The WRC2008 underwent its first asphalt test last week, in the hills of Italy. Piloted by Markko Märtin, the Estonian sums up the test:

“It was good, the initial feeling is really very good” commented Markko. “We worked on improving the performance during the week and learned a lot about how the car works and how it responds to changes which was good.

“I think it was a very good test and I’m feeling confident of the car’s asphalt performance. The car has a good balance and feels positive to drive. We didn’t have any major issues during the test, and we managed to work on a few areas of setup. It’s only the first time out in these conditions so there’s more we can do, but I think the car will be competitive on asphalt.

“We learned that the car fundamentally works well on this surface and responds well to setup changes. I think there are just a few small areas of fine-tuning, a few little things that we need to do, but it will be very good.

“Ok, Rally Germany is a slightly special event, but the focus is now handing over to Petter and Chris from the pre-event test. We were testing last week in the hills of Italy which gives slightly different conditions, but you can only test specifically for Rally Germany in Germany. Mountain roads have a flow and a lot of long corners, whereas Germany has a lot of straights and junctions, but the high-speed stability and balance is there in the car so I think it will translate well.

“I prefer driving on asphalt rather than gravel, so for me it was also a fun test. There’s no dust on tarmac, which is good! It can be a struggle when it rains though, but when it’s nice weather it’s really good fun. It was a successful test, so I really enjoyed it.”