioning windscreen wipers, greatly impeding his visibility, to consolidate ninth overall by the end of the day.