Solberg touched by support after revealing medical condition.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media.

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden driver and team owner, Petter Solberg was back in Riga for the first time since being involved in a heavy crash last year. The triple FIA world champion admitted he’d been touched by the support he received after revealing his medical condition ahead of the Latvian round. 

But, for the third World RX of Latvia in succession, he failed to emerge with the result he’d hoped for – a collision on lap one of the semi-final lead to him not qualifying for the final.

“I don’t believe in bad luck but that’s three times in a row now in Latvia..." said Solberg. "I feel like I had good pace all weekend but just never had the chance to show it. I was stuck in traffic a lot, some really tough battles but it meant I lost so much time and couldn’t get the results I needed to get a front-row spot for the semi-finals."

The Norwegian lined up on the second row of the grid in semi-final one, and after an incident at Turn 1, he finished in fourth place. “In turn one in the semi I felt a hard hit from behind and was pushed into the wall," explained Solberg. "At that point getting into the final was basically impossible, but our speed in those last five laps was really good and showed what could have been."

Ahead of the Latvian round, Solberg revealed that he was diagnosed with a condition in where his body produces too much iron. The medical condition was only discovered after doctors performed tests, following his crash in Latvia last year. 

“It was a tough decision whether or not to talk about what happened for the last year, but I wanted people to know why I had not really been myself," said Solberg. "Honestly, the support I got has been more than I could ever imagine and I have to say a big, big thank you to everybody for these messages."