Solberg, Atko test new Impreza

Subaru World Rally Team drivers, Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson, have finally tested the all-new Impreza WRC2008.

According to a report on autosport.com, Solberg and Atkinson have each completed two days of testing in Sardinia, with Markko Martin, SWRT's full-time test driver, also present.

The new Impreza will be Subaru's first ever hatchback rally car, and the hopes of the team and its many fans, rest with the performance and reliability of the new model.  Subaru's last WRC win was in Rally GB in September 2005, and despite Atkinson scoring four podiums from five events so far this season, the current model Imprezas have been dogged with problems.

SWRT managing director, Richard Taylor, is remaining tight-lipped about the expected debut of the new car.

“Yes, Petter and Chris are driving the car for the first time this week,” he acknowledged last Friday. “But the test is still ongoing and we don’t have anything else to say at the moment. Getting Petter and Chris in the car at the soonest opportunity was always been part of the development plan, but we haven’t yet made a decision about when the car will make its first WRC appearance.”

TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEW IMPREZA WRC2008

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