Eileen’s report

Rally Ireland – Leg 2

Well one word sums up todays rallying – WET!!!

Today we only managed to see two stages. We planned on seeing three, but when we came out of the first stage we had been blocked in by another car. We waited for half an hour to get out, and that only happened because some lads mananged to push a car out of the way, via the ditch!!! On the first stage Petter was absolutely flying, and it was great to see him going so well.

We then tried to meet Petter on the road section but there was so much traffic we didnt manage this either!! So tired, wet and miserable we headed back to the Sloughan Glen stage. We then spent over an hour getting some special flags ready for Petters birthday and this cheered us up a lot. When we arrived at the stage we set up the flags and had to take a special picture with Nora, as you will see later today!! At this stage the cars came down through a tight twisty section, and passed us being only 3 or 4 feet away. Thats the stuff that rallying is made of, and getting splashed with water, muck and oil made it all the more worthwhile.

We then went back to service, and hopefully we will make it back there for 1st service and a special birthday surprise for Petter in the morning!! So watch this space….

Happy birthday Petter!

Leg 2 – Rally Ireland

Leg 2 of Rally Ireland are completed, and Petter is number 5 in the overall classification – but with only seconds up to Hirvonen and Latvala who are 4th and 3rd. Heavy rain all day made the conditions extreme difficult for the drivers, and on the first stage of the day, SS11, 4 cars went off the road – Manfred Stohl being one of them. Sordo had problems on SS12 and lost more than 20 seconds but is still 2nd overall. Sebastien Loeb is still leading the rally and has won 4 of todays 6 stages. Petters team-colleague, Chris Atkinson were fastest on SS14, while Latvala set the fastest time on SS16. Petter drove in to second fastest time on the same stage. Henning restarted again today, after the accident yesterday.

Rally Ireland continues with 4 stages Sunday, first car starts at 0903 local time.

Overall classification Leg 2 Rally Ireland

1. Loeb, Citroen
2. Sordo, Citroen +59,3
3. Latvala, Ford +2.08,8
4. Hirvonen, Ford +2.37,6
5. Petter, Subaru +2.53,8
6. Wilks, Subaru +5.52,0
7. Wilson, Ford +9.23,2
9. Mikkelsen, Ford +13.01,3

Eileen – Leg 1

Rally Ireland – Leg 1

Well we arrived at the start of stage 2, the first stage of the day, hoping to watch Petter through and “stage-hop” to stage 4. We got parked and headed into the stage, but we walked and walked, and almost half an hour later we arrived at the stage. So that was the end of trying to get to stage 4!! We stayed for the first 25 cars through, little did we know we would not see many of them again. We heard of Petters engine trouble and prayed that the car would hold out, we’ve waited a year to have you here!!

Heres a pic of Harold and Nora at stage 2!!

At stage 6 we were really close to the road, and the cars, and had a great time with people stopping to get their photos taken with all the flags, including myself!!

Then we moved on to stage 8 and here is a little story for Petter that he probably knows nothing about. We waited almost 2 hours for the cars to come towards us, approx 800m downhill, past us, and on towards a sharp hairpin right. Again the flags were flying proud, but there was so many people there I climbed a telegraph pole to get a good view. Loeb went past and overshot the hairpin, to the delight of the crowd, even some French people beside us were happy!! Then Mikko did exactly the same thing, as did Sordo. Before Petter came I took one of the flags up the pole with me, people were shouting to take the flag down but I refused until Petter went past. It was a great feeling seeing Petter coming downhill so fast and everybody was waiting to see if he would make it around the corner. And you did Petter, it was a great feeling and I was waving the flag and cheering like crazy (maybe you could call it pole dancing Irish style ha ha). Only Petter and Jari Matti made it around the corner without mistake. That’s why we love you Petter, and again at service you showed why its so easy for us to be proud members of the Solberg Army.

So good luck tomorrow and don’t forget to look for your message on the road before the start of stage 11!!!

Leg 1 – Rally Ireland

Rain are mud are making the stages in Ireland really slippery. Petter says it has been incredible difficult out there today and that it feels like they are driving more on mud than on tarmac. Markus Grønholm and Henning Solberg both went off the road during the day, and were forced to retire.

Petter is holding 5th position, 2 minutes and 19 seconds after Sebastien Loeb, who is leading the rally when leg 1 is finished. Petter had a misfire from the engine on the three first stages of the day, and lost a lot of time before the team managed to repair it during the service. Both Pons and Atkinson went off the road on the slippery tarmac, and Pons had to retire. Henning Solberg went off the road on SS8, hit a three and were forced to retire.

Markus Grønholm was taken to hospital after the crash on SS4. His car sled into a concrete-wall going into a right hand turn, and the impact was so hard that both wheels on the driversside came off. The crew both was OK, but when Markus fainted after a while, an ambulance was called, taking Markus for a check-up at the hospital. He was released from the hospital later in the afternoon.

Rally Ireland continues Saturday with 6 more stages. First car starts at 0813.

Overall classification leg 1

1. Loeb, Citroen
2. Sordo, Citroen +11,2
3. Latvala, Ford +1.28,4
4. Hirvonen, Ford +1.53,2
5. Petter, Subaru +2.19,2
6. Stohl, Citroen +4.41,9
7. Wilson, Ford +6.45,4

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Photos from Eileen

Eileen, an Irish member of PSSC, will send us her reports during the rally-weekend.

We got to meet with petter at service, he signed nora my huge norwegian flag, and i gave him his birthday card and his irish whiskey!! Harold also had some chocolates from holland spelling his name. He gave me a big hug – he he – and said he will try his very best this weekend… Also met thomas and had to tell him not to be drinking the whiskey! Ha ha now we are going home a little while before going on to belfast.. Watch out on tv, for nora, the biggest flag in ireland!

Eileen

Shakedown Rally Ireland

Petter ended with 7th fastest time on today’s shakedown in Ireland. Grønholm were fastest, while Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen set the 4th fastest time.

-The stages are fast and tricky. Small bumps in the roads make the narrow stages difficult in high speed. Phil has done many rallies here, but it is the first time for me competing in Ireland. But as usual – we are going for the podium, Petter said before he left for Belfast and tonight’s superspecial.

SSS1 starts at 1900pm.

Shakedown-times

1.Grønholm 1.37,3
2.Chris 1.38,3
3.Hirvonen 1.38,7
4.Mikkelsen 1.39,2
5.Loeb 1.39,6
6.Sordo 1.40,0
7.Petter 1.40,3
8.Wilson 1.40,7
9.Wilks 1.40,9
10.Henning 1.41,1
11.Latvala 1.41,4
12.Stohl 1.41,6
13.Pons 1.42,9
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Medlemstreff i PSSC

Lørdag 10. november var det klart for årets medlemstreff i PSSC.

Det var en smilende og fornøyd Petter som ønsket velkommen til årets medlemstreff. Med det vanlige glimtet i øyet og humøret på plass innledet han medlemstreffet med å vise klipp fra filmen om han som er under produksjon. Med morsomme kommentarer fra hovedpersonen selv fikk alle et innblikk i noe av det som foregår i hans liv utenfor rally-kjøringen. Etter filmen snakket Petter åpenhjertig om hvordan det har vært å være rally-sjåfør den siste tiden og planene framover, og han svarte villig på alle spørsmål med medlemmene. Som en avslutning takket Petter alle for den støtten han får gjennom supporterklubben, understreket hvor viktig denne støtten er for han – og at han virkelig hadde gledet seg til årets medlemstreff.

Så var tiden kommet for autografer, bilder og Petter delte ut gaver til alle som var tilstede.

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Rally Ireland

We are getting close to end of the 2007 WRC season, and only two more rounds two go –Ireland and Wales. 15. – 18. November the action takes place on tarmac in Ireland.

The rally is based in Sligo town, however rally organisers have arranged for the 1st stage, the super special stage to be held at Stormont in Belfast. The rally organisers are providing transport from Sligo to Belfast before the start and back again after the first stage. Official crew plus one person from each team are invited to fly there and back; additional people will use a coach arranged by the organisers; trucks will transport the rally cars. The drive from Sligo to Belfast will probably take nearly three hours as traffic is expected to be hectic!!

Twenty one countries are represented on the 90 car Rally Ireland entry list, with competitors coming from as far as Qatar, Japan and of course, NORWAY. Plus an impressive entry of 53 competitors from the island of Ireland, north and south. The only female driver taking part is Emma McKinstry from Banbridge, County Down ,a daughter of Irish rally legend Kenny McKinstry. The three members of the MacHale family are also set to make an impression as father Austin and sons Gareth and Aaron all take to the roads in their Ford Focus WRC cars.

Rally Ireland will be a challenging rally due to the uniqueness of the road surface. It is the 5th asphalt rally of the 2007 championship, but the narrow twisty bumpy surface, along with the unpredictable weather, will take some competitors by surprise!!