Preparations for the final round of the 2009 Production car World Rally Championship got well underway at this Monday's pre-event test. The cream of the Impreza-campaigning crop was all on hand for the day of work on roads largely indicative of what's expected on this weekend's stages.
Former champions Nasser Al-Attiyah and Toshi Arai were joined by recently crowned Russian rally champion Patrik Flodin and Hungarian competitor Gabor Mayer.
The weather produced dry firm conditions throughout the day, allowing the drivers to make the most of the six or so hours getting acclimatised to the conditions. The road surface was totally representative of the event in both character and surface type - and although the forecast says rain all week in Wales it has already been wrong twice - both Monday and Wednesday being dry and pleasant!
As is often the case, Japanese ace Toshi Arai put in some impressive mileage on the day, making more than 12 passes of the road whilst checking a variety of component settings. "We expect the conditions to be very rough in places this weekend - and the weather will play an important role in how we manage on the stages. I'm hoping for a strong finish to the season."
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Fresh off his seventh consecutive victory in the Troodos Rally in Cyprus last week, Nasser al Attiyah was in high spirits when he arrived in Wales. "We've really got nothing to worry about for this weekend you know, just go out there and fight for the win. I believe we can get it." His confidence was mirrored in feedback from what was a busy test agenda.
Swedish flyer Patrik Flodin reported to be very happy with his day's work, concentrating on suspension tuning whilst keeping in mind the potentially wet conditions that the event may bring. Last year's winner on this event was very focused on the job at hand and rounds off a great 'leading' challenge from the Impreza drivers.
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