Subaru's Petter Solberg is eyeing a strong result at the Rally of Turkey this weekend following on from the impressive debut of the team's 2008 challenger at the last round in Greece.

The new Impreza WRC2008 powered Solberg to second place behind rally winner Sebastien Loeb two weeks ago to firmly establish the once-dominant Subaru team back among the front-runners alongide Citroen and Ford.

Solberg, the 2003 world champion, enjoyed his first podium of the season at the Acropolis Rally and is determined his upturn in form will continue this weekend.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Turkey as the stages have suited us well in the past," he said.

"We were fast there in the old car, and we've shown what the new car can do in Greece, so I'm very excited to see what we can do again, to keep pushing and for the results to start coming.

"I have a good feeling with the new car, so if we can get the whole package working with the roads there, it could be very good.

"There's more to come from the car, so I'll drive my best with no mistakes and see if we can be a little bit quicker than in Greece."

Reigning four-time champion Loeb, meanwhile, is determined to hold onto the championship lead he reclaimed with victory last time out.

The Frenchman now heads the drivers' championship by one point from Ford's Mikko Hirvonen after back-to-back wins in Sardinia and Greece, which have gone some way to erasing the memory of retirements in Sweden and Jordan.

Loeb said: "It took two wins in a row to retrieve top spot, so there is no question of letting it slip from our grasp again.

"But I know Turkey won't be easy. The stages are very varied, with a big range of difficulties."

Hirvonen has revealed that he is happy to find himself back in second place in the championship after struggling as the first car on track at the last two rounds.

As title leader, the Finn drove was first to tackle stages that had still to bed in, and he admits he is happy for that duty to fall to Loeb this weekend.

"I really hope that it stays dry because that means that Sebastien will be first in the start order in the worst of the conditions," he said.

"I've struggled in that position on the last two rallies during the first day so it will be interesting to see how he copes.

"I prefer this situation of being a point behind him in the championship and having a better start position, than being a point ahead and having to start ahead of him."

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