Forest tamer Chris Atkinson

As he straps himself into his Subaru Impreza he is preparing to race the clock over some of the toughest and most dangerous roads in the world. With zero margin for error.

"What we do in rallying is like turning up to a racetrack and trying to do pole position on your very first lap," says Atkinson.

The 28-year-old Queenslander proved it on the first day of the Rally of New Zealand as he was battling for a podium place in the latest round of the World Rally Championship. He got things very slightly wrong on a tight left-hander, and rolled.

It was only a tiny mistake but it cost him any chance of a good result on the closest thing he has to a home event in the world series.

"I know what I did. I know what I did wrong," says Atkinson

"It was nothing. Today was like having a bump in the carpark.

"In the back of my mind I knew I wasn't taking any risks, so I kept going. I felt I could have won that stage."

This is typical from a youngster who originally planned to become a stockbroker, until his need for speed got in the way. He is sharp, intelligent and articulate.

In many ways he is like Mark Webber. Except that Webber is a Formula One highwire artist and Atkinson is a forest racing lion tamer.

His job is to drive as fast as he possibly can over some of the fastest, toughest and most dangerous roads in the world in a constant fight against his car and the elements in a search for precious seconds. His weapon of choice is a hand-built, $500,000 Subaru Impreza that is packed with technology so advanced that it is banned from F1.

Atkinson is still on the way up after three years in the WRC and, in a sport where drivers do their best work in their mid-30s, he is still considered a potential world champion.

"He is getting better all the time. I'm expecting big things from Chris," says his Subaru team boss, David Richards. He is a former world champion co-driver who has groomed a lot of rally talent, including the late Colin McRae, as well as running Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards in his Ford Performance Racing team in V8 Supercars.

But no-one expects more from Atkinson than himself.

He had to buy his way into the WRC, spending around $2 million despite a career which had three major titles and runner-up spot in the Australian series before his money-backed graduation to the world title in 2005.

He was 12th in his first year in the big time, improved to tenth and then seventh, and is currently running fifth in this year's world series. And he earns an estimated $1 million in salary, although he has to pay his Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevot and is also repaying the Aussie backers - and his father John - for their early investment.

"It's been a good season. I've had five podiums. A lot of podiums was the target for this year, and then a rally win . . ."

But there has been no real sign of a win. Atkinson has been quick, usually outpacing his team mate, the former world champion Petter Solberg, but has been let down badly by the car. At first it was a previous-model Impreza but Subaru has just upgraded and is battling to make the new WRX competitive with the pace-setter Citroen C4 and Ford Focus which have dominated 2008.

"I guess it is a little bit away, but the podiums have been won on merit," says Atkinson, upbeat as usual.

"We probably set our expectation here in New Zealand a little high. I heard a rumour that we were meant to win."

As it was, four-time world champion Sebastian Loeb did it again in his Citroen. But only after surviving a first-day mishap which was much like Atkinson's effort - except it happened at 140km/h, not 40, and he did not roll.

But Loeb has the best car in the championship and Atkinson admits he has to push harder to get similar speed from his Subaru.

"You can push at this level for a couple of stages, but . . .," he says.

"You do take risks. It's about how many you're prepared to take.

"We decided to push as hard as we could from the start in New Zealand."

But what is a risk? Is it the sort of scary moment most ordinary drivers never survive, or some sort of crazy X-Games jump into the unknown?

"Risk isn't about cutting a single corner. It's more about going into every corner faster than you think you can get away with, and then seeing what happens.

"When you're really going for it, you keep pushing. We've found a level where I can be comfortable in the top five.

"But even driving at a no-risk level you can have an accident. Thing can catch you out. You think there is no risk, but . . .

"It's nice to take bigger risks and get away with it."

Away from the forests Atkinson has a good life. Home base is Monaco, where he recently met Bono at a party, although he still likes to get back to the family on the Gold Coast.

He spends most of the year on the road, like all the motorsport professionals, and has made friends with a group in Monaco that includes World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss and Tour de France cyclist Stuart O'Grady.

"It's good fun to hang out with those guys. It hurts a bit when we go cycling, but it's worth it. You have to try to prove something."

It's typical of Atkinson that he has his intercom plummed for rock between special stages, with Grinspoon often playing.

"I don't want anything that's slow," he says.

He also dumped two co-drivers, his brother Ben and fellow Aussie Glenn MacNeal, to try and find the right combination for the WRC big time. Now he has Prevot, a Belgian veteran, and the pair have clicked.

Atkinson knows he can be a WRC winner and he is getting impatient. But he always gives 110 per cent.

"It's probably not the smartest thing to do, but it's fun. There is nothing more satisfying than going fastest on a stage, against the best guys in the world.

"The only reason I turn up is that I think I can be fast. No matter what, no matter where."

So, is Chris Atkinson crazy? Or just crazy fast?

"It's all relative. When I'm in the rally car I don't feel like I'm driving at all crazy," he says.

"In other things in my life I'm actually probably quite safe. I don't like to take risks."