Petter Solberg says he’s ready to resume his bid for World Rally Championship glory on Rally Guanajuato Mexico this week after testing his Citroen DS3 WRC on gravel for the first time in France last Wednesday.
The 36-year-old Solberg won Rally Mexico in 2005 and finished second to seven-time world champion Sebastien Loeb on the rally last year after a close battle with Sebastien Ogier on the final day of the event.
Writing on his personal website, the 2003 world champion said: “Finally I got to drive the DS3 on a surface different than snow and I enjoyed it. After 14 pretty intense hours we had to stop, but I do think we are prepared in the best way for the Mexican stages.”
Norwegian Solberg, who will be co-driven by Northern Irishman Chris Patterson, will start the Leon event’s opening gravel stage on Friday morning (4 March) in fifth position on the road by virtue of his standing in the drivers’ championship following the opening event of the season in Sweden last month.
“For sure road position will be a key aspect,” said Solberg. “Mexico will be very exciting.”
Solberg already has three stage wins to his name this season, scored during an impressive showing on Rally Sweden, a fact not lost on Xavier Mestelan-Pinon, the man responsible for designing Citroen’s latest World Rally Car.
“In terms of figures, the DS3 WRCs set 10 fastest times out a possible 22,” said Mestelan-Pinon. “We had a long debrief after the event and I think we’ve found some interesting paths to explore in the future.”
Rally Mexico takes on added importance for Solberg as it will mark the first occasion that his eponymous team will be eligible to score manufacturers’ championship points after it registered as a WRC Team with the FIA, motorsport’s world governing body.
Team boss Ken Rees said: “We’re still a self-funded privateer team but very professional at the same time. The prestige attached to being a manufacturer team is very important for our sponsors. We’ve been playing with the big boys for the last two years now and it’s high time we took that next step and went up against them properly.”