Spaniard Pons returns with Subaru

Spanish driver Xevi Pons will compete in the world rally championship with Subaru for the second half of the season and the whole of 2008. Subaru said Pons, 27, would drive a third car for them in the last eight rallies, starting with Finland on August 3-5.

The team will also have an option on him for 2009.

Former Citroen driver Pons has competed in 52 rounds of the World Championship and achieved a best result of fourth place before quitting last year when he failed to find a competitive drive.

"The logistics of running three cars instead of two will not present a problem for the team, bearing in mind we ran three cars on selected events last season," team managing director Richard Taylor said.

"We always maintained that we'd be happy to expand our team again if we could find a driver who is serious about his approach to the sport and Xevi fits that bill perfectly."

Subaru's main drivers this year are Norway's Petter Solberg and Australian Chris Atkinson.

"We have worked very hard to make this happen and I'm very happy to be back in the world rally championship with a top team," Pons said.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to prove myself against the best."