Subaru take second in Greece rally debut
June 3, 2008 by George Skentzos
The all-new 2008 Subaru Impreza WRC has finished in second place for its competitive debut at the Acropolis Rally.
Subaru World Rally Team principal David Richards said the outcome was proof that the decision to race the car before it was completely ready was the right one.
Petter Solberg took out the second place position in his Subaru just over a minute behind race winner Sebastien Loeb in the Total-Citroen entry.
Fellow Subaru driver Australia’s Chris Atkinson was forced into retirement with suspension damage but not before posting the fastest time on the day’s opener.
“We wanted to see what the car would do and it felt good this morning, which showed in the speed. We can be faster though as there is still more to come. When we get the package just right we’ll be a lot faster still.” said Atkinson.
After seven rounds, Atkinson is a strong 3rd place in the driver’s championship standing.
Ford driver Gigi Galli collected the inaugural Colin McRae Trophy after recording the rally’s fastest average speed through a stage – 100.77km/h – though Sunday’s 15.14 kilometre Avlonas stage.
The organising committee of the Acropolis Rally created the award to commemorate the life of McRae, who holds the record for the most outright victories on the event.
Print it: 
Good work Subaru, a great car. I like the way it looks too, I don’t see why people liked the ugly previous model better than this one.
Good to see it only lost by a minute to a 5 year old car…
:)
why do people insist on adding a soundtrack to rally vids? WE WANT TO HEAR THE CARS
This is a great result for Subaru considering it is a brand new race car. The team can only get better from here & lets hope that Chris Atkinson finally wins a rally as he certainly deserves it. Also, I agree that this model looks much better than the one it replaces.
Cheers !
Second on debut,good result
Good point Grant. Some time ago I took Drive.com.au to task for the same thing. Needless to say they ignored me. Typical.
That is one ugly fcuken car!
I really question the taste of the people who says, the previous WRX are good looking, but puts this down as ugly.
Quiet frankly, I know its heavily based on personnal taste at the end, BUT… all WRXs never really were lookers.
The MY98 looked awkward, the 22B looked nicer with its lower profile, wider fenders and 2 door config…
The bug eyed, was very offensive to most that Subaru straight away made a minor facelift, was a bit better, still awkward and messy looking.
The pig nose was an improvement front wise, but they butchered the rear with the Altezza style chrome.
Again, all WRXs, as good of a car they are… were pretty ugly in general. The EVO VI, was as “messy” with all the air dams and all the giant wings and all. I think EVO VII to EVO IX, were much “cleaner” looking cars than the WRX.
The current STi not only has a nice looking quad exhaust, wide aggressive backside, but has the nice curves on its waist line and above. The front grows on you too. Although I wish they opted for a different badge garnish on the grille… maybe left it as mesh grille.. but again it grows on you. The wide fenders just make it look so muscular…
Its not handsome at all compared to the Liberty (Spec B GT), but quiet frankly its the prettiest WRX ever….I think most just cant accept its a hatch…. the sedan isnt practical, especially with the tiny trunk space. Looks a bit better but again, the hatch has a “look” to it.
MY98, MY99, STI V and the MY07 STI are the only WRX’s.
Jamison… good onya! I’m really excited that you gotta “question the taste of the people….” Big deal.
I agree with Ben Dova.
These is no bonnet scoup on the rally version, does that mean the one the road version is just for show?
Mitch, the WRC version has a front mount intercooler, thus it does not neet a bonnet scoup. The road going version has a top mount intercooler, thus the necessity of a bonnet scoup.
Still, IMO the best looking impreza was the 22B, followed by the MY99 and MY00 WRX (with stock body panels).
The move to hatch was purely to allow a shorter rear overhang for handling improvement, but I believe subaru could have done a better job with the front end (especially for the WRX).
Cheers
Quote: “Good to see it only lost by a minute to a 5 year old car…”
Is anything on these cars older than about an hour?
Okay, the body may be 5 years old but that’s not the same is it?!
I think it’s a pretty damn good effort for a debut.
It does look promising, second place on its debut. If they can make it consistent, they they will contend for the championship yet again. Who cares if it’s ugly? So long as Chris Atkinson can finally record a race win with it, it doesn’t matter.
On the other hand, I hope Mitsubishi will come back with the Evo X, which would be a much handsomer rally car.