June « 2008 « Petter Solberg

Official news, Rally Tyrkia | Thu 12th 2008

Shakedown – Turkey

Petter Solberg Greece 2008. Copyright STI

Latvala were fastest on shakedown today, and Petter ended with 7th fastest time. The test was done at a 5km closed road 26kms south of Kemer. Petter had a problem on his second time through, when he broke a track-control arm.

Shakedown is the team’s last chance before the actual rally start, to test the car on conditions that reflects the rest of the rally. Each car can drive through as many times as they want between 0800 – 1200. But today most of the drivers didn’t feel that this stage was representing the rally enough, so they didn’t do as many passes as usual. The stage, which is also being used in the rally as SS18 on Sunday in reverse direction, was too soft compared to other stages.

Times – shakedown Turkey

Latvala 3.55,7
Galli 3.57,2
Hirvonen 3.59,4
Atkinson 4.00,4
Loeb 4.00,7
Henning 4.01,4
Petter 4.01,7
Mikkelsen 4.02,4
Sordo 4.03,9

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Official news, Rally Tyrkia | Mon 09th 2008

Rally of Turkey 2008

Petter Solberg, Rally of Turkey 2006. Copyright STI

This week we are heading to Turkey and the 8th event of this season. Headquarter and servicepark is based in the city of Kemer, about 40km south of Antalya.

Rally Turkey was on the calendar for the first time in 2003, and it is known to be as though for both car and the crew as the event in Greece. The surface is gravel, and the stages are in the mountain area around Kemer. Turkey is high speed on rocky roads, and the temperature is most likely to be around 30 degrees.

A total of 76 cars are on the entry list, and 19 stages will be competed trough out the weekend. Rally Turkey was not on the calendar for 2007, but the winner in 2006 was Marcus Grønholm. The stages in Turkey suites Petter well, and he came second in 2005 and were third in 2004.

Thursday, 12. June
1725 SS1 Antalya SSS1 2,60km

Friday, 13. June
0838 SS2 Perge 1  22,43km
0921 SS3 Myra 1   24,15km
0959 SS4 Kumluca 1  9,90km
Kemer – Service
1257 SS5 Perge 2  22,43km
1340 SS6 Myra 2   24,15km
1418 SS7 Kumluca 2  9,90km
Kemer – Service
1701 SS8 Chimera 1  16,94km
1747 SS9 Phaselis 1  22,40km

Saturday, 14. June
0928 SS10 Chimera 2  16,94km
1016 SS11 Silyon 1  27,36km
Kemer – Service
1259 SS12 Kemer 1  20,50km
1349 SS13 Silyon 2  27,36km
Kemer – Service
1632 SS14 Kemer 2  20,50km
1723 SS15 Phaselis 2  22,40km
1901 SS16 Antalya SSS 2  2,60km

Sunday, 15. June
0938 SS17 Olympos 2  31,03km
Kemer – Service
1204 SS18 Camyuva  5,50km
1307 SS19 Olympos 2  31,03km
Kemer – Service

1 Comment »

Official news | Tue 03rd 2008

World’s greatest mechanics

Mechanics preparing to work, photo Oliver Solberg

The good result in Greece is not only a result of Petters excellent driving, or Phils codriving skills. Petter makes it very clear that this would not be possible without his mechanics.

– This is teamwork, without these guys it would be impossible. They have really made a great effort in getting this car ready for Greece, and they work 110% during a rally. To be honest, I think I have the best guys in the world working on my car, they really are the best. The stages in Greece are some of the roughest stages in the WRC, yet they manage to get the car back in shape during 30 minutes and make’s it run faultless during the weekend. I’m taking my hat of for the guys – they really got passion!

Mechanics in Greece

Mechanics in Greece.

1 Comment »

Acropolis Rally, Official news | Tue 03rd 2008

Kjell Ole’s report

Vi har hatt noen fantastiske dager i Hellas. Det har vært varmt og godt, og opplegget har vært veldig bra. Vi har fått god mottagelse overalt, og hotellet var kjempefint. Det var stort å vinne denne turen, og det var en stor opplevelse og få omvisning hos SWRT. Moro har det også vært å treffe Petters familie, og ikke minst Pernilla og hennes familie. Det har vært noen minnerike dager, og dette ble en fantastisk debut for den nye bilen.

En tur som dette anbefales til alle!

Tusen takk og hjertelig hilsen Kjell Ole.
Kjell Ole, the winner from Norway.

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Acropolis Rally, Official news | Tue 03rd 2008

Kates day 2 report

Petter Solberg, Greece 2008.

Wow – what a day!

We thought we would spend the day with SWRT in the service area. Watching split times on the large screens was nerve racking, especially when so many other drivers were having problems. I have no finger nails left I’ve bitten them all off. We also had a look behind the scenes of SWRT. Fascinating and so many pieces of equipment.

We decided to stay until Petter + Phil came into flexi at the end of that day. What a reception from the crowd, everyone was cheering and smiling, especially Petter. Just been to the press conference with Sebastien Loeb surrounded by Solbergs!!

There are still more rough stages tomorrow, so we are not celebrating yet! But what I wrote to win this competition I think is starting to come true!

Kate

Henning and Petter Solberg, Greece 2008.

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Acropolis Rally, Official news | Sun 01st 2008

On the podium in Greece

Podium Greece 2008.

What a fantastic weekend – and an exciting rally! The pressure on both the team and Petter has been enormous during this weekend, and they managed to bring the car to the podium in one of the most challenging rallies on the calendar.

Sebastien Loeb won the 2008 Rally Acropolis, but Petter’s 2nd place will always be remembered as a well earned victory. Going into day 3 of the rally, we had both Henning and Petter in top three, but Henning struggled with an electrical fault today and ended eight.

The atmosphere at SWRT was nervous and excited today, but when Petter crossed the finish-line on the last stage, the celebration started. Petter has not been on the podium since Greece in 2007, when he ended third.

Overall classification – Acropolis Rally 2008

1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen 3.54.54,7
2. Petter Solberg, Subaru +1.09,5
3. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +1.56,1
4. Urmo Aava, Citroen +4.19,7
5. Dani Sordo, Citroen +4.49,4
6. Matthew Wilson, Ford +6.11,3
7. Jari Mati Latvala, Ford +6.47,5
8. Henning Solberg, Ford +9.14,0

SWRT waiting for Petter Solberg on final service

Waiving to his fans

And to the team

Signing autographs

Petter and Henning

19 Comments »

Blog | Sun 01st 2008

Helt værst!

For en fantastisk debut med den nye bilen. Andre plass i Hellas viser bare hvor bra denne bilen kan bli. I dag er jeg bare så glad. Alle i teamet har jobbet skikkelig hardt for dette – og plass på pallen er helt værst!

Its a beatiful day, and what a fantastic debut for the new car! 2nd in Greece just proves the potential for this car. Im just so happy today. All the guys in the team has been working really hard for this! What a weekend!

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