Solberg soars to the front thanks to new Subaru

The Norwegian driver Petter Solberg seized the early lead in the Rally of Mexico yesterday as Subaru's new car made a promising world championship debut.

The 2003 champion, chasing back-to-back victories after winning in Sweden last month, was 2.2 seconds quicker than the world champion Sebastien Loeb over the opening 22.55 kilometre stage from Ibarrilla to El Zauco.

Australian Chris Atkinson, competing for the first time as a nominated Subaru driver, was running a strong third overall, 5.5sec adrift of Solberg.

Belgian Francois Duval, Loeb's Citröen team mate, was in fourth ahead of Peugeot's the two-times world champion Marcus Gronholm. The Finn was slowed by a brake problem on the loose gravel stage.

Ford's Toni Gardemeister, the championship leader after two rounds, was suffering from 'flu and languishing in 13th place after starting first as the morning "road sweeper".

Gardemeister leads the standings with 14 points, one clear of Peugeot's Estonian Markko Martin and three clear of Loeb and Solberg. Ford are three points clear of Peugeot in the manufacturers' standings.

Solberg won in Sweden last time out to get his title hopes back on track after a crash in round one in Monte Carlo, and he headed to the sun of Mexico in high spirits. Solberg is only four points behind surprise leader Gardemeister in the standings but is confident he can hold his own on what he expects to be a hard-fought rally.

The Norwegian, who is benefiting from a new Subaru this weekend, said: "The stages seem to suit the Subaru Impreza pretty well.

"We've got a new evolution of the car to launch this time and hopefully, if we have a clean run with no problems, we've got a good chance of winning.

"It's all about achieving perfection at every stage in the process, from [his co-driver] Phil Mills and me, to the guys building the cars and the ones working in service too. It's going to be a tough battle out there I can promise you."

Citröen's Duval has endured a far less successful start to 2005 and has yet to score his first point for his new team. The Belgian admitted he still has plenty to learn after moving to the world champions from Ford at the end of last season - with better communication the top of his list.

He said: "I have taken on board a lot of information and I am still discovering certain things. The remarkable thing is the way we are looked after. The team is clearly very close to its drivers and very much in demand of information from them.

"The more we talk, the better it is. I am not someone who talks a lot naturally and I'm not accustomed to this way of working. However, I feel I need to communicate much more with the members of the team. I intend to do that and I know I will adapt rapidly."