Petter ‘Hollywood’ Solberg has shown just why he is the most exciting driver in the newly-created FIA World Rallycross Championship by winning the opening round in Montalegre, Portugal.
The Norwegian fought back from being pushed off the track and having a broken throttle cable yesterday to win the final in style, having also come first in one of the heats and one of the semi-finals.
Petter, who won the World Rally Championship in 2003, returned to rallycross last year after a 17-year absence: but it was like he had never been away.
Appropriately enough for a man called ‘Hollywood’, there is always a drama and always a story around Petter. He battled back from his difficulties to take the lead in the final at the rapid Montalegre circuit, and fought a fantastic battle against his compatriot Andreas Bakkerud. Petter was never headed, but he was never able to pull put a big gap either, meaning that he had to fight all the way to the finish over the Portuguese gravel and asphalt.
“It’s a huge, huge emotion,” said Petter, surrounded by his loyal PSRX team and his wife, as well as team manager, Pernilla. “We’ve had some huge downs since we stared rallycross and now this is a huge high, which I’ll always remember. To achieve what we have done – building a team from scratch, taking on established manufacturers with a private team, doing it all ourselves, with our own hands – has been a huge effort and sacrifice. But now all those nights without sleep have been worth it. I’d like to describe the feeling but it’s almost impossible. Let’s just say that I’m very happy.”
Throughout his career Petter has won with radio controlled cars, as well as 13 World Rally Championship events and one world rally title. He’s a true champion of the world. But this latest achievement means as much as any of those victories.
“It means so much to me because it’s been achieved completely through our own hard work and determination. I’ve invested so much in this team and we have world-class facilities now, even though we don’t get any manufacturer support. But our mission this year was still to fight to win and we’re already doing that. I’d like to thank all our partners and of course our fans who made it possible. We’re going to enjoy this moment and savour every minute. It’s a very, very special moment in my career. Then we get straight back to work. This win just makes us all the more determined to carry on in this way. We’ve got a benchmark to aim for now!”
The next round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at Lydden Hill in England from May 24-25.
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