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Petter Solberg World Rally Team

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Petter Solberg WRT
Full namePetter Solberg World Rally Team
BaseSweden Torsby, Sweden
Team principal(s)Ken Rees
DriversNorway Petter Solberg
Co-driversNorthern Ireland Chris Patterson
ChassisCitroën DS3 WRC
TyresMichelin
World Rally Championship history
Debut2009
Manufacturers' Championships0
Drivers' Championships0
Rally wins0

The Petter Solberg World Rally Team was a team that competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009 to 2011, owned by Norwegian driver Petter Solberg.

2009

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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. Solberg had been left without a drive going into the 2009 season, so joined forces with Ken Rees, formerly team co-ordinator at Subaru, to establish his own rally team.[1] He acquired an eight-year-old Citroën Xsara and began competing from the second round of the season, Rally Norway, and went on to achieving podiums in Cyprus and Italy. He began using a Citroën C4 WRC for the final two rounds of 2009.

2010

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Solberg continued to use the C4 WRC during the 2010 season. The team entered a second car on the 2010 Rallye de France for touring car driver Yvan Muller, in a Xsara WRC. 2010 proved to be a very successful season. Solberg finished twelve of the thirteen rounds and amassed eight podiums. This resulted in third place in the final standings, beating factory Citroën drivers Sébastien Ogier and Dani Sordo as well as works Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen.

2011

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For the 2011 season the team used a brand-new Citroën DS3 WRC, and registered for manufacturers' points for the first time. Solberg managed to finish fifth at the opening round in Sweden after he had his driving licence suspended for speeding on the road section. As this meant he was unable to drive the final stage, his co-driver Chris Patterson took over the wheel. Solberg finished third in Italy and Australia and another podium was looking likely in France, but Solberg was excluded from the results as his DS3 WRC was found to be underweight. Solberg retired from his final WRC event with his own team in Wales and finished fifth in the final standings for the driver's championship, with his team coming fourth in the manufacturers standings. The team also entered drivers in the SWRC. Eyvind Brynildsen competed at six rounds for the team in a Škoda Fabia S2000, co-driven by Cato Menkerud, a former co-driver to both Petter and his brother Henning, and eventual WRC Academy champion Craig Breen drove a Ford Fiesta S2000 for the team in Spain. Brynildsen and Breen finished eighth and tenth in the SWRC respectively, with Brynildsen gaining the team's best finish, coming home second in France. Solberg competed in his final event in a Citroën by winning the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint, beating MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso in the final. The team closed down after Solberg announced he was to drive for the Ford World Rally Team in 2012.

WRC results

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Year Car No Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Points TC Points
2009 Citroën Xsara WRC 11 Norway Petter Solberg IRL NOR
6
CYP
3
POR
4
ARG
Ret
ITA
3
GRC
Ret
POL
4
FIN
Ret
AUS 5th 35 - -
Citroën C4 WRC ESP
4
GBR
4
2010 Citroën C4 WRC 11 Norway Petter Solberg SWE
9
MEX
2
JOR
3
TUR
2
NZL
Ret
POR
5
BUL
3
FIN
4
GER
5
JPN
2
FRA
3
ESP
2
GBR
2
3rd 169 - -
Citroën Xsara WRC 68 France Yvan Muller SWE MEX JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN GER JPN FRA
42
ESP GBR - 0
2011 Citroën DS3 WRC 11 Norway Petter Solberg SWE
5
MEX
4
POR
6
JOR
Ret
ITA
3
ARG
4
GRE
4
FIN
5
GER
5
AUS
3
FRA
EX
ESP
Ret
GBR
Ret
5th 110 4th 98

References

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  1. ^ "World Rally Championship – Drivers & Teams – Teams – Petter Solberg World Rally Team". Wrc.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
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