I dag, 18.november, fyller Petter Solberg 50 år. NBF markerte jubileet på forskudd under Bilsportgallaen på lørdag, men det er også andre som er med på å hylle 50-åringen, som bilprodusenten Skoda.
Hva gir man en 50-åring i bursdagsgave? Skoda ga Petter Solberg noen runder på Autodrome Sosnova bak rattet på den aller nyeste versjonen av Skodas Fabia RS Rally2-bil.
1974 var året Skoda lanserte sin Skoda 200 RS, en bil som blant annet John Haugland hadde suksess med. 1974 var også året da vår verdensmester i rally fra 2003, Petter Solberg ble født. Nærmere bestemt 18.november.
I forbindelse med Petters jubileum inviterte Skoda ham til å teste den aller nyeste versjonene av Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 sammen med Skoda-fører og sønn, Oliver Solberg.
Pressemelding Skoda Motorsport
Jubilee gift: Petter Solberg drove a Fabia RS Rally2
Fifty years, that’s quite a milestone. This year, the groundbreaking Skoda 200 RS celebrated its 50th anniversary. But 1974 also saw the birth of the later world rally champion, Petter Solberg. He has now taken a ride alongside his son with the latest racing equipment from Mladá Boleslav.
«1974 was a very important year for me personally. Alongside Penelope Cruz, Robbie Williams and Leonardo DiCaprio, a man, a myth and a legend, my father, was born,» Oliver Solberg discreetly wished his father a happy anniversary as part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the 200 RS. And he continues «You may not like to hear it, but it’s your 50th birthday. It’s a significant milestone and I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Together with the Škoda Motorsport team, we have something special for you!» says the rally hopeful to his father.
To celebrate, they both sat behind the wheel of the latest special from Mladá Boleslav, the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, which is driven by the son, Oliver, in the WRC2 category of the World Championship. The father considers the ride in his son’s car to be a great experience: «I’m really grateful to you and the team. The car was awesome. It’s precise, it brakes great, it has perfect balance, I really enjoyed it,» says Petter Solberg.
Petter Solberg showed the world of rallying to Oliver very early on. The first rally Oliver watched his father at was the Cyprus Rally in 2002, when Oliver was not yet a year old. But as Oliver’s mother Pernilla said in an interview, Oliver’s parents certainly didn’t push him into a career in motorsport. Oliver simply followed suit.
Petter has undoubtedly been a great role model for him. While Petter Solberg finished second in the FIA World Rally Championship in 2002 behind Marcus Grönholm, he won the World Championship title in 2003 already. In the following two seasons, he finished second behind Sébastien Loeb, another great legend of rallying. Petter ended his participation in the championship in 2012, 14 years after his debut in world rallying. Incidentally, in 1998, when he made his debut in world competitions, he also became the local champion in Norway. He started racing cars just six years earlier, just a day after he got his driver’s license. That was just three days after he turned 18.
However, after retiring from the WRC and a successful career in rallycross, he began to devote himself to supporting the career of his son Oliver, who got behind the wheel of a rally special for the first time in 2017, at the age of 15. He got his first taste of the World Rally Championship in 2019, and since the 2023 season, Oliver Solberg has been racing with the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in the WRC2 category. His career is off to a similar promising start as his father´s once was.
So good luck and good health Petter!
To suksesshistorier født i 1974!