Petter Solberg: "Nothing really worked for me on Sunday."

PHOTO CREDIT: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden. 

The 2018 World Rallycross Championship has not been the easiest by any stretch of the imagination, with Petter Solberg having all the bad luck imaginable. Engine issues, incidents with fellow competitors and mechanical failures. 

Can the Norwegian turn around his luck in the second half of the championship? 

Solberg showed exceptional speed on Saturday qualifying and was third quickest in both qualifying rounds – but it was in Q2 where we saw the Norwegian smash the lap record in Canada. His new lap record of 46.959s.

Petter troubled the final top spot at the first corner, but ultimately lost out on the joker and came home a frustrated fifth. 

“Fantastic weekend for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden. Fantastic." said Solberg. “But… I’ve got to admit, I do feel a little bit frustrated with this weekend. I felt I could have come away from Canada with a little bit more. But the big thing is the performance of the team and, of course, Johan. It was a great job." 

Solberg was happy with the pace of his Polo R Supercar, but rues his position in the immediate classification on Saturday. "We were maybe a little bit unlucky not to be higher up in the standings on Saturday night, but I was confident for Sunday," he adds.

The Norwegian lined-up alongside his teammate in semi-final 1 and finished in third place, which booked him a place in the final. He would have to start on the back row alongside Sebastien Loeb. Petter opted for a fast strategy, but taking the joker lap on the opening lap, did not pay off for him. He finished the final in fifth place, a mammoth 4.038s behind his teammate and race winner Kristoffersson.

“In the end, nothing really worked for me on Sunday. I took the joker and just missed out on the position coming out; I got half a look up the inside of a car and it just didn’t work," explains Solberg. “But, you know we work as a team and it’s a big congratulations to Johan. He was fantastic today (Sunday) and, of course, it’s a very big congratulations to Volkswagen Motorsport – the Polo R Supercar was on incredible form."