Banbury's Subaru World Rally Team drivers Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson finished ninth and tenth in the seventh round of the World Rally Championship in Sardinia.

Solberg had been chasing sixth place when his Impreza suffered a bent steering arm towards the end of the rally. He pressed on at a safe speed, losing time and dropped to ninth overall.

His team-mate Chris Atkinson went off the road midway through the speed test on the final stage after he was distracted by dust in the cockpit of his car and missed his braking point for a corner.

The impact damaged his Impreza's front-left suspension and Atkinson stopped by the side of the road. Under FIA regulations, the Australian was awarded a five-minute penalty for failing to finish the stage and was classified as tenth overall.

SWRT sporting director, Luis Moya, said: "This has been a difficult rally for us with a lot of highs and lows. Overall Chris has had a very encouraging event. His performance has been at a good level throughout; he's been focused and consistent.

"He was unfortunate on the last stage when he was distracted by some dust in the car after a very good run. Petter has had a tough time. When things have worked as they should he has been able to win stages, but we have work to do to improve the whole tyre and car package so we can give him and Chris the opportunity to compete for podiums during the rest of the season."

The event was won by Citron driver Sebastien Loeb, who secured his fifth consecutive win of 2006, with the result making co-driver Daniel Elena the most successful in history, with 25 WRC victories. Loeb extended his lead in the world championship standings ahead, of Ford driver Marcus Gronholm.