Solberg predicts title challenge

The Norwegian endured a difficult 2006, where the team failed to score a victory, and despite delaying the arrival of their new car until the fourth round of the year, Solberg is expecting Subaru to make a strong start to the campaign.

"Last year was the toughest season of my entire career, but we haven't given up the fight," said Solberg.

"I'm sure that with all the hard work everyone has been putting in back at base and the new car that we will be able to start to fight for the championship again this year."

The season gets underway this weekend in Monte Carlo, and Solberg is hoping to make a solid start to the season before the new car arrives for Rally Mexico.

"For the first three rallies we really have to push to get some good finishes," he said. "It would be really good if we could get in the top three on those events and get a good amount of points ready for Mexico.

"When we get the new car, we will try to take things to the next level."

Solberg feels that the switch from Pirelli to BFGoodrich rubber will enable the team to be more competitive on asphalt rallies throughout the season.

"Monte Carlo is always difficult for us, with the snow ad ice on the roads," he said, "but we tested with BFGoodrich in December.

"I was very happy with the performance of the tyres on the asphalt and I think we could be much stronger on asphalt events this season."