By Robert Grant
October 14th 2008 @ 1:17am
Get a Roar profile
Atkinson retains fourth at World Rally Championship
Australian Chris Atkinson remains on track for his best season in the World Rally Championship after an untroubled drive to sixth in the Rally of France.
The Queensland Subaru star is in fourth place in the series following his most consistent year.
He was 12th in his debut season in 2005, 10th in 2006 and seventh last year.
Atkinson and co-driver, Stephane Prevot, had been fighting for fourth place in Corsica after the first day, but punctured a tyre mid-way through day two.
The pair eased their pace yesterday to ensure a finish and keep their spot in the Championship.
Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb won his fifth consecutive rally and his tenth of the season ahead of the Fords of Francois Duval, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.
Atkinson’s Subaru teammate, Petter Solberg, suffered two punctures on the final day, but still took fifth place.
“We had a good start on day one and we were fighting with Jari-Matti and Petter, but then we had a puncture which lost us time,” Atkinson said.
“Once we had the puncture and I was down I just took it quite safe and easy.
“In the end I could have pushed for the last day and a half and I might have beaten Petter after his two punctures, but you can never know that and we might have got a puncture anyway, so that’s life.
“It’s been a good weekend though, as we were on Petter’s pace before the puncture yesterday.
“I’ve driven a good rally and it’s good to get some points,” he said.
“I think Petter and I are pretty close on tarmac at the moment. He’s got an extra point or two out of these last two rallies, but we’ve had a little bit of bad luck.
“We’re both pushing quite hard and that’s good for my driving.”
The World Rally Championship’s second-last round is in Japan from October 30 to November 2.
Free Email updates:
Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...
We were talking about the important things in life, mainly sport.
