Petter Solberg’s Rough Road Ahead

Subaru team driver Petter Solberg, has won the Rally of Italy keeping alive his hopes of defending the world rally championship title. Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb finished two minutes behind in second place but has a 26-point lead in the championship race with three races left.

Meanwhile, Michelin is claiming is 7th consecutive manufacturers’ title with three rounds to go. “From the very early part of this rally, we were not fully satisfied with our performance over this complex patchwork of different surfaces. Despite finishing 2nd and 3rd, which means we are now certain of winning the Manufacturers’ title, we intend to use the data collected by the members of our R&D team who were here all weekend to win this event when we return next spring,” commeneted Aimé Chatard, Rallies Manager, Michelin Competition.

Loeb needs only five more points from the final three rounds to win the title, while Solberg needs to win all of them. Britain’s Guy Wilks now leads the junior world championship by just three points with a solitary round left after his second place in his category in Sardinia. Championship rival Per-Gunnar Andersson edged closer to the Briton by taking the junior victory.