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PETTER SOLBERG
AMBASSADOR OF THE RALLY D’ITALIA
SARDEGNA 2009 IN THE WORLD
“ This is a beautiful land, with the
right atmosphere, sun, nice people and
wonderful gravel roads”
Olbia May 19th
2009 – A special presence for Petter
Solberg in Rally di Sardegna 2009 . The
Norwegian, world champion in 2003 and
winner of the first edition of the Rally
d’Italia on the island’s roads in 2004,
is this year the official testimonial of
the Rally d’Italia in the world. A
tribute to the sporting and human
qualities of the champion, without doubt
one of the most spectacular drivers of
the World Rally Championship, but also a
sign of the growth of the Italian round
of the series in the opinion of the
world that rotates around international
rallying.
Solberg is not
only in Sardinia to act as an ambassador
of the event in the world, but moreover
to be a protagonist. The Norwegian has
tested extensively with his 2006-spec.
Citroen Xsara. He staged a show on the
gravel roads in the San Giacomo area he
gave a show, looking in great shape.
“This is a beautiful land – he claimed -
with the right atmosphere, sun, nice
people and wonderful gravel roads. I am
here with the new car, I am looking for
the correct set-up, I will also have
Thursday morning to fine tune it. The
event’s special stages will tell if the
new car will allow me to keep the pace
of the best drivers. The differences
between this new version of the Xsara,
with the 2006 technical specs, and the
2005 version which I used in Argentina,
are essential and this surely will give
me many more chances”. After winning in
2004 and finishing second in 2005 on the
Subaru Impreza, Petter Solberg would
like to perform well in 2009. “My goal
is to climb on the third step of the
podium, should the car respond
accordingly and be faster I could do
even better”.
The Rally d’Italia
Sardegna will be a crucial point in the
season of many drivers. Amongst these
will surely be Jari-Matti Latvala,
second driver of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi
World Rally Team. In a season where he
has been a protagonist, albeit often in
the wrong way, Latvala now has the
chance to take his revenge, aiming at
victory. Confident, though extremely
concentrated, Jari-Matti Latvala
attended the pre-event test and the
Sunday afternoon session at Monte Moro
and found time for his local supporters,
signing autographs and having pictures
taken with the fans. “Sardinia is a
wonderful place, I like it and it is
also one of my favourite events together
with Finland and Wales. This rally is
fast and technical at the same time, it
has that mixture of conditions which I
prefer. Besides, I have many supporters
here, maybe because the local fans like
my aggressive and spectacular driving
style”. Latvala’s childhood hero was
Henri Toivonen, a Finnish unforgotten
champion, who performed on the gravel
roads of the Gallura region in the 80s.
“Yes, Henri was my favourite driver –
said the 24-year old driver from Tuuri –
I was a child when he passed away, but I
have read and seen a lot about him, and
last year I also went to see the place
where he went off on the Isuledda stage.
I also know that he had a lot of
supporters here in Sardinia”. Last year
Latvala finished third, and this year he
is aiming to win. “I have had a
difficult start to the season, and in
Portugal I have had a bad accident,
fortunately without consequence. I did
not hear a note well, as it was too
long. So starting from Argentina I
changed my way of writing pace notes,
these now being shorter, and the event
went well apart from some mechanical
problems. I would honestly like to
finish on the podium again, here the
fight will be between Mikko and
Sébastien, and I believe that this time
my team mate Mikko Hirvonen must at any
cost beat Loeb to keep the championship
open”.
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