Petter Solberg hasn’t had an ideal start to his 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship campaign, but thinks a good result this weekend at his home race in Norway will help to turn his fortunes around.
The 2014 and 2015 World RX champion sits in fourth in the standings after bad luck and reliability plagued him in the first races of the season. His best result so far this year was second place in Mettet, Belgium and in comparison, team-mate and reigning champion Johan Kristoffersson has won three out of four events this year.
This weekend, World RX travels to ‘Hell’ for the fifth round of the season, and although Solberg previously has never had good fortune at the circuit, the Norwegian is hoping that this trend will change.
“Everybody is always making these jokes about Hell, but you know this track is actually one of the best of the season,” he commented.
“I really enjoy this one, it’s a proper, proper rallycross circuit.
“This might be my home race, but it’s not one that has ever been kind to me though – I’ve had quite a lot of bad luck here and this week would be a really good time for that to change!”
Last time out, at the inaugural round held at the new Silverstone track, Solberg failed to make it into the final after being forced to retire for technical reasons in his semi-final. Naturally, he was disappointed to miss out, especially with Kristoffersson going on to win.
“Not making the final at the last round in Silverstone was so frustrating for me and, of course, I’m not happy with the place in the championship. I have to work on this in Norway, I need a result to turn things around a little bit.
“I have been at these times in motorsport before, you get one small thing that works for you and it’s like a trigger for everything else. You know the team is doing a fantastic job; Volkswagen Motorsport is incredible what we have with the car and I feel like my driving is good – but I just need a break.”
