Petter Solberg
Encyclopedia
Petter "Hollywood" Solberg (born 18 November 1974 in Askim
), from Spydeberg
in Østfold
, Norway, is a professional rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship
in 1998 and was signed by the Ford factory team in 1999. The following year, Solberg started his successful partnership with the Subaru World Rally Team
.
With the Subaru works team, Solberg finished runner-up to Marcus Grönholm
in 2002 and then became the first Norwegian to win the drivers' world title in 2003. In the following two seasons, he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb
. Following Subaru's withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season
, Solberg secured private backing to start the Petter Solberg World Rally Team
and competed with a 2006-spec Citroën Xsara WRC for the majority of the 2009 season, before switching to a 2008-spec Citroën C4 WRC
for Rally Catalunya
and Rally GB
.
championship at the age of 13 as he inherited his interest of motorsport through his parents, mother Tove and father Terje, who were keen bilcross (an "inexpensive version" of Norwegian rallycross, similar to Swedish folkrace
and Finnish jokamiehenluokka) competitors and rallycross
enthusiasts. He used to help out around the home farm rebuilding competition cars, as he was not yet old enough to drive. Solberg entered his first bilcross in 1992, three days after his 18th birthday and only one day after he got his driving license. He went on to become Norwegian champion in rallycross as well as hillclimb
in both 1995 (winning 19 out of 21 events) and 1996 (winning 15 out of 19 events). In 1995 he took part in his maiden rally, the Norwegian Rally Bjørkelangen, by driving a Volvo 240 in the Volvo Original class. His female navigator by then was Maude from Sweden, nowadays spouse of his older brother Henning
. In 1998 Petter became the Norwegian Rally Champion, his brother Henning won this title five times in a row between 1999 and 2003.
, who helped him on events in the late 1990s, the World Rally Championship
team bosses were starting to recognize Solberg's potential and by the end of 1998, after winning a comparative test drive, he agreed to drive for three years as a junior pilot for the Ford Motor Company
. Initially expected by Malcolm Wilson
to maintain a somewhat lower profile, Solberg actually became a nominated points-scorer for Ford on, of all events, the gruelling test that was the Safari Rally
in early 1999, after usual understudy to the team's star driver Colin McRae
, Thomas Rådström
, suffered an injury and was subsequently ruled out from taking part.
In 2000, however, Solberg was able to leave Ford's M-Sport
outfit prematurely, due to an insufficient contract, to sign with the Prodrive
Subaru World Rally Team
(SWRT), then led by a driving staff of Richard Burns
and Juha Kankkunen
. His first podium
had to wait until the Acropolis Rally, Greece the following year, as an altruistic Solberg forsook as many of his own points as possible, as he did in dropping voluntarily from 4th to 5th in Sanremo
, to assist his senior team-mate Burns in sneaking to the title.
In 2002, with four-time champion Tommi Mäkinen
installed as his new team-mate in the light of Burns' departure to Peugeot
, Solberg won his first ever WRC event in Wales (Wales Rally GB) after a consistent display of driving prowess and an unlikely accident by Marcus Grönholm
. In 2003, Solberg beat fellow WRC young-gun, Citroen
-mounted Sébastien Loeb
at the Wales Rally GB, launching him to his second win in Wales and his first (and to date, only) World Rally Championship title.
In his title defence, however, Solberg's winning of five of a possible sixteen events, including the hat-trick making Wales Rally GB, proved insufficient to deny the title to a now increasingly efficient Loeb. On Solberg's part, a perhaps unfortunate string of bad luck was encapsulated by three DNFs (retirements) in mid-season.
Welcoming a new team-mate for the year in Australian Chris Atkinson
, who replaced the disappointing Finn who had been the former Champion's SWRT team-mate throughout 2004, Mikko Hirvonen
, Solberg started his 2005 season brightly as he sought an immediate answer to Loeb, the Norwegian winning two of the first three events, in Sweden and Mexico
. These successes coincided with the early seizing of a championship lead. He was, however, soon overtaken by a rampant Loeb, and was left to score 71 points for the year, pipping Peugeot
's Marcus Grönholm
to the championship runner-up spot on a tie break.
He added an unwanted Wales Rally GB win after the death in a day three crash of fellow competitor Markko Märtin
's co-driver, Michael Park
, with Loeb sacrificing his victory on the road in order to avoid having to simultaneously celebrate the title. Solberg won three rallies in all, though was severely affected by bad luck while challenging for wins at the end of the season, most notably on the Telstra Rally Australia, where he was forced to retire after striking a wayward kangaroo
.
For 2006, Solberg continued his partnership with the Subaru team, driving a new version of the Impreza WRC. His main sponsor was 24SevenOffice
with a 5 million kroner sponsorship deal, a Norwegian record. His results, though, proved patchy in comparison to Loeb. While Loeb went on to register five rally victories on the bounce in a privately (Kronos) run Citroën Xsara
WRC, his winning of the title unhampered even by breaking his arm at an advanced stage of the season, Solberg could only comparatively muster a handful of runner-up places on rallies all season — in Mexico
, Argentina
and Australia. Failure to claw his way any higher than sixth in the year's final points standings duly brought an end to the chain of top three drivers' championship appearances which Subaru had enjoyed since 1994.
off to a rather more auspicious start, managing a joint-career-best finish of sixth place on the Rally Monte Carlo
. He surrendered a potential third place finish in Sweden
after a substantial time loss, as well as being bested by his brother, Henning
, in the race for the final podium place on the siblings' home event – Rally Norway
. In Mexico
, Argentina
and Sardinia
Petter struggled with his Impreza — technical problems caused two retirements and a plummet down the leaderboard in Italy. Good pace in Portugal
and taking third place on the Acropolis Rally
at least appeared to mark a turnaround in the quality of the younger Solberg's results, although even Greek event wasn't problem-free for the Norwegian as he experienced some damper problems.
Despite Subaru's confidence in their car performance and reliability built up during summer break tests, Impreza S12A failed again — Solberg had to retire on day two in Finland
, after monstrous handling and steering problems which the engineers were unable to deal with. On the next round, Rallye Deutschland
, where he finished sixth, the car by itself was reliable, but the Norwegian hit a rock on SS5 heavily damaging the steering, which had cost him considerable amount of time because the team wasn't able to fully repair it. The New Zealand
event was another problem-ridden outing for Solberg — he described the handling difficulties as similar to those he had experienced in Finland earlier.
At the next round on Rally Catalunya
, it was a difficult rally for Solberg — he struggled to maintain a good pace and in the end finished sixth, almost 3 minutes adrift from the winner, Loeb. He was however pleased with changes in car setup made for day 3, which seemed promising for the following Tour de Corse
. Unfortunately for the Norwegian, the setup wasn't as good and he had problems with handling again which, along with a stalled engine on the start of SS5, resulted in a disappointing fifth place, behind young Finn Jari-Matti Latvala
. In Japan
, his team's home event, Petter clocked several top-ten times on the early stages, but crashed badly on SS5 then, probably due to damage sustained in accident, his gearbox locked in sixth gear, forcing his retirement for the day. He later rejoined the competition under the SupeRally format and finished 16th, managing to score two points in the Manufacturers' Championship. On the day of his 33rd birthday, Solberg finished fifth on Rally Ireland
, calling it "the most difficult rally he has ever done"; he had also found his car's performance better than in previous events.
On the final event of the season, Wales Rally GB
, Solberg had consistent pace and won the battle for fourth with Spaniard Dani Sordo
even though the Norwegian hit a rock in the morning and again had some minor handling issues. This result allowed Subaru to retain their third place in the Manufacturers' Championship, and Solberg ended the 2007 season in fifth place overall. He also took part in the 2007 Race of Champions
, representing Norway, along with his brother, Henning. He didn't manage to win the first race with David Coulthard
, but in Nation's Cup Norwegian brothers made their way to the semi-finals.
For the 2008 season
, Solberg and Atkinson were retained by SWRT as driving staff. Solberg started his season with a fifth place in Monte Carlo
and fourth in Sweden
, but went on to retire or finish outside point-scoring positions in the following four events. A radical new hatchback homologation of the long-serving Subaru Impreza, the WRC2008, debuted on the Acropolis Rally
, marked by the Norwegian collecting a runner-up spot to Sébastien Loeb
.
Although Solberg went on to break his personal record in consecutive point-scoring finishes, Acropolis remained his only podium of the season. He finished sixth overall in the drivers' championship, four points behind teammate Chris Atkinson
, while Subaru took third place in the manufacturers' standings.
announced their withdrawal. Petter and co-driver Phil Mills
were left without a ride. Looking at their options with the remaining teams they had to sit out the 2009 season
opening Rally Ireland
.
After careful evaluation of several privateer options including Ford and Citroën cars, Solberg confirmed having acquired (most likely leased) a Citroën Xsara WRC (in 2006 WRC spec) as of 25 January 2009, and that Phil Mills and himself would return to the WRC in a privateer team for the 2009 Rally Norway
. On 1 February 2009, Solberg indicated that five sponsors for the 2009 season were in place. The sponsors announced were Microsoft
, Pareto, Hurtigruta Carglass and two undisclosed sponsors.
On 6 February 2009, Solberg officially unveiled the Petter Solberg World Rally Team
, with himself as driver and Phil Mills as codriver. The team served Solberg and his 2006-spec. Citroën Xsara WRC with active suspension and diffs. A 13-member team, PSWRT employed ex-Subaru World Rally Team members Ken Rees as team manager, and François-Xavier "FX" Demaison as chief engineer. The PSWRT also returned Solberg's personal friend and ex-SWRT member, Tore Dahl, to the WRC scene as a mechanic. Swede Sven-Inge Neby, for about 40 years the engineer of Petter's father-in-law Per-Inge Walfridsson and his brothers Lars-Erik Walfridsson and Stig-Olov Walfridsson, is another support to the international team.
It took some time to adapt to the new car during their first round in Norway
, but eventually Petter and Phil managed to secure a sixth place and three points in the drivers' championship. Following that result and a new engine from Citroën, Solberg finished third in the Cyprus Rally
, being the first true privateer in a privately run team to be in the podium since Malcolm Wilson
back in 1993. Solberg managed to repeat this feat in Sardinia.
Solberg and Mills retained their consistent fight for 3rd and 4th position through the three next rallies; Portugal, Argentina (Retired from 3rd position due to loss of fuel pressure on the final stage) and Italy. Solberg "threatened" to swap to a Peugeot 307 WRC, unless he got the 2006 spec upgrades for his Xsara. He received the upgrades (mainly improved intercooler and mechanical differentials) for Sardinia, which made them able to defend a 3rd place, in very hot conditions. Solberg expressed that they were unable to push harder in hot temperatures, and remained open to analyze what to do for the next events. Solberg was believed to be in talks of upgrading to a Peugeot 307 CC but decided to stick with the Xsara. After retiring from Rally Finland
, Solberg decided to miss Australia
to concentrate on finding a more competitive car. After testing a Citroën C4 WRC
in France, and a Ford Focus RS WRC in Britain, Solberg confirmed he would drive a C4 at the final two rounds of the season, Rally Catalunya
and Wales Rally GB. The car was to be a 2008-spec C4, but would feature updates to bring it as close as possible to the factory cars of Sébastien Loeb
and Dani Sordo
. Solberg continued to drive for his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team
for Catalunya, but was a nominated points scorer for the Citroen Junior Team
at Wales Rally GB, alongside Sebastien Ogier
. He finished in 4th position in both of these events, and ended up 5th in the overall 2009 Drivers' Championship standings.
.
On the Swedish Rally Solberg was unable to find the rhythm and pace, and finished 9th earning him 2 points. At the second round of the season, the Corona Mexico Rally, Petter held the lead after day 1, with a 27sec gap down to Loeb on 3rd. With Petter sweeping the road on Saturday Loeb advanced to a 55 sec lead by the end of the day, with Solberg on 2nd place 2.7 sec ahead of Sebastien Ogier. A great battle for 2nd place played out on Sunday, with Petter Solberg trailing Ogier with 0.6sec going into the last super special stage. Petter sat a fastest stage time here by 1.4 sec which secured the 2nd place podium finish, marking the best result by PSWRT to date. In the third Round of the season, Rally Jordan, Solberg trailed Latvala (−16s), Ogier (−19s) and Loeb (−43s) going into the last day. Ogier was sacrificed in a new level of tactics, sending him out as first car as road sweeper for Loeb, while receiving penalties and losing his good position. The exploiting of the rules received much criticism, and was subsequently banned for the next rally. The other drivers kept their position with Solberg scoring a 3rd place podium. In Rally Turkey, 16–18 April, Solberg held a good position through the whole rally, and had a serious chance to battle for the victory on the last day, positioned 2nd on the road, 16sec after Loeb. With several stages canceled on safety reasons due to too much mud, and later a scary meet with a tree on the slippery conditions, Solberg wisely stopped fighting and conceded to secure the 2nd place. Hirvonen, Latvala, Sordo and Ogier all had incidents/offs, hindering them to challenge Solbergs position. This result put Petter second in the Driver's Championship standings, 1 point ahead of Hirvonen and 6 points ahead of Latvala, but a full 40 points after Loeb, with 4 out of 13 rallies completed. In Rally New Zealand Solberg made a tactical blunder, simply by not adapting any road position tactics, and finished in first position on day 1, with a marginal lead. Sweaping Saturday's stages left him 54 sec behind, in 5th place, realistically out of reach of a win. But for the final 30 km stage of the rally, four drivers were within 18 seconds of the lead, which lead to an epic four-way battle for the victory, between Ogier, Latvala, Solberg and Loeb. Three of them took a maximum attack, high-risk approach, which none of them managed to complete without incident. Ogier and Loeb both had a spin that cost them some seconds, and Solberg going too fast around a high speed bend hit a telegraph pole on the road shoulder and retired from 3rd position. Latvala did no serious mistakes and took his 3rd WRC win by 2.4 seconds. Loeb crashed two times during this rally, but still managed to finish only 15 seconds behind.
On 11 June 2010, PSWRT announced that Phil Mills have decided to leave the codriver seat to focus on other things in life. This brings to an end a 152-event unbroken run of the pair competing together, over 11 years since 1999. In their time they have driven for Ford, Subaru and for their own Citroën team, winning 13 individual world rallies and the 2003 world title. 29 June PSWRT announced that Chris Patterson
would be Solberg's new codriver.
In their first rally together, the tarmac event Rally Bulgaria, Petter and Chris put in an impressive performance; five stage wins and finished 3rd, 6.8sec off Dani Sordo in 2nd place.
After more podiums in Japan, France and Spain, Solberg finished 2nd on Rally GB, securing his goal of finishing in the top three in the championship.
in a Citroën DS3 WRC
.
In February, Solberg had his driving licence suspended in Sweden after police caught him travelling 32kph above the speed limit on the way to the fifth stage of the country's WRC round, forcing co-driver Chris Patterson
to take up the wheel.
factory driver and 1980 European Rallycross Champion, Per-Inge "Pi" Walfridsson (who also claimed a remarkable fourth overall in the 1973 RAC Rally). Pernilla was also, for some time, one of the world's leading female rally drivers.
Askim
is a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Askim. Askim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ....
), from Spydeberg
Spydeberg
Spydeberg is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Spydeberg. It is divided into the parishes Spydeberg, Heli, and Hovin. Spydeberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .The village of Spydeberg has approximately...
in Østfold
Østfold
is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...
, Norway, is a professional rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
in 1998 and was signed by the Ford factory team in 1999. The following year, Solberg started his successful partnership with the Subaru World Rally Team
Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003...
.
With the Subaru works team, Solberg finished runner-up to Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Grönholm
Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm is a Finnish former rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the...
in 2002 and then became the first Norwegian to win the drivers' world title in 2003. In the following two seasons, he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
. Following Subaru's withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season
2008 World Rally Championship season
The 2008 World Rally Championship season was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on January 24, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally....
, Solberg secured private backing to start the Petter Solberg World Rally Team
Petter Solberg World Rally Team
The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is a team competing in the World Rally Championship, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a drive following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport...
and competed with a 2006-spec Citroën Xsara WRC for the majority of the 2009 season, before switching to a 2008-spec Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
The Citroën C4 WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën C4 road car and replaced the Citroën Xsara WRC...
for Rally Catalunya
Rally Catalunya
The Rally Catalunya is a rally competition on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Catalonia, Spain, it was previously held around the region of Costa Brava...
and Rally GB
Rally GB
Wales Rally GB is the largest and most high profile motor rally in the United Kingdom. It is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship and was formerly a round of the MSA British Rally Championship and is based in and around the city of Cardiff in Wales...
.
Early career
Solberg won a nationwide RC carRemote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
championship at the age of 13 as he inherited his interest of motorsport through his parents, mother Tove and father Terje, who were keen bilcross (an "inexpensive version" of Norwegian rallycross, similar to Swedish folkrace
Folkrace
Folkrace is a popular, inexpensive, and entry-level form of Swedish rallycross that originally came from Finland, where it was called Jokamiesluokka . The sport also exists in Norway and Denmark, where it is known as Bilcross and Folkerace respectively.The races are run on special gravel or tarmac...
and Finnish jokamiehenluokka) competitors and rallycross
Rallycross
Rallycross is a form of sprint style automobile racing, held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit, with modified production or specially built road cars, similar to the World Rally Cars, although usually with about stronger engines, due to e.g. their 45 mm turbo restrictor plates. It is...
enthusiasts. He used to help out around the home farm rebuilding competition cars, as he was not yet old enough to drive. Solberg entered his first bilcross in 1992, three days after his 18th birthday and only one day after he got his driving license. He went on to become Norwegian champion in rallycross as well as hillclimb
Hillclimbing
Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course....
in both 1995 (winning 19 out of 21 events) and 1996 (winning 15 out of 19 events). In 1995 he took part in his maiden rally, the Norwegian Rally Bjørkelangen, by driving a Volvo 240 in the Volvo Original class. His female navigator by then was Maude from Sweden, nowadays spouse of his older brother Henning
Henning Solberg
Henning Solberg is a Norwegian rally driver. Together with co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in the World Rally Championship with Stobart M-Sport Ford. Solberg is the older brother of the 2003 world champion Petter Solberg....
. In 1998 Petter became the Norwegian Rally Champion, his brother Henning won this title five times in a row between 1999 and 2003.
WRC career
By this time and with the aid of his compatriot John "Mr Škoda" HauglandJohn Haugland
John Haugland is a Norwegian former rally driver. He competed in 27 world rally championship events, more often than not at the wheel of a Škoda. He had four Top 10 finishes in his career...
, who helped him on events in the late 1990s, the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
team bosses were starting to recognize Solberg's potential and by the end of 1998, after winning a comparative test drive, he agreed to drive for three years as a junior pilot for the Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. Initially expected by Malcolm Wilson
Malcolm Wilson (rally)
Malcolm Irving Wilson, OBE is a British former rally driver. He is the father of current World Rally Championship driver Matthew Wilson....
to maintain a somewhat lower profile, Solberg actually became a nominated points-scorer for Ford on, of all events, the gruelling test that was the Safari Rally
Safari Rally
The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...
in early 1999, after usual understudy to the team's star driver Colin McRae
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, MBE was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the...
, Thomas Rådström
Thomas Rådström
Thomas Rådström , nicknamed "Rådis", is a rally and rallycross driver from Sweden. He was one of the leading drivers of the National Swedish Rallycross Championship series during the second half of the 1980s...
, suffered an injury and was subsequently ruled out from taking part.
2000-04
M-Sport
M-Sport is a large and successful motorsport team based in Cockermouth, Cumbria in England. Formed in 1979 by former WRC driver Malcolm Wilson, and originally known as Malcolm Wilson Motorsport, the team has had varying success running cars in several rally championships...
outfit prematurely, due to an insufficient contract, to sign with the Prodrive
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and automotive engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races cars for companies and teams such as Subaru, Aston Martin and Ford...
Subaru World Rally Team
Subaru World Rally Team
The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003...
(SWRT), then led by a driving staff of Richard Burns
Richard Burns
Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver. He was born in Reading, Berkshire. He was the 2001 World Rally Champion, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002...
and Juha Kankkunen
Juha Kankkunen
Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series...
. His first podium
Podium
A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...
had to wait until the Acropolis Rally, Greece the following year, as an altruistic Solberg forsook as many of his own points as possible, as he did in dropping voluntarily from 4th to 5th in Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo
Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally...
, to assist his senior team-mate Burns in sneaking to the title.
In 2002, with four-time champion Tommi Mäkinen
Tommi Mäkinen
"Turbo" Tommi Antero Mäkinen , tied with Juha Kankkunen and behind Sébastien Loeb , and fifth in wins .He is a four-time World Rally Champion, a series he first won, and then successfully defended, continuously throughout 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, on all occasions driving the Ralliart Mitsubishi...
installed as his new team-mate in the light of Burns' departure to Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
, Solberg won his first ever WRC event in Wales (Wales Rally GB) after a consistent display of driving prowess and an unlikely accident by Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Grönholm
Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm is a Finnish former rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the...
. In 2003, Solberg beat fellow WRC young-gun, Citroen
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
-mounted Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
at the Wales Rally GB, launching him to his second win in Wales and his first (and to date, only) World Rally Championship title.
In his title defence, however, Solberg's winning of five of a possible sixteen events, including the hat-trick making Wales Rally GB, proved insufficient to deny the title to a now increasingly efficient Loeb. On Solberg's part, a perhaps unfortunate string of bad luck was encapsulated by three DNFs (retirements) in mid-season.
2005
Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the WRC , he drove for the Subaru World Rally Team from 2004-2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina...
, who replaced the disappointing Finn who had been the former Champion's SWRT team-mate throughout 2004, Mikko Hirvonen
Mikko Hirvonen
Mikko Hirvonen is a Finnish rally driver currently driving for the Citroën Total World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2006 and 2007. In 2008, 2009 and 2011, he finished runner-up to...
, Solberg started his 2005 season brightly as he sought an immediate answer to Loeb, the Norwegian winning two of the first three events, in Sweden and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. These successes coincided with the early seizing of a championship lead. He was, however, soon overtaken by a rampant Loeb, and was left to score 71 points for the year, pipping Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
's Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Grönholm
Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm is a Finnish former rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the...
to the championship runner-up spot on a tie break.
He added an unwanted Wales Rally GB win after the death in a day three crash of fellow competitor Markko Märtin
Markko Märtin
Markko Märtin is a rally driver from Estonia, who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.-Career:...
's co-driver, Michael Park
Michael Park (co-driver)
Michael Park was a rally co-driver from Newent in Gloucestershire.One of the top co-drivers of his generation, Park died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident on the final leg of Wales Rally Great Britain when his Peugeot 307 WRC left the road and struck a tree...
, with Loeb sacrificing his victory on the road in order to avoid having to simultaneously celebrate the title. Solberg won three rallies in all, though was severely affected by bad luck while challenging for wins at the end of the season, most notably on the Telstra Rally Australia, where he was forced to retire after striking a wayward kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
.
2006
24SevenOffice
24SevenOffice , is developing and marketing Software as a Service products. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, the company is currently present in Scandinavia in addition to the UK. 24SevenOffice is a pioneer in the development of Internet based applications and was founded in 1996.24SevenOffice main...
with a 5 million kroner sponsorship deal, a Norwegian record. His results, though, proved patchy in comparison to Loeb. While Loeb went on to register five rally victories on the bounce in a privately (Kronos) run Citroën Xsara
Citroën Xsara
The Citroën Xsara is a small family car produced by French automaker Citroën from 1997 to 2006.Like its predecessor, the Citroën ZX, the Xsara shares running gear with the Peugeot 306....
WRC, his winning of the title unhampered even by breaking his arm at an advanced stage of the season, Solberg could only comparatively muster a handful of runner-up places on rallies all season — in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Australia. Failure to claw his way any higher than sixth in the year's final points standings duly brought an end to the chain of top three drivers' championship appearances which Subaru had enjoyed since 1994.
2007
The Norwegian did, at least, get his 2007 season2007 World Rally Championship season
The 2007 World Rally Championship season was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 19 with the 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo and ended on December 2 with the 63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won the drivers' world...
off to a rather more auspicious start, managing a joint-career-best finish of sixth place on the Rally Monte Carlo
2007 Monte Carlo Rally
The 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo , the first round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, took place between January 19 and 21, 2007.- Pre-event :...
. He surrendered a potential third place finish in Sweden
Swedish Rally
The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish...
after a substantial time loss, as well as being bested by his brother, Henning
Henning Solberg
Henning Solberg is a Norwegian rally driver. Together with co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in the World Rally Championship with Stobart M-Sport Ford. Solberg is the older brother of the 2003 world champion Petter Solberg....
, in the race for the final podium place on the siblings' home event – Rally Norway
2007 Rally Norway
Rally Norway 2007, the third round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, was held on February 16 – 18 2007. Race headquarters were located in the town of Hamar.- Results :...
. In Mexico
2007 Rally México
The 21º Corona Rally México, the fourth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, took place between March 9–11 2007. The rally consisted of 20 special stages, of which five were super specials...
, Argentina
2007 Rally Argentina
Results of Rally Argentina , 6th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on May 3 - 6:- Results :- Retirements : Kristian Sohlberg - mechanical - accident ; Petter Solberg - mechanical - engine ; Nasser Al-Attiyah - mechanical - lost wheel ; Leszek Kuzaj - mechanical - lost wheel ; Amjad...
and Sardinia
2007 Rally d'Italia Sardegna
Results of Rally d'Italia Sardegna , 7th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on May 18 - 20:- Results :...
Petter struggled with his Impreza — technical problems caused two retirements and a plummet down the leaderboard in Italy. Good pace in Portugal
2007 Rally Portugal
The 2007 Vodafone Rally de Portugal was the 41st Rally de Portugal and the fifth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season. It took place between March 30–April 1, 2007 and consisted of 18 special stages...
and taking third place on the Acropolis Rally
2007 Acropolis Rally
Results of Acropolis Rally , 8th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on May 31 - June 3:- Results :...
at least appeared to mark a turnaround in the quality of the younger Solberg's results, although even Greek event wasn't problem-free for the Norwegian as he experienced some damper problems.
Despite Subaru's confidence in their car performance and reliability built up during summer break tests, Impreza S12A failed again — Solberg had to retire on day two in Finland
2007 Rally Finland
Results of Rally Finland , 9th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on August 2 - 5:- Results :- Retirements : Kristian Sohlberg - rolled ; Jari-Matti Latvala - went off the road - damaged rollcage ; Manfred Stohl - rolled Gareth Jones - went off the road Juho Hänninen - mehanical...
, after monstrous handling and steering problems which the engineers were unable to deal with. On the next round, Rallye Deutschland
2007 Rallye Deutschland
Results of Rallye Deutschland , 10th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on August 17 - 19:- Results :...
, where he finished sixth, the car by itself was reliable, but the Norwegian hit a rock on SS5 heavily damaging the steering, which had cost him considerable amount of time because the team wasn't able to fully repair it. The New Zealand
2007 Rally New Zealand
The 2007 Rally New Zealand , 11th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on 31 August - 2 September. After a tight battle for three days, Marcus Grönholm beat Sébastien Loeb for the win by 0.3 seconds. This was the closest finish in the history of the World Rally Championship...
event was another problem-ridden outing for Solberg — he described the handling difficulties as similar to those he had experienced in Finland earlier.
2007 Rally Catalunya
Results of Rally Catalunya , 12th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on October 5 - 7:- Results :...
, it was a difficult rally for Solberg — he struggled to maintain a good pace and in the end finished sixth, almost 3 minutes adrift from the winner, Loeb. He was however pleased with changes in car setup made for day 3, which seemed promising for the following Tour de Corse
2007 Tour de Corse
Results of Tour de Corse , 13th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on October 12 - 14:- Results :...
. Unfortunately for the Norwegian, the setup wasn't as good and he had problems with handling again which, along with a stalled engine on the start of SS5, resulted in a disappointing fifth place, behind young Finn Jari-Matti Latvala
Jari-Matti Latvala
Jari-Matti Latvala is a Finnish rally driver competing in the World Rally Championship. His co-driver has been Miikka Anttila since the 2003 Rallye Deutschland...
. In Japan
2007 Rally Japan
Results of Rally Japan , 14th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on October 26 - 28:- Results :-Retirements: Marcus Grönholm - went off the road ; Chris Atkinson - crashed his car ; Fumio Nutahara - mechanical ; Sébastien Loeb - mechanical ; Armindo Araujo - excluded after post-rally...
, his team's home event, Petter clocked several top-ten times on the early stages, but crashed badly on SS5 then, probably due to damage sustained in accident, his gearbox locked in sixth gear, forcing his retirement for the day. He later rejoined the competition under the SupeRally format and finished 16th, managing to score two points in the Manufacturers' Championship. On the day of his 33rd birthday, Solberg finished fifth on Rally Ireland
2007 Rally Ireland
The 2007 Rally Ireland , 15th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on November 15 - November 18. It took place over eight counties on both sides of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland...
, calling it "the most difficult rally he has ever done"; he had also found his car's performance better than in previous events.
On the final event of the season, Wales Rally GB
2007 Rally GB
Results of Rally GB , 16th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on November 30 - December 2:- Results :...
, Solberg had consistent pace and won the battle for fourth with Spaniard Dani Sordo
Dani Sordo
Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for the Mini WRC Team...
even though the Norwegian hit a rock in the morning and again had some minor handling issues. This result allowed Subaru to retain their third place in the Manufacturers' Championship, and Solberg ended the 2007 season in fifth place overall. He also took part in the 2007 Race of Champions
2007 Race of Champions
The 2007 Race of Champions took place on December 16 at the Wembley Stadium. Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel of the German team beat Finland to the Nation's Cup, however Mattias Ekström of Sweden and the Scandinavian team won the Driver's Cup after beating Schumacher in the three-heat...
, representing Norway, along with his brother, Henning. He didn't manage to win the first race with David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
, but in Nation's Cup Norwegian brothers made their way to the semi-finals.
2008
2008 World Rally Championship season
The 2008 World Rally Championship season was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on January 24, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally....
, Solberg and Atkinson were retained by SWRT as driving staff. Solberg started his season with a fifth place in Monte Carlo
2008 Monte Carlo Rally
The 2008 Monte Carlo Rally, officially 76ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, was the 76th Monte Carlo Rally and the first round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season...
and fourth in Sweden
2008 Swedish Rally
The 2008 Swedish Rally, officially 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, was the second round of 2008 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally took place during February 7–10, beginning with Super Special Stage...
, but went on to retire or finish outside point-scoring positions in the following four events. A radical new hatchback homologation of the long-serving Subaru Impreza, the WRC2008, debuted on the Acropolis Rally
2008 Acropolis Rally
The 2008 Acropolis Rally of Greece was the seventh round of the 2008 World Rally Championship. It took place between May 29-June 1.-Results:-Special Stages:...
, marked by the Norwegian collecting a runner-up spot to Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
.
Although Solberg went on to break his personal record in consecutive point-scoring finishes, Acropolis remained his only podium of the season. He finished sixth overall in the drivers' championship, four points behind teammate Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the WRC , he drove for the Subaru World Rally Team from 2004-2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina...
, while Subaru took third place in the manufacturers' standings.
2009
Subaru announced on 16 December 2008 that they would not be participating in the World Rally Championship any longer, a mere day after SuzukiSuzuki World Rally Team
The Suzuki World Rally Team, also known as the Suzuki WRC Challenge was Suzuki's factory backed World Rally Championship team, as part of the Suzuki Sport organization. The team debuted for the first time at the 2007 Tour de Corse in France...
announced their withdrawal. Petter and co-driver Phil Mills
Phil Mills
Phil Mills is a Welsh rally racing co-driver. He was winner of the 2003 World Rally Championship , as co-driver to Petter Solberg....
were left without a ride. Looking at their options with the remaining teams they had to sit out the 2009 season
2009 World Rally Championship season
The 2009 World Rally Championship season was the 37th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of twelve rallies and began on 30 January, with Rally Ireland and ended with Rally GB on 25 October. Sébastien Loeb won the World Drivers' championship at Rally GB by one point...
opening Rally Ireland
2009 Rally Ireland
The 2009 Rally Ireland, officially 2nd Rally Ireland, was the first round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between January 30 and February 1, 2009, it's also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season...
.
After careful evaluation of several privateer options including Ford and Citroën cars, Solberg confirmed having acquired (most likely leased) a Citroën Xsara WRC (in 2006 WRC spec) as of 25 January 2009, and that Phil Mills and himself would return to the WRC in a privateer team for the 2009 Rally Norway
Rally Norway
Rally Norway is the Norwegian rally which, as of the 2007 season onwards, is part of the World Rally Championship organised by the FIA. Previously, it had long only been the case of the Swedish Rally where a WRC event was held on snow...
. On 1 February 2009, Solberg indicated that five sponsors for the 2009 season were in place. The sponsors announced were Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Pareto, Hurtigruta Carglass and two undisclosed sponsors.
Petter Solberg World Rally Team
The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is a team competing in the World Rally Championship, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a drive following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport...
, with himself as driver and Phil Mills as codriver. The team served Solberg and his 2006-spec. Citroën Xsara WRC with active suspension and diffs. A 13-member team, PSWRT employed ex-Subaru World Rally Team members Ken Rees as team manager, and François-Xavier "FX" Demaison as chief engineer. The PSWRT also returned Solberg's personal friend and ex-SWRT member, Tore Dahl, to the WRC scene as a mechanic. Swede Sven-Inge Neby, for about 40 years the engineer of Petter's father-in-law Per-Inge Walfridsson and his brothers Lars-Erik Walfridsson and Stig-Olov Walfridsson, is another support to the international team.
It took some time to adapt to the new car during their first round in Norway
2009 Rally Norway
The 2009 Rally Norway, officially 3rd Rally Norway, is the second round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the first round of the Production World Rally Championship and is held between February 12 and February 15, 2009...
, but eventually Petter and Phil managed to secure a sixth place and three points in the drivers' championship. Following that result and a new engine from Citroën, Solberg finished third in the Cyprus Rally
2009 Cyprus Rally
The 2009 Cyprus Rally, officially 37th FxPro Cyprus Rally, was the third round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between March 13 and March 15, 2009 in Limassol, Cyprus...
, being the first true privateer in a privately run team to be in the podium since Malcolm Wilson
Malcolm Wilson (rally)
Malcolm Irving Wilson, OBE is a British former rally driver. He is the father of current World Rally Championship driver Matthew Wilson....
back in 1993. Solberg managed to repeat this feat in Sardinia.
Solberg and Mills retained their consistent fight for 3rd and 4th position through the three next rallies; Portugal, Argentina (Retired from 3rd position due to loss of fuel pressure on the final stage) and Italy. Solberg "threatened" to swap to a Peugeot 307 WRC, unless he got the 2006 spec upgrades for his Xsara. He received the upgrades (mainly improved intercooler and mechanical differentials) for Sardinia, which made them able to defend a 3rd place, in very hot conditions. Solberg expressed that they were unable to push harder in hot temperatures, and remained open to analyze what to do for the next events. Solberg was believed to be in talks of upgrading to a Peugeot 307 CC but decided to stick with the Xsara. After retiring from Rally Finland
2009 Rally Finland
The 2009 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 59th running of the Rally Finland and the ninth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. This marked his third victory in a row and his first in his home event...
, Solberg decided to miss Australia
2009 Rally Australia
The 2009 Repco Rally Australia was the 20th Rally Australia and the tenth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 35 special stages and was won on the road by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb...
to concentrate on finding a more competitive car. After testing a Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
The Citroën C4 WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën C4 road car and replaced the Citroën Xsara WRC...
in France, and a Ford Focus RS WRC in Britain, Solberg confirmed he would drive a C4 at the final two rounds of the season, Rally Catalunya
2009 Rally Catalunya
The 2009 RACC Rallye de Catalunya was the eleventh round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the 45th running of Rally Catalunya. The rally consisted of 18 special stages and took place between October 2-4 2009...
and Wales Rally GB. The car was to be a 2008-spec C4, but would feature updates to bring it as close as possible to the factory cars of Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...
and Dani Sordo
Dani Sordo
Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for the Mini WRC Team...
. Solberg continued to drive for his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team
Petter Solberg World Rally Team
The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is a team competing in the World Rally Championship, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a drive following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport...
for Catalunya, but was a nominated points scorer for the Citroen Junior Team
Citroën Junior Team
The Citroën Junior Team was a World Rally Championship team, which competed in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. It was set up and run as Citroën's secondary team in the World Rally Championship, pitched against the existing Stobart Ford World Rally Team....
at Wales Rally GB, alongside Sebastien Ogier
Sébastien Ogier
Sébastien Ogier is a French rally driver. He won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2008 and last drove in the World Rally Championship for the Citroën World Rally Team. His co-driver is compatriot Julien Ingrassia. They are set to join Volkswagen's WRC team when they enter the championship in...
. He finished in 4th position in both of these events, and ended up 5th in the overall 2009 Drivers' Championship standings.
2010
Solberg announced on 12 January 2010 that he had purchased two Citroën C4 WRC (2009 spec) cars from Citroën and that he would compete in the 2010 World Rally Championship2010 World Rally Championship season
The 2010 World Rally Championship season was the 38th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 11 February and ended Wales Rally GB on 14 November....
.
On the Swedish Rally Solberg was unable to find the rhythm and pace, and finished 9th earning him 2 points. At the second round of the season, the Corona Mexico Rally, Petter held the lead after day 1, with a 27sec gap down to Loeb on 3rd. With Petter sweeping the road on Saturday Loeb advanced to a 55 sec lead by the end of the day, with Solberg on 2nd place 2.7 sec ahead of Sebastien Ogier. A great battle for 2nd place played out on Sunday, with Petter Solberg trailing Ogier with 0.6sec going into the last super special stage. Petter sat a fastest stage time here by 1.4 sec which secured the 2nd place podium finish, marking the best result by PSWRT to date. In the third Round of the season, Rally Jordan, Solberg trailed Latvala (−16s), Ogier (−19s) and Loeb (−43s) going into the last day. Ogier was sacrificed in a new level of tactics, sending him out as first car as road sweeper for Loeb, while receiving penalties and losing his good position. The exploiting of the rules received much criticism, and was subsequently banned for the next rally. The other drivers kept their position with Solberg scoring a 3rd place podium. In Rally Turkey, 16–18 April, Solberg held a good position through the whole rally, and had a serious chance to battle for the victory on the last day, positioned 2nd on the road, 16sec after Loeb. With several stages canceled on safety reasons due to too much mud, and later a scary meet with a tree on the slippery conditions, Solberg wisely stopped fighting and conceded to secure the 2nd place. Hirvonen, Latvala, Sordo and Ogier all had incidents/offs, hindering them to challenge Solbergs position. This result put Petter second in the Driver's Championship standings, 1 point ahead of Hirvonen and 6 points ahead of Latvala, but a full 40 points after Loeb, with 4 out of 13 rallies completed. In Rally New Zealand Solberg made a tactical blunder, simply by not adapting any road position tactics, and finished in first position on day 1, with a marginal lead. Sweaping Saturday's stages left him 54 sec behind, in 5th place, realistically out of reach of a win. But for the final 30 km stage of the rally, four drivers were within 18 seconds of the lead, which lead to an epic four-way battle for the victory, between Ogier, Latvala, Solberg and Loeb. Three of them took a maximum attack, high-risk approach, which none of them managed to complete without incident. Ogier and Loeb both had a spin that cost them some seconds, and Solberg going too fast around a high speed bend hit a telegraph pole on the road shoulder and retired from 3rd position. Latvala did no serious mistakes and took his 3rd WRC win by 2.4 seconds. Loeb crashed two times during this rally, but still managed to finish only 15 seconds behind.
On 11 June 2010, PSWRT announced that Phil Mills have decided to leave the codriver seat to focus on other things in life. This brings to an end a 152-event unbroken run of the pair competing together, over 11 years since 1999. In their time they have driven for Ford, Subaru and for their own Citroën team, winning 13 individual world rallies and the 2003 world title. 29 June PSWRT announced that Chris Patterson
Chris Patterson
Chris Patterson is a professional rally racing co-driver.He competed first time in the World Rally Championship in 1993 and has won the 2006 Production World Rally Championship with Nasser Al-Attiyah. Patterson is recognized as one of the world's most experienced rally navigators...
would be Solberg's new codriver.
In their first rally together, the tarmac event Rally Bulgaria, Petter and Chris put in an impressive performance; five stage wins and finished 3rd, 6.8sec off Dani Sordo in 2nd place.
After more podiums in Japan, France and Spain, Solberg finished 2nd on Rally GB, securing his goal of finishing in the top three in the championship.
2011
On 14 January 2011, PSWRT confirmed that Solberg will compete in the 2011 World Rally Championship2011 World Rally Championship season
The 2011 World Rally Championship season was the 39th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season has 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 10 February...
in a Citroën DS3 WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
The Citroën DS3 WRC is the World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing for use from the 2011 World Rally Championship season. It is based upon the Citroën DS3 road car, and replaces the highly successful Citroën C4 WRC...
.
In February, Solberg had his driving licence suspended in Sweden after police caught him travelling 32kph above the speed limit on the way to the fifth stage of the country's WRC round, forcing co-driver Chris Patterson
Chris Patterson
Chris Patterson is a professional rally racing co-driver.He competed first time in the World Rally Championship in 1993 and has won the 2006 Production World Rally Championship with Nasser Al-Attiyah. Patterson is recognized as one of the world's most experienced rally navigators...
to take up the wheel.
Personal life
Solberg is married to a Swede, Pernilla Walfridsson, with whom he has a son, Oliver. Pernilla is the daughter of former VolvoVolvo
AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
factory driver and 1980 European Rallycross Champion, Per-Inge "Pi" Walfridsson (who also claimed a remarkable fourth overall in the 1973 RAC Rally). Pernilla was also, for some time, one of the world's leading female rally drivers.
WRC victories
| No. | Event | Season | Co-driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United Kingdom 58th Network Q Rally of Great Britain |
2002 | Phil Mills Phil Mills Phil Mills is a Welsh rally racing co-driver. He was winner of the 2003 World Rally Championship , as co-driver to Petter Solberg.... |
Subaru Impreza WRC02 |
| 2 |  Cyprus 31st Cyprus RallyCyprus Rally The Cyprus Rally is a rallying competition held yearly in Cyprus since 1970. The event is run by the Cyprus Automobile Association and is based in the city of Limassol . It is run on the winding roads of the nearby mountains of Troödos. It was part of the FIA's World Rally Championship from 2000... |
2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC03 |
| 3 |  Australia 16th Telstra Rally AustraliaRally Australia Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship... |
2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC03 |
| 4 |  Early Modern France 47ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France |
2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC03 |
| 5 | United Kingdom 59th Wales Rally of Great Britain |
2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC03 |
| 6 |  New Zealand 34th Propecia Rally New ZealandRally New Zealand The Rally New Zealand was first held in Taupo in 1969, and was subsequently staged in Canterbury, before moving back to the North Island in 1971.The rally was included as a round of the World Championship in 1977... |
2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC04 |
| 7 |  Greece 51st Acropolis RallyAcropolis Rally Greece The Acropolis Rally of Greece |Rally]] of Greece) is a rally competition, part of the World Rally Championship schedule. The rally is held on very dusty, rough and rocky mountain roads around Athens during the Greek hot summer period. The rally is known for being extremely tough on the competing... |
2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC04 |
| 8 |  Japan 1st Rally JapanRally Japan Rally Japan is a rally competition held in Hokkaidō, Japan. The event has been part of the FIA World Rally Championship since its introduction during the 2004 season. From 2004 to 2007, the event was held on the twisty and narrow gravel roads of the Tokachi region near Obihiro. For the 2008 season,... |
2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC04 |
| 9 | United Kingdom 60th Wales Rally of Great Britain |
2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC04 |
| 10 |  Italy 1º Supermag Rally d'Italia SardiniaRally d'Italia Sardegna The Rally d'Italia Sardegna is a rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge . The rally is held on narrow, twisty, sandy and bumpy mountain roads around the town of Porto Cervo... |
2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC04 |
| 11 |  Sweden 54th Uddeholm Swedish RallySwedish Rally The Uddeholm Swedish Rally , formerly the Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish... |
2005 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC04 |
| 12 |  Mexico 19º Corona Rally MéxicoRally Mexico The Corona Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato... |
2005 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC05 |
| 13 | United Kingdom 61st Wales Rally of Great Britain |
2005 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC05 |
WRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Shell Norge | Toyota Celica GT-Four Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient... |
MON | SWE 16 |
KEN | POR | ESP | FRA | ARG | GRC | NZL | FIN | ITA | AUS | – | 0 | ||||
| Petter Solberg | GBR Ret |
|||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Ford Motor Co BP Ford World Rally Team The Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, also known as the Ford Motor Co. Team prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Company's motorsport arm selected the Malcolm Wilson... |
Ford Escort WRC | MON | SWE 11 |
19th | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Ford Focus WRC Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification... |
KEN 5 |
POR 11 |
ESP | FRA | ARG | GRC | NZL | CHN | ITA 27 |
AUS | GBR 9 |
|||||||||
| Petter Solberg | FIN 12 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Ford Motor Co BP Ford World Rally Team The Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, also known as the Ford Motor Co. Team prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Company's motorsport arm selected the Malcolm Wilson... |
Ford Focus WRC 00 Ford Focus WRC The Ford Focus RS WRC is a car built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport and based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback, developed to compete in the World Rally Championship. The RS stands for Rallye Sport and the WRC for World Rally Car, the car's FIA specification... |
MON | SWE | KEN 5 |
POR Ret |
ESP | ARG 6 |
GRC Ret |
NZL 4 |
FIN Ret |
CYP | 10th | 6 | ||||||
| Petter Solberg | Subaru Impreza WRC2000 | FRA Ret |
ITA 9 |
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| Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
AUS Ret |
GBR Ret |
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| 2001 | Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2001 | MON Ret |
SWE 6 |
POR Ret |
ESP Ret |
ARG 5 |
CYP Ret |
GRE 2 |
KEN Ret |
FIN 7 |
NZL 7 |
ITA 9 |
FRA 5 |
AUS 7 |
GBR Ret |
10th | 11 | ||
| 2002 | 555 Subaru World Rally Team | Subaru Impreza WRC2001 | MON 6 |
SWE Ret |
2nd | 37 | ||||||||||||||
| Subaru Impreza WRC2002 | FRA 5 |
ESP 5 |
CYP 5 |
ARG 2 |
GRE 5 |
KEN Ret |
FIN 3 |
GER Ret |
ITA 3 |
NZL Ret |
AUS 3 |
GBR 1 |
||||||||
| 2003 | 555 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2003 | MON Ret |
SWE 6 |
TUR Ret |
NZL 3 |
ARG 5 |
GRE 3 |
CYP 1 |
GER 8 |
FIN 2 |
AUS 1 |
ITA Ret |
FRA 1 |
ESP 5 |
GBR 1 |
1st | 72 | ||
| 2004 | 555 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2003 | MON 7 |
SWE 3 |
2nd | 82 | ||||||||||||||
| Subaru Impreza WRC2004 | MEX 4 |
NZL 1 |
CYP 4 |
GRE 1 |
TUR 3 |
ARG Ret |
FIN Ret |
GER Ret |
JPN 1 |
GBR 1 |
ITA 1 |
FRA 5 |
ESP 5 |
AUS Ret |
||||||
| 2005 | Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2004 | MON 2005 Monte Carlo Rally The 73ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo , the first round of the 2005 World Rally Championship season took place between January 21 and 23, 2005.- Results :-Special stages:-External links:* at... Ret |
SWE 1 |
2nd | 71 | ||||||||||||||
| Subaru Impreza WRC2005 | MEX 1 |
NZL 3 |
ITA 2 |
CYP Ret |
TUR 2 |
GRE 9 |
ARG 3 |
FIN 4 |
GER 7 |
GBR 1 |
JPN Ret |
FRA 3 |
ESP 13 |
AUS Ret |
||||||
| 2006 | Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2006 | MON 2006 Monte Carlo Rally The 74ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo , the first round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place between January 20 and 22, 2006.-Pre-event:... Ret |
SWE 2006 Swedish Rally The 55th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, the second round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place from February 3–5, 2006.- Results :-Retirements:... Ret |
MEX 2006 Rally México The 20º Corona Rally México, the third round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place from March 3–5, 2006.-Event:The event saw the first win of the season for Sébastien Loeb... 2 |
ESP 2006 Rally Catalunya The 42º Rally RACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada,the fourth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place from March 24–26, 2006.- Event :... 7 |
FRA 2006 Tour de Corse The 42ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France,the fifth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place between April 7 and April 9 2006.- Results :-Special stages:... 11 |
ARG 2006 Rally Argentina The 26° Rally Argentina,the sixth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season took place between April 27 and April 30, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 2 |
ITA 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardegna The 3° Rally d'Italia Sardegna, the seventh round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season, took place between May 19 and May 21, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 9 |
GRE 2006 Acropolis Rally The 2006 Acropolis Rally was the eighth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between June 1-4, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:-External Links:... 7 |
GER Ret |
FIN 2006 Rally Finland The 2006 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the tenth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between August 17–20, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:-External Links:*... Ret |
JPN 2006 Rally Japan The 2006 Rally Japan was the eleventh round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between September 1-3, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 7 |
CYP 2006 Cyprus Rally The 2006 Cyprus Rally was the twelfth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between September 22-24, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 8 |
TUR 2006 Rally of Turkey The 2006 Rally of Turkey was the thirteenth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between October 15–17, 2006. It was the last WRC event that the late Colin McRae competed in. He retired on the final stage with a mechanical problem.... 13 |
AUS 2006 Rally Australia The 2006 Telstra Rally Australia was the fourteenth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between 26–29 October 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 2 |
NZL 2006 Rally New Zealand The 2006 Propecia Rally New Zealand was the penultimate round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between November 17–19, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 6 |
GBR 2006 Rally GB The 2006 Wales Rally GB was the final round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season. It took place between December 1-3, 2006.- Results :-Special Stages:... 3 |
6th | 40 |
| 2007 2007 World Rally Championship season The 2007 World Rally Championship season was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 19 with the 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo and ended on December 2 with the 63rd Wales Rally of Great Britain. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won the drivers' world... |
Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2006 | MON 2007 Monte Carlo Rally The 75ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo , the first round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, took place between January 19 and 21, 2007.- Pre-event :... 6 |
SWE 2007 Swedish Rally The 56th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, second round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season took place between 9 and 11 February 2007.-Results:... Ret |
NOR 2007 Rally Norway Rally Norway 2007, the third round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, was held on February 16 – 18 2007. Race headquarters were located in the town of Hamar.- Results :... 4 |
5th | 47 | |||||||||||||
| Subaru Impreza WRC2007 | MEX 2007 Rally México The 21º Corona Rally México, the fourth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season, took place between March 9–11 2007. The rally consisted of 20 special stages, of which five were super specials... Ret |
POR 2007 Rally Portugal The 2007 Vodafone Rally de Portugal was the 41st Rally de Portugal and the fifth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship season. It took place between March 30–April 1, 2007 and consisted of 18 special stages... 2 |
ARG 2007 Rally Argentina Results of Rally Argentina , 6th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on May 3 - 6:- Results :- Retirements : Kristian Sohlberg - mechanical - accident ; Petter Solberg - mechanical - engine ; Nasser Al-Attiyah - mechanical - lost wheel ; Leszek Kuzaj - mechanical - lost wheel ; Amjad... Ret |
ITA 2007 Rally d'Italia Sardegna Results of Rally d'Italia Sardegna , 7th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on May 18 - 20:- Results :... 5 |
GRE 2007 Acropolis Rally Results of Acropolis Rally , 8th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on May 31 - June 3:- Results :... 3 |
FIN 2007 Rally Finland Results of Rally Finland , 9th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on August 2 - 5:- Results :- Retirements : Kristian Sohlberg - rolled ; Jari-Matti Latvala - went off the road - damaged rollcage ; Manfred Stohl - rolled Gareth Jones - went off the road Juho Hänninen - mehanical... Ret |
GER 6 |
NZL 2007 Rally New Zealand The 2007 Rally New Zealand , 11th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on 31 August - 2 September. After a tight battle for three days, Marcus Grönholm beat Sébastien Loeb for the win by 0.3 seconds. This was the closest finish in the history of the World Rally Championship... 7 |
ESP 2007 Rally Catalunya Results of Rally Catalunya , 12th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on October 5 - 7:- Results :... 6 |
FRA 2007 Tour de Corse Results of Tour de Corse , 13th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on October 12 - 14:- Results :... 5 |
JPN 2007 Rally Japan Results of Rally Japan , 14th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on October 26 - 28:- Results :-Retirements: Marcus Grönholm - went off the road ; Chris Atkinson - crashed his car ; Fumio Nutahara - mechanical ; Sébastien Loeb - mechanical ; Armindo Araujo - excluded after post-rally... 16 |
IRE 2007 Rally Ireland The 2007 Rally Ireland , 15th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, was run on November 15 - November 18. It took place over eight counties on both sides of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland... 5 |
GBR 2007 Rally GB Results of Rally GB , 16th round of 2007 World Rally Championship, run on November 30 - December 2:- Results :... 4 |
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| 2008 2008 World Rally Championship season The 2008 World Rally Championship season was the 36th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 15 rallies and began on January 24, with the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.... |
Subaru World Rally Team Subaru World Rally Team The Subaru World Rally Team was Subaru's World Rally Championship team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow color scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003... |
Subaru Impreza WRC2007 | MON 2008 Monte Carlo Rally The 2008 Monte Carlo Rally, officially 76ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, was the 76th Monte Carlo Rally and the first round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season... 5 |
SWE 2008 Swedish Rally The 2008 Swedish Rally, officially 57th Uddeholm Swedish Rally, was the second round of 2008 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally took place during February 7–10, beginning with Super Special Stage... 4 |
MEX 2008 Rally México The 2008 Rally México, officially 22º Corona Rally México, was the third round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The rally was held on February 29 — March 2 and began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, February 28... 11 |
ARG 2008 Rally Argentina The 2008 Rally Argentina, officially 28º Rally Argentina, is the fourth round of 2008 World Rally Championship season; it is a second gravel round of the championship and also the second round of the Production World Rally Championship... Ret |
JOR 2008 Jordan Rally The 2008 Jordan Rally was the fifth round of 2008 World Rally Championship season and the third gravel round of the championship and also the second round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The event began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, April 24 in Amman, Jordan, near the Dead Sea.-... Ret |
ITA 2008 Rally d'Italia Sardegna The 2008 Rally d'Italia Sardegna is the sixth round of 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event began on May 16 in Olbia, Italy, and finished on May 18.-Results:- Special stages :- External links :* at official page... 10 |
6th | 46 | ||||||||||
| Subaru Impreza WRC2008 | GRE 2008 Acropolis Rally The 2008 Acropolis Rally of Greece was the seventh round of the 2008 World Rally Championship. It took place between May 29-June 1.-Results:-Special Stages:... 2 |
TUR 2008 Rally of Turkey The 9th Rally of Turkey, the 8th round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season took place between June 12–15, 2008. The event returned after a year sabbatical and was held in the south west of Turkey, with the rally headquarters and service park based in the seaside resort of Kemer. The special... 6 |
FIN 2008 Rally Finland The 58th Rally Finland, the ninth rally of the 2008 World Rally Championship season took place between July 31 and August 3, 2008. The event was the first rally held after a six week mid season break. The rally was based in the city of Jyväskylä in the centre of Finland with the special stages held... 6 |
GER 5 |
NZL 2008 Rally New Zealand The 2008 Rally New Zealand was the eleventh round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event was based on the northern island of the country near the city of Hamilton. The stages were run on gravel roads characterised by their pronounced camber, which gives them a fast flowing nature.... 4 |
ESP 2008 Rally Catalunya The 2008 Rally Spain, officially 44º Rally RACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada, was the 44th Rally Catalunya and the 12th round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place during October 2-5 2008 and consisted of 18 special stages.... 5 |
FRA 2008 Tour de Corse The 2008 Tour de Corse was the thirteenth round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event was won by Citroën driver Sébastien Loeb for the fourth year in succession. It was his tenth victory of the season and gave him a fourteen point lead in the drivers table with just two rallies... 5 |
JPN 2008 Rally Japan The 2008 Rally Japan was the fourteenth and penultimate round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event saw Sébastien Loeb clinch his fifth consecutive world drivers title with his drive to a third place finish. The event was won by Mikko Hirvonen in a Ford Focus, who led the event... 8 |
GBR 2008 Rally GB The 2008 Rally GB was the fifteenth and final round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season and was held between December 5-7, 2008. The event was again held in Wales, with Cardiff being the host of the ceremonial start and finish, and Swansea providing the service park... 4 |
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| 2009 2009 World Rally Championship season The 2009 World Rally Championship season was the 37th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of twelve rallies and began on 30 January, with Rally Ireland and ended with Rally GB on 25 October. Sébastien Loeb won the World Drivers' championship at Rally GB by one point... |
Petter Solberg World Rally Team Petter Solberg World Rally Team The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is a team competing in the World Rally Championship, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a drive following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport... |
Citroën Xsara WRC | IRL 2009 Rally Ireland The 2009 Rally Ireland, officially 2nd Rally Ireland, was the first round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between January 30 and February 1, 2009, it's also the opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship this season... |
NOR 2009 Rally Norway The 2009 Rally Norway, officially 3rd Rally Norway, is the second round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the first round of the Production World Rally Championship and is held between February 12 and February 15, 2009... 6 |
CYP 2009 Cyprus Rally The 2009 Cyprus Rally, officially 37th FxPro Cyprus Rally, was the third round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and was held between March 13 and March 15, 2009 in Limassol, Cyprus... 3 |
POR 2009 Rally de Portugal The 2009 Vodafone Rally de Portugal was the 43rd running of the Rally Portugal and the fourth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. It took place between 2-5 April 2009 and consisted of 18 special stages.... 4 |
ARG 2009 Rally Argentina The 2009 Rally Argentina was the 29th running of the Rally Argentina and the fifth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was run on 23–26 April. It was won by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb for the fifth consecutive year... Ret |
ITA 2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna The 2009 Rally d'Italia Sardegna was the sixth running of the Rally d'Italia Sardegna and the sixth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season... 3 |
GRC 2009 Acropolis Rally The 2009 Acropolis Rally of Greece was the 56th running of the Acropolis Rally and the seventh round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 17 special stages. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen took his first win of the season and Citroën Junior Team's Sébastien Ogier his first-ever... Ret |
POL 2009 Rally Poland The 2009 ORLEN Platinum Rally Poland was the 66th running of the Rally Poland and the eighth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. Rally Poland had previously been part of the WRC schedule during the inaugural 1973 season. The rally consisted of 18 special stages and was won by Ford's... 4 |
FIN 2009 Rally Finland The 2009 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 59th running of the Rally Finland and the ninth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. This marked his third victory in a row and his first in his home event... Ret |
AUS 2009 Rally Australia The 2009 Repco Rally Australia was the 20th Rally Australia and the tenth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 35 special stages and was won on the road by Citroën's Sébastien Loeb... |
5th | 35 | ||||||
| Citroën C4 WRC Citroën C4 WRC The Citroën C4 WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën C4 road car and replaced the Citroën Xsara WRC... |
ESP 2009 Rally Catalunya The 2009 RACC Rallye de Catalunya was the eleventh round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the 45th running of Rally Catalunya. The rally consisted of 18 special stages and took place between October 2-4 2009... 4 |
GBR 2009 Rally GB The 2009 Rally GB was the 12th and last round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season and the 65th running of the Rally of Great Britain. The rally consisted of 16 special stages.... 4 |
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| 2010 2010 World Rally Championship season The 2010 World Rally Championship season was the 38th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 11 February and ended Wales Rally GB on 14 November.... |
Petter Solberg World Rally Team Petter Solberg World Rally Team The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is a team competing in the World Rally Championship, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a drive following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport... |
Citroën C4 WRC Citroën C4 WRC The Citroën C4 WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the Citroën C4 road car and replaced the Citroën Xsara WRC... |
SWE 2010 Rally Sweden The 2010 Rally Sweden was the opening round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally was held over February 11–14, beginning with a Super Special Stage in the event's base town of Karlstad... 9 |
MEX 2010 Rally México The 2010 Rally México was the 23rd Rally Mexico and the second round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over March 5–7, and was based in León, in the Guanajuato region of the country. The event was part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Mexican... 2 |
JOR 2010 Jordan Rally The 2010 Jordan Rally was the third round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over April 1–3, and was based beside the Dead Sea, some from the country's capital, Amman. The rally was also the third round of both the Production Car World Rally Championship, and the... 3 |
TUR 2010 Rally of Turkey The 2010 Rally of Turkey was the fourth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over April 16–18, and was based in the country's largest city, Istanbul... 2 |
NZL 2010 Rally New Zealand The 2010 Rally New Zealand was the fifth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 7–9 May and is based in the country's largest city, Auckland... Ret |
POR 2010 Rally de Portugal The 2010 Rally de Portugal was the 44th Rally de Portugal and the sixth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over May 27–30, and was based in Faro, the capital city of the Algarve region... 5 |
BUL 2010 Rally Bulgaria The 2010 Rally Bulgaria was the seventh round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over July 9–11, and was based in Borovets, around outside the capital city, Sofia. The rally was also the third round of the Junior World Rally Championship.Rally Bulgaria made its début... 3 |
FIN 2010 Rally Finland The 2010 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 60th Rally Finland and the eighth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over July 29–31, and is based in Jyväskylä, the capital of the Central Finland region... 4 |
DEU 2010 Rallye Deutschland The 2010 ADAC Rallye Deutschland was the 28th Rallye Deutschland and the ninth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over August 20–22, and is based in Trier. It was the first of two WRC rounds where all WRC support series competed in the same round... 5 |
JPN 2010 Rally Japan The 2010 Rally Japan, was the 10th round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The 26 stage gravel rally took place on 9 – 12 September 2010 and was based in the city of Sapporo... 2 |
FRA 2010 Rallye de France The 2010 Rallye de France was the first running of the Rallye de France–Alsace and the eleventh round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 1–3 October 2010, and was based in Strasbourg, the capital of the Alsace region... 3 |
ESP 2010 Rally Catalunya The 2010 Rally Catalunya was the twelfth and penultimate round of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 22–24 October 2010, and was based in Salou, the second biggest city in the Province of Tarragona in Catalonia... 2 |
GBR 2 |
3rd | 169 | |||
| 2011 2011 World Rally Championship season The 2011 World Rally Championship season was the 39th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season has 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 10 February... |
Petter Solberg World Rally Team Petter Solberg World Rally Team The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is a team competing in the World Rally Championship, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.The team was founded in early 2009 after Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, was left without a drive following the withdrawal of former employer Subaru from the sport... |
Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën DS3 WRC The Citroën DS3 WRC is the World Rally Car built for the Citroën World Rally Team by Citroën Racing for use from the 2011 World Rally Championship season. It is based upon the Citroën DS3 road car, and replaces the highly successful Citroën C4 WRC... |
SWE 2011 Rally Sweden The 2011 Rally Sweden was the opening round of 2011 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first and only event held on snow- and ice-covered gravel roads. The rally took place over 10–13 February, beginning with a Super Special Stage in the event's base town of Karlstad... 5 |
MEX 2011 Rally México The 2011 Rally México was the second round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first event held on gravel roads. The rally took place over 3–6 March, beginning with a street stage in Guanajuato... 4 |
POR 2011 Rally de Portugal The 2011 Rally de Portugal was the third round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. It was the season's first European event held on gravel roads. The rally took place over 24–27 March, beginning with a super special stage in the city of Lisbon... 6 |
JOR 2011 Jordan Rally The 2011 Jordan Rally was the fourth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 14–16 April, and was based beside the Dead Sea, some from the country's capital, Amman... Ret |
ITA 2011 Rally d'Italia Sardegna The 2011 Rally d'Italia Sardegna was the fifth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 6–8 May, and was based in Olbia, the fourth-largest town on the island of Sardinia. The rally was also the third round of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship and the... 3 |
ARG 2011 Rally Argentina The 2011 Rally Argentina was the sixth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 26–29 May, and was based in Villa Carlos Paz, in the province of Córdoba. The rally was also the third round of the Production World Rally Championship... 4 |
GRE 2011 Acropolis Rally The 2011 Acropolis Rally was the seventh round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 17–19 June, and was based in Loutraki, outside the country's capital, Athens. The rally was also the fourth round of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship... 4 |
FIN 2011 Rally Finland The 2011 Rally Finland was the eighth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 28–30 July, and was based in Jyväskylä with a remote service in Lahti... 5 |
DEU 2011 Rallye Deutschland The 2011 Rallye Deutschland was the ninth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 19–21 August, and was based in Trier, in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany... 5 |
AUS 2011 Rally Australia The 2011 Rally Australia was the 21st Rally Australia and the tenth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 8–11 September, and was based in Coffs Harbour, a coastal city in the New South Wales state of Australia. The rally was also the fifth round of the... 3 |
FRA 2011 Rallye de France The 2011 Rallye de France – Alsace was the eleventh round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 30 September – 2 October, and was based in Strasbourg, the capital city of the Alsace region of France... EX |
ESP 2011 Rally Catalunya The 2011 Rally Catalunya, formally 47è Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada and the denoted RACC Rally de España, was the twelfth round of the 2011 World Rally Championship season. The rally took place over 21–23 October, and was based in Salou, Catalonia... Ret |
GBR Ret |
5th | 110 | |||
IRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season The 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge is the sixth season of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The season again consists of twelve rounds and started on 19 January with the 79° Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo... |
 Petter Solberg |
Peugeot 207 S2000 Peugeot 207 S2000 The Peugeot 207 S2000 is Super 2000 rally car developed by Peugeot Sport. It is based upon the Peugeot 207 road car. Drivers Enrique García Ojeda, Nicolas Vouilloz and Kris Meeke won the Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers' title in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively in a Peugeot 207 S2000.... |
MON 2011 Monte Carlo Rally The 2011 Monte Carlo Rally, officially 79ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo was the first round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The rally took place between January 19–22, 2011... Ret |
CAN 2011 Rally Islas Canarias The 2011 Rally Islas Canarias, was the second round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The twelve stage asphalt rally took place on the island of Gran Canaria between 14–16 April 2011. The rally was also a round of the Spanish Asphalt Championship.-Introduction:The rally was... |
FRA 2011 Tour de Corse The 2011 Tour de Corse, was the third round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The fourteen stage asphalt rally took place on the island of Corsica between 12–14 May 2011.-Introduction:... |
UKR 2011 Prime Yalta Rally The Prime Yalta Rally 2011, was the 4th round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The fourteen stage asphalt rally took place over 2–4 June 2011.-Introduction:... |
BEL 2011 Ypres Rally The 2011 GEKO Ypres Rally, was the fifth round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The event was held between 23–25 June 2011, and was based in the town of Ypres in Belgium.-Introduction:... |
AZO 2011 Rally Azores The 2011 Sata Rally Azores, officially 46º Sata Rallye Açores, was the sixth round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The 17-stage gravel rally took place on the island of São Miguel in the Azores between 14–16 July 2011.... |
MAD | CZE 2011 Czech Rally The 2011 Czech Rally, officially Barum Rally Zlín 2011, was the seventh round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season, and also a round of the European Rally Championship. The fifteen stage asphalt rally took place over 26–28 August 2011... |
HUN 2011 Mecsek Rallye The 2011 Mecsek Rallye, officially Canon 45. Mecsek Rallye, was the eighth round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season... |
ITA 2011 Rallye Sanremo The 2011 Rallye Sanremo , was the 9th round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season. The thirteen stage asphalt rally took place over 22 – 24 September 2011. The longest stage of the rally, Ronde, was run in darkness... |
SCO 2011 Rally Scotland The 2011 Rally Scotland, officially the RAC MSA Rally of Scotland, was the tenth round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season... |
CYP 2011 Cyprus Rally The 2011 Cyprus Rally, officially the 39th FxPro Cyprus Rally, was the eleventh and final round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season... |
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External links
- pettersolberg.com – official website
- Petter Solberg's profile at RallyBase.nl