Im quite happy about my third position today, and to attend the press conference. We were really fast on some sections today, and fastest time on ss 11 was good fun. That was a proper stage. Tomorrow we will be on the door handles, fighting for podium!
The guys from the German Biathlon team stopped by for a visit today. I asked them to stay behind the Norwegians next winter.
Did you know that James Bond returned to Sardinia on Thursday? I did a photo shoot for the organisers at the same location were they did the movie “The spy who loved me”. They dressed me up in a black tuxedo, gave me a gun and offered me a dry martini – shaken not stirred. And you know me – I loved every part of it.
Our new star photographer, Oliver Solberg, took a lot of photos on Friday.
Day 2 coming up at Sardinia, and 6 more stages to go. Petter ended 4th yesterday and will be car number 4 on the road today. The sun is shining and temperatures are expected to be the same as yesterday.
Itinerary Saturday
0845 SS7 Sa Linea 14,20km
0931 SS8 Fiorentini 22,02km
1032 SS9 Monte Lerno 29,15km
Service
1505 SS10 Sa Linea 14,20km
1551 SS11 Fiorentini 22,02km
1652 SS12 Monte Lerno 29,15km
The first day at Sardinia is completed and Petter is 4th overall, only 4 seconds behind Loeb who is third. Latvala is leading the rally and his team-mate Hirvonen is second.
Three stages have been run twice today, in a temperature that is unusually high even for Sardinia at this time of the year. 37 in the air, and 43 on the ground.
- I am quite happy with the day. We lost some time with a overheating on the first stage, and we also had a stall at the second run through the same stage. And at the end of day, we managed to keep the 4th. Tomorrow is a new day, I know that a couple of the stages will be a real challenge, and we will not settle for less than the podium.
Rally Sardinia continues with 6 more stages tomorrow. First car will be on the stage at 0845hrs.
Overall classification – day 1 Rally Sardinia
1. Latvala, Ford
2. Hirvonen, Ford +39,8
3. Loeb, Citroen +42,8
4. Petter, Citroen +46,4
5. Novikov, Citroen +1.04,7
6. Henning, Ford +1.08,2
7. Østberg, Subaru +1.16,6
8. Sordo, Citroen +1.37,3
Back at the service park, for lunch and a quick update from Charles and Pernilla. We had a problem with over heating on the first stage, and it went over to safe mode. Lost a bit of time, so im actually very happy about 4th at the moment. We are changing the radiator now, hopefully it will solve the problem. The dust was not so bad, due to a small breeze.
The first day at Sardinia is about to begin. The weather is lovely, the sun is shining from a clear blue sky and it is 26 degrees already. The weather forecast doesn’t say much about any breeze today, so we expect it to be a lot of dust hanging in the air from the cars in front.
0932 SS1 Sa Conchedda 14,99km
1008 SS2 Loelle 22,30km
1043 SS3 Crastazza 27,81km
Service Olbia
1457 SS4 Sa Conchedda 14,99km
1533 SS5 Loelle 22,30km
1608 SS6 Crastazza 27,81km
Petter ended with the third fastest time on today’s Shakedown in Sardinia. After 4 runs through the 3,75km long stage, Petter returned happy back to the servicepark in Olbia. – There is quite a difference between this car, and the old one. For sure, this is still an old car, but it’s more upgraded. We also have mechanical diffs now, and I think that suits this car better.
Rally Sardinia starts Friday morning. First car is on the road at 0932hrs.
Shakedown times
1. Loeb 3.15,0
2. Henning 3.16,1
3. Petter 3.18,2
4. Sordo 3.18,9
5. Hirvonen 3.19,4
6. Latvala 3.19,4
7. Wilson 3.20,5
8. Østberg 3.22,4
9. Ogier 3.24,0
At the Fia press conference together with Matthew Wilson, Sebastien Loeb and Malcolm Wilson. As you can imagine I got questions about my new upgraded car, which includes mechanical diffs.
@Petter_Solberg #WRC CYPRUS 2009 Troodos Mountains http://t.co/9SVWI4tG
Junto a Petter Solberg... campeón mundial de rally! http://t.co/ajJ1B6AM
@Petter_Solberg Remember this ? #WRC CYPRUS 2009 , best holiday ever http://t.co/dvpLIpKr
Петтер Сольберг... http://t.co/BvWKosU6 #Все_про_Авто
RT "@damonf1: WRC Petter Solberg: Suecia y México serán determinantes: http://t.co/PKA2VVuH"
RT @damonf1: WRC Petter Solberg: Suecia y México serán determinantes: http://t.co/1f3b6OfL
WRC Petter Solberg: Suecia y México serán determinantes: http://t.co/1f3b6OfL
RT @starpainted: @Ingrridt Your English really isn't that bad. It could always be worse. What if your English was similar to Petter Solberg's. Ah, the shame.
#ff @kblock43 @Petter_Solberg @OfficialWRC @FordWRC @RallySportLive @KevinSchwantz
