Fiesta time for Henning Solberg in Bulgaria?

Stobart driver Henning Solberg has said that he may contest the Rally Bulgaria in a Ford Fiesta Super 2000, after it was confirmed that former Junior World Rally Champion P-G Andersson will drive Solberg’s usual Ford Focus WRC on the event in early July.

“If I drive in Bulgaria, it will be with the Fiesta,” said Solberg - who also admitted that his participation in the all-asphalt Bulgarian event still hung in the balance. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Bulgaria - along with Rallye Deutschland in August - never formed part of Solberg’s 2010 programme according to Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson. Solberg has never favoured asphalt rallies, with his best result on the surface being fourth place on the 2009 Rally Ireland.

Wilson also added that Andersson’s drive in Bulgaria was not part of a commercial deal but was instead fully funded. While Andersson is by no means an asphalt expert either, Wilson said that he was keen to take the Swedish youngster out of his comfort zone and see how he performed under pressure.

“It’ll be interesting to see what he makes of it,” said Wilson. “I think a few people have been watching him for a while. We’ve certainly always been aware of him.”

The Ford boss stressed that Andersson’s deal was a one-off for the time being, but that the door was open for further outings if he performed well.

Solberg is expected to return to the Expert-backed Ford Focus WRC for Rally Finland from July 29-31. Rumours about Solberg’s future began to surface on the Rally de Portugal, when he failed to show up for the official 2010 competitors’ photograph - with only his co-driver Ilka Minor representing the crew.