THE debut of the new Banbury-built Subaru Impreza WRC2008 was marked in style with second position overall at the close of the Acropolis Rally, the most challenging event on the WRC calendar.

On the final day, Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot were fastest on the opening stage, whilst Petter Solberg and Phil Mills crossed the finish to clinch their best result of the season.

David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal, said: "Chris continued his development and testing of the car today and tried a few new things that proved successful, giving him a dominant stage win this morning.

"Today was a day of consolidation for Petter and Phil. You can take nothing for granted on a rally like Acropolis until the very end, and Petter's task was to bring the car home unscathed on a very challenging day that saw his brother drop from the lead trio.

"Many thought our decision to come here was risky but I'd like to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of our test team whose efforts have been totally vindicated. We are now onto the next stage of development for the WRC2008. We've completed the first event, and the many lessons we have learned here will stand us in good stead for the second half of the season."

Solberg and Mills consolidated a solid weekend aboard their new Impreza WRC2008 by retaining a remarkable second position overall behind Citroen's Sebastien Loeb.

Solberg said: "Ah! This is just incredible! I am so, so pleased. I can't put it into words!

"It is so good to be back here again, and so important. I'm so happy for the team who've put in so much work to get this car ready. It's incredible, I can't believe it. First time in the new car, second is not bad at all!

"We knew it would be tough here but to finish second is just great. It's what everyone has been waiting for. Phil and I, the team, the fans, everybody. This car has so much potential, I mean so much. This is it, we're coming back!"

Atkinson and Prévot delivered the Impreza WRC2008 its first stage win on its debut event. After his electric pace during the day's opener, Atkinson had a spin on the second stage of the morning whilst running third fastest, damaging the car's rear suspension when he struck a rock. Completing the remainder of the test, he was nevertheless unable to start stage 16 and was forced into retirement.