Solberg relishing Australia return

Petter Solberg hopes that his keenness for tackling new events will put him in a strong position when the World Rally Championship resumes in Australia this week.

Solberg, who won in Australia on the way to claiming his sole world title triumph in 2003, is one of the favourites for a podium finish on the Coffs Harbour-based rally, which uses all-new stages following its switch to the area for this season.

“It will be fun to do a rally in Australia again,” said Solberg. “I missed out on this rally in 2009 [due to funding issues]. It’s a brand new venue for it in Coffs Harbour but normally new events turn out good for us, so I’m looking forward to it.”

After nine rounds, Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson are fifth in the WRC standings having taken a solitary podium finish this season on board their privateer Citroen DS3 WRC. However, this tally is considered to be a poor reflection on the pace they have showed, particularly earlier in the campaign when they led several events and recorded a succession of fastest stage times.

“We just have to fight on,” said the 36-year-old. “I hope we can get the problems fixed and be back on the pace on this rally. We should be on the podium but the development of the manufacturers is going so fast now so we have to push on.”

Solberg won’t be the only member of the Norwegian rallying clan in action in Australia: Petter’s older brother Henning will also be competing at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta RS WC for the M-Sport Stobart team.

The younger Solberg’s preparations for Rally Australia included a visit to the Sydney Tower last Sunday. He said: “The view was amazing. An autograph signing session on ground level concluded the day. It was early Sunday, but a lot of people had shown up to meet the drivers.”