Solberg takes fifth in Sweden

Petter Solberg ended the opening round of the World Rally Championship in fifth place after an eventful weekend in Sweden.

Unexpectedly, it was co-driver Chris Patterson who drove the PSWRT’s Citroën DS3 WRC on the Power Stage and through the finish line of the rally. He had no other choice as Solberg was caught speeding by the police on Friday afternoon and had his driving license suspended – the suspension only came into effect on Sunday afternoon.

“I take my hat off for Chris. He had never driven a rally car before but still managed to set a good time on that stage”, said Petter.

The Norwegian looked in contention for the win when he started the third leg, but dropped time through the morning stages as he was nursing a front-damper problem.

He took three stage wins on Saturday.

“I think we have done well this weekend and everything has worked well. Even with 20 seconds time penalty I think we had a chance for a podium. But with the damper problems this morning, we lost too much time”, he commented.