World Rallycross Champion Petter Solberg ended a history-making season in the perfect style as he scored his fifth win of the year in San Luis, Argentina today.
Solberg, the first man ever to lift both the World Rally Championship and World RX titles, dominated the 12th and final round of this year’s series. After winning two of the four heats, nobody could touch the PSRX team-leader in the knock-out stages as the Norwegian superstar steamrollered the opposition once again.
Petter said: “To finish the season as we started it is absolutely unbelievable! We couldn’t have hoped for this before the race. We did a lot of work on the car before Argentina. Forty per cent of the development we are doing for next season was on the car here and we have shown just how good it is. And just how hard everybody in the PSRX team has worked.
“I’m always happy on the gravel, but with the changes we’d made to the car for this event, we were in a different league on the loose in San Luis. It was sensational! Now we have to go home and work on the other 60 per cent, but this has been an amazing start to the development programme.
“For the team, this was the most important weekend. We won the title in Italy in September and already celebrated that – we might have another small celebration or two – but what we did here with victory in Argentina was give the guys some fuel in their tank for the long winter of work ahead. Everybody in a PSRX shirt won this race today, not just me.
“We came here with a lot of new developments on the car and we did have some issues in practice, but the changes we made worked immediately. The rain was incredible in the third heat and I made a mistake, which cost me some time. But that was really the only thing which didn’t go to plan this week.
“The key to the team’s success this season has come through a change in our approach. We have worked so, so hard on a strategic approach. We have come to every race knowing what we want to achieve from every lap of every race; we’ve analysed absolutely everything, including the circuits, the corners, the competition, the cars, everything. We made ourselves really, really smart this season and that’s something I am so proud of in the whole team.
“And finally, maybe you didn’t notice, but my boots changed colour for this race. OMP was very kind and sent me some golden boots for the race. I remember when Tommi Makinen got his golden boots for his final World Rally Championship event – I was his team-mate at Subaru – in 2003. That was a special moment for my friend and this was the same for me.
“I wore them and won. Tonight I’ll wear them and dance.”
Petter’s PSRX team-mate Manfred Stohl made a strong start to his World RX career, making the semi-final in the second Citroen DS3 Supercar.
Just before we go, it’s time for a word from Mrs S. Pernilla said: “It’s just been the most fantastic season. And winning here means so much to Petter. When he came here to compete in the rally, he loved it, loved the country and loved the people and this result has just made that stronger. What a way to finish the season. I can’t believe it – like Petter said, I’m so proud of everybody in the team. We all worked so hard to make this happen and it’s all worth it!”
Final result:
1 Petter Solberg 3m29.598s
2 Reinis Nitiss 3m34.481s
3 Kevin Eriksson 3m38.287s
4 Timmy Hansen 3m39.739s
5 Toomas Heikkinen 3m41.629s
6 Andreas Bakkerud 3m48.554s
Championship positions:
1 Petter Solberg 282pts
2 Toomas Heikkinen 221pts
3 Reinis Nitiss 210pts
4 Timmy Hansen 199pts
5 Andreas Bakkerud 193pts
6 Anton Marklund 173pts
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