Petter Solberg is well known for channelling his emotions into the zone he requires when he needs one of his iconic dominating drives and he did just that for the 2017 World RX of Great Britain.
The Norwegian driver made his intentions clear when he shattered the lap record in Free Practice and went on to put his marker on the event by going fastest in both Q1 and Q2 to sit as Top Qualifier after Saturday’s action. After going quickest again in Q3, Solberg was pipped to the post by Timmy Hansen in Q4 but he still finished Qualifying in first place overall.
“You know I’m quite an emotional guy,” said Solberg, “but this is really something special. To see all of these people here at this fantastic track is so amazing and then for the team to go so well in front of them is unbelievable.”
After taking the win in Semi-Final One, the PSRX Volkswagen Team Sweden driver lined up in pole position for the Supercar Final. After taking his joker on the second lap, Solberg patiently drive his way top the front as the others took their joker laps and he crossed the line to take victory with team-mate Johan Kristoffersson in second place.
Solberg explains that its the hard work that has started since January that has led to this long awaited 1-2 result.
“You know, we started this adventure in January and look where we are? I think this one really is unbelievable. I talk a lot about the team and the team performance, but that’s absolutely the way we work,” explains Solberg.
“Every single person in the team, and I mean everybody puts 100 per cent into what we do. But recently, we’ve been putting 110 per cent in and we’ve been getting the results.”
With his first win of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, Solberg moves to three points behind EKSRX rival Mattias Ekstrom. However the highlight of the weekend is clear for the Double World RX Champion.
“With the move to Silverstone next year, this will be the last time the World Rallycross Championship will be here at Lydden for a while, so to win this race is fantastic for me.”