Solberg: More to come from new car

Solberg, who holds fifth place after the first loop of stages, admitted there were teething troubles with the new car.

He said some work could be done in Greece, but the bulk of it - believed to be related to suspension and dampers - would come when the car returned to Banbury.

"We haven't had any problems at all with the car," said Solberg. "We know what's missing to be faster and we know what we need to do to be at the same speed as the cars in front. We have to improve some details, but at the same time, we shouldn't forget this is a new car."

Asked what he would like to be changed on the car, Solberg declined to go into details, but added that the WRC08's balance was better than its predecessor's.

Solberg's teammate Chris Atkinson was 11.3 seconds behind the Norwegian after the morning's three stages. Atkinson said he had been impressed with the way the new car had coped with the rough Greek terrain, particularly in the very rough Psatha test (SS3).

"It held up well, because it was really bad in there, some massive rocks," said Atkinson. "I'd say I went faster in this car this morning than I would have in the old one, but it's kind of hard to make those comparisons.

"We didn't really know what to expect from this car this morning, but obviously I would like to have been faster. Then again, this is the first rally and we're not going to risk everything."