February « 2008 « Petter Solberg

Official news, Rally Mexico | Mon 25th 2008

Corona Rally Mexico 2008

Petter Solberg Mexico 2007, copyright STI

This weekend it is all ready for the third event in the 2008 WRC, Rally Mexico. Rally Mexico is the first gravel rally this year, and also the first long haul event. Teams are already settled down in the city of Leon, about 400k’s north of Mexico City. Leon is the 5th biggest city in Mexico with 1,2 million inhabitants. The total population of Mexico is 101 million people.

Rallyheadquarter and servicepark are based indoors in the Poliforum Expo Centre, and the stages are running up in the mountains of Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato, with peaks rising towards 2700mts above sea level. The stages are fast, but they don’t flow naturally with the landscape. The stages also changes quickly from fast to slow, making it difficult for the drivers to find the needed rhythm with the car. The high altitudes makes it hard to breath for the engines, and reduces power.

354k’s of special stages are to be competed trough the weekend. And with only 477k’s of roadsection, Rally Mexico is the most compact rally on the calendar. Swedish Rally had 1100k’s of roadsection. It is the organizer them selves that decide about the roadsections, but every event need to have at least 350k’s of competitive route.

Petter and Phil are already settled in in Leon and ready to start the rally. – Mexico is a rally that we really enjoy, and we also have good results here in the past. We will definitely be fighting for the podium! Sebastien Loeb won Rally Mexico in 2007 and 2006, but Petter and Phil won in 2005. They had to retire in 2007, and ended 2nd in 2006.

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Official news, Rally Mexico | Mon 18th 2008

Rally Mexico coming up

Petter Solberg, Mexico 2007. Copyright STI.

From the snow and the cold in Sweden, the WRC are now heading overseas to sunny Mexico. Petter is flying into Mexico and the city of Leon on Friday, to get prepared for the fast gravel stages in the Mexican mountains.

In 2007 we had a lot of expectations as Petter and Phil started Rally Mexico with a brand new car. And it started fantastic, with 3 stage wins. But later in the rally they had to retire due to engine problems. Still, this is a rally that Petter enjoys, and with a second place in 2006 and victory in 2005, it is likely that they can score more points in the championship. Sebastien Loeb won the 2007 Rally Mexico.

With 2 of the 15 events of the 2008 Championship finished, Petter is 4th with 9 points, and Subaru is second in the Manufacturers Championship.

Drivers Championship

1. Mikko Hirvonen – 16 p
2. Jari-Matti Latvala – 10p
2. Sebastien Loeb – 10p
4. Petter Solberg – 9p
4. Gigi Galli – 9p
6. Chris Atkinson – 6p

Manufacturers Championship

1. BP – Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 26p
2. Subaru WRT, 16p
2. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team, 16p
4. Citroën Total WRT, 15p
5. Suzuki WRT, 5p

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Blog | Thu 14th 2008

After Sweden

I went straight to Spain and testing for Mexico after the Swedish rally. And I feel it was a good test, I think we have found a good set up for the Mexican gravel roads. Driving in Sweden is always fun. The stages are packed with Norwegian flags and supporters. And a pretty good result at the end also, especially if you are a Norwegian. I was so disappointed on Hennings behalf when he crashed on Saturday. Later that evening he promised he would win every stage on Sunday – and he did! Well done, Henning! I’m also very impressed with Andreas Mikkelsen being 5th, and the youngest driver to score points in the WRC. I think we will see a lot more of both him and Mads Østberg in the future.

I’m back in Sweden now, for a few days winter-holiday together with Oliver, Pernilla and her family. It should be fun; skiing, snow-mobile and just playing around with my favourite pirate – Oliver!

Tegnet av Arild Einar Kaggestad fra Vikersund

Arild Einar Kaggestad from Vikersund, Norway, emailed his drawing of me and the car in Mexico, to info@pettersolberg.no

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Official news, Rally Sweden | Sun 10th 2008

Petter scores 5 points in Sweden

Petter Solberg, Sweden 2008, photo by Kjell Bidne

Petter ended fourth and scored 5 more points in the drivers championship. Jari-Matti Latvala is the winner of the 2008 Swedish Rally, his first WRC win ever. And Jari-Matti is, with his 22 years, the youngest driver ever to win a WRC-event. Mikko Hirvonen ended second, while Gigi Galli drove into third position – his second time on the podium ever. Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen ended fifth, after fantastic driving this weekend. Henning, who started under SupeRally regulations today, ended 13th – after having set the fastest time on all Sunday stages.

Two stages were cancelled this weekend, due to bad roadconditions.

Overall classification 2008

1. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford
2. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford
3. Gigi Galli, Ford
4. Petter, Subaru
5. Andreas Mikkelsen, Ford
6. Dani Sordo, Citroën
7. Toni Gardemeister, Suzuki
8. Hänninen, Mitsubishi

Petter Solberg, Sweden 2008, photo by SWRT

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Blog | Sun 10th 2008

Fast food

Etter en fin dag i skogen smaker det alltid godt med mat. Nye dempere la heller ingen demper på apetitten. Bilen fungerer bra så langt i dag og vi ser framover. Det er skikkelig morro at det er så mange nordmenn blandt de beste her, det lover godt for Rally Norway neste år. Bruttærn kjører jo som et lokomotiv i dag !

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Blog | Sat 09th 2008

Fortsetter jakten i morgen.

I dag fungerte ting mye bedre etter servicen i Hagfors. Ergelig med bruttern i dag, han kjørte jo knall bra. Skikkelig morsomt med alle supportere ute i skogen, det er helt klart mest norske flagg der ute.

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Official news, Rally Sweden | Sat 09th 2008

Petter is fourth

Petter på SS11, photo Kjell Bidne

Good driving from Petter today, and he is now 4th in the overall classification. Jari-Matti Latvala is leading the rally, while Mikko Hirvonen is 2nd. Italian Gigi Galli is on third.

Mads Østberg gave us a good start on the day, setting the fastest time on several splits on SS9, until he went off. The surface of the road suddenly changed from gravel to snow, making it impossible for Mads to keep the car on the road.

On SS11 Henning went of the road, got stuck, and had to retire. “I’m so disappointing for him, he has been pushing really hard today” said Petter afterwards.

The organizers chose to cancel SS12 due to bad road conditions. Instead all the drivers, cars and crews were held back at regroup before the remote service. The got to spend 1,5 hrs on a parkinglot in Hagfors, together with spectators and reporters.

When leaving the remote service, Sebastien Loeb went towards Karlstad instead of going up to stage 13, and retired from the rally.

The finish line on SS13 was at the Motor-arena in Hagfors. Mikko Hirvonen said on the radio after he had completed the stage that this stage should have been cancelled too. The surface went from gravel to tarmac at one place, and studs in not an advantage on tarmac.

Rally Sweden continues tomorrow with the final 6 stages of the rally. First car is starting 0808 on SS15.

Overall classification Day 2

1. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford
2. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +49,8
3. Gigi Galli, Ford +1.35,9
4. Petter, Subaru +2.40,9
5. Matthew Wilson, Ford +4.37,6
6. Andreas Mikkelsen, Ford +4.48,1
7. Dani Sordo, Citroën +5.51,9
8. Toni Gardemeister, Suzuki +8.49,3

Waiting for the Solberg brothers at SS11, photo by Kjell Bidne

Signing autographs at remote service Hagfors, photo by Kjell Bidne

Remotservice Hagfors, Sweden 2008, photo by Kjell Bidne

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Blog | Sat 09th 2008

Remote service Hagfors

Ettersom ss 12 ble avlyst, valgte arrangøren og utsette servicen i Hagfors. Mye venting, men arrangøren gjorde rett i å avlyse prøva. Det var nesten bare vann og gjørme hele veien. Blir vel noen justeringer på demperne nå, også får vi se om det blir bedre på de to neste prøvene.