Since Petter Solberg was left without a drive when Subaru retired there have been discussions on what he may do in the future. One of the possibilities have been to start a private team – an alternative that seems more and more likely considering the amount of time that has elapsed after the Subaru announcement. If so, what car would he drive? Here are some thougths…
Petter could use 2009 to adapt to the Super 2000 cars that will be used in 2010. Will he? No. He wants to compete against his old rivals – and win! That ends the discussion regarding Petter in a S2000 car.
So, going for a WRC car, what’s left?
Subaru Impreza WRC? Yes, that’s a possibility. Petter obviously has good connections with Prodrive and I think he should have a car there, since Prodrive expected him to drive until just before christmas. But I also think that the japanese manufacturer doesn’t want to get Petter Solberg running around the world in their cars – almost like a manufacturer driver. That’s too close to how things were last year, and Subaru has retired since then. That would make the japanese bosses “lose their face”.
Ford Focus WRC? If Petter wanted to rent a car from Malcolm, it would for sure be possible. If Malcolm didn’t have the car – he would build it. The problem is that Petter probably doesn’t want to be driving using the same gear as Henning. Also, Henning is from what I’ve understood first driver in the Stobart team, which means he has got quite high priority. Petter would never go with lower priority than Henning. But anyway, I don’t think he’s willing to risk to lose against Henning in the same car… The Solberg-brothers fight is good PR for Henning – not Petter.
Citroen C4 WRC? Citroen would be a good choice to Petter, but their factory team is full and their team of young drivers too. Added to that, Petter is not a young driver – and more important I don’t know how Citroen can manage to get enough cars. Counting on their M1 and M2 team they should already now have to work quite hard to get cars enough out to the rallies…
Suzuki SX4 WRC? I don’t know if the Suzukis are for rent, and I doubt they are. But if they are, I don’t think Petter is interested. The cars are quite new, a lot of problems still remais and Petter wants to win – not develop a car. So, no…
Mitsubishi Lancer WRC? No, the Lancer is just not good enough for Petter.
Skoda Fabia WRC? No, the Fabia is just not good enough for Petter.
Peugeot 307 WRC? Those cars are run by Bozian, they are for hire – and they have been developed quite a lot since Peugeot left the WRC after 2005. It’s an old car, but I still consider it a fully possible choice for Petter to use in the WRC.
If I were to bet regarding this today, I would put my money on Petter Solberg in a private team using a Bozian run 307WRC.
Am I sure? No, not at all – quite the opposite. But it’s my best shot.
Here follows some pictures of the 307 WRC at Daniel Carlsson’s test in February 2008 in Sweden – a spec that is probably close to what Petter could be driving in 2009.
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Tags: petter solberg, peugeot 307wrc, private team, subaru
Do you really think that a 307 WRC is competitive enough to win rallyes? Perhaps the best option for Petter is a Ford