Henning Solberg has been given a special waiver by the FIA to compete in a Fiesta R5 in Neste Rally Finland, rather than the Fiesta WRC with which he has been entered.
It is not known whether this marks a turning point in the career of the 43-year old Norwegian driver, who has contested 167 WRC events in World Rally Cars and scored six podium results. He has never rallied an R5 till now.
When asked the reason for the change, he said: “The famous old Fiesta WRC which I have been rallying recently (AYK) is an old specification car and just not fast enough.
“M–Sport does not have a newer specification car to let me use. In the recent Rally Poland, the top speed of my old car was only around 182-184 kph.”
M-Sport say that AYK is scheduled to carry out conflicting tyre testing work with DMack at the time of Finland's WRC event.
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