Pressemelding: Morsomt comeback for Petter Solberg

Det ble et morsomt comeback for Petter Solberg i den svenske EM-runden i rally. Les mer i denne pressemeldingen på engelsk.

Triple FIA World Champion Petter Solberg’s return to international rallying was just as much fun as he’d hoped it would be on this week’s Royal Rally of Scandinavia.

 

Driving his family’s Volkswagen Polo R5, Petter’s star shined almost as bright as his son Oliver who scored a sensational second consecutive Royal Rally win.

 

The 2003 World Rally Champion’s first competitive outing in five years started in dramatic fashion with a fire underneath the Polo on Thursday evening’s superspecial stage on the outskirts of Karlstad.

 

From Friday morning onwards, however, it was all smiles from inside the Safedrive and Monster Energy-backed Polo.

“Honestly, I loved this rally,” said Petter. “When Oliver was telling me: “Come on, do the rally… do the rally!” I wasn’t so sure. Now I know he was right. When you get out into the forests and you are listening to the notes and just driving again, it’s a fantastic feeling.

 

“OK, the notes were quite tough. Jonas [Andersson, co-driver] he has done a fantastic job – he was pushing me and telling me to come on a little bit at times. But for me it’s been five years away from writing the notes and you get a little bit out of the practice. On some stages in some sections, I was finding some places where I didn’t have enough detail in the notes and sometimes they just weren’t working perfectly.

 

“But it doesn’t matter about that. What mattered was seeing the fans out there cheering and smiling and me and Jonas laughing and enjoying our time in the car. We had a problem with the steering rack today (Saturday), which was a bit tricky, but otherwise the car has been really good.”

Up front, Oliver was on flying form. Petter was in the perfect place to watch and follow Oliver’s lines.

 

Solberg Sr added: “When we were talking about the competition between him and me, I knew we wouldn’t be near to him. He is driving a lot now and he’s getting faster and faster. For me, I’ve been retired from driving for a long time. This was about the enjoyment. To see Oliver’s speed has been amazing – especially when I know how hard I was trying a little bit in places. I’m very proud!

 

“And it’s one each now… I beat him in Wales [Rally GB, 2019] and he beat me here. Maybe we take to the quadbikes to make the decider!”

 

Oliver was similarly proud, adding: “It’s so nice to have my father out on an event with me. It’s just the small things like talking on the recce, at the start of the stages and things like that. I just wanted him to come out and enjoy himself and he’s done that.

 

“Now, we go to the quadbikes…”

 

Ends