Chris Atkinson

He's 25. He's from Queensland, Australia. He's been in rallying for four years and next season he joins Solberg and Stephane Sarrazin to spearhead Subaru's assault on the world championship. If you're thinking that doesn't really stack up, there's more.

Atkinson hasn't driven a Subaru Impreza WRC. In fact, he's never driven a World Rally Car. His first outing with the team is the Swedish Rally, but he's never competed on snow before. This isn't the world of make believe. It's way beyond that.

In mountaineering terms, Atkinson faces Everest the hard way, with only the steeper slopes of Chilterns behind him.

Phased? Forget it.

"It's been a pretty quick trip for me," he says, after finishing his umpteenth television interview as, coast-to-coast, Australia celebrates its first major driver in the WRC.

"I know I've only been driving for four years, but after only two years I was in a works car when I drove (and won the Super 1600 category) for Suzuki in the Asian-Pacific Championship.

"I've got a lot to learn, but I'm lucky enough to have team-mates who I really can learn from. Stephane has awesome asphalt experience, while Petter is a complete all-rounder. This is going to be a big year for me, but it's not so much about results. I've got to show the potential, just like Petter did in his early years. I'd like to think I could start to flatten that learning curve when I get to rallies that I've done before."

He's genuinely calm as he talks through his past, present and future. That composure is free from arrogance and anybody expecting a brash, bold Aussie, should think again. He's down-to-earth and has no interest in hyperbole.

Atkinson has knowledge of 10 of the 15 rallies he will compete on. Predictably, he's looking forward to Rally Australia - especially after his performance earlier this season. He drove a Group N Impreza to fifth overall. To the casual onlooker, the fact that only four manufacturer WRCs were in the running at the finish might have detracted from an Australian driver finishing so well on his home round of the championship. Dig a little deeper, however, and you discover that this was Atkinson's first time on the Western Australian roads. That good result was phenomenal.

Just a fortnight ago, Atkinson was still hoping to put together a programme to tackle the Production Car WRC in a Group N Subaru. Now he's going to be a little busier.

"It wasn't until the last few days when it all started to come together with Subaru World Rally Team," he says. "To be honest, the whole thing is still sinking in. It's going to take a while. To think that - after just four years in the sport - I'm going to be team-mate to Petter Solberg is just crazy. It's all a bit surreal at the moment."

He won't have long to let it sink in. Five days after Christmas he'll be on a plane bound for Heathrow and his new life. His new home, near SWRT's Banbury-base in Oxfordshire, will seem a world - half the world, to be precise, away from the Gold Coast.

"I start testing soon after the new year," says Atkinson. "I can't wait. I'm missing Monte Carlo, which I think is a good thing. It would have been a big ask for me to go down there and compete on probably the most difficult rally in the championship, never having driven a WRC before. At the moment, I'm taking things one stage at a time. There will be pressure there, but it hasn't hit me yet. I know that I have a lot of people to thank for getting me here. A lot of people have worked very hard to get me this opportunity. I'm really grateful and determined not to let anybody down."