World RX – Bitterness prevails for Solberg

Petter Solberg has only been able to win once this season at the opening in Montalegre (Portugal) last April. Although the three-time world champion no longer claims the Drivers' and Teams' titles, he was keen to end his 2016 program with a victory.

It was off to a good start for the Norwegian who won the four qualifying heats in difficult conditions.

“I was very confident going into this weekend, recognized Petter Solberg. My car was running fine. I really wanted to end this season with a victory. Organizers had no choice but to postpone most of the qualifying rounds until Sunday when the rain arrived. The showers made the track very muddy, but conditions subsequently improved. I was delighted to see that I remained the fastest. I was full of confidence and I thought I would have a perfect weekend by winning the semi-final and the final. »

Petter Solberg's ambitions were stopped by a kamikaze attack from Timur Timerzyanov (Ford Fiesta) who crashed into the peloton at the start of the race, causing a pile-up.

“I was next to Ekström (Audi S1) on the grid, but he didn't worry me because he had anticipated the start and therefore had to do two wild laps. So my start wasn't too aggressive... I had a fairly rough first contact with Baumanis (Fiesta). That's when Timerzyanov came out of nowhere and hit Baumanis who then hit me. I immediately felt that the steering was broken. I did a few laps with the left front wheel wobbly and completed the last 4 laps with the front wheels pointing in different directions. The steering shaft gave way and I had a lot of trouble crossing the finish line. I clearly didn't want to end the season this way.", regretted Petter Solberg.

Petter Solberg concluded the 2016 season in 4th place in the Championship behind Mattias Ekström and Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen) while being tied on points with Andreas Bakkerud.

Discover the report of the World RX in Rosario in issue 2091 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from Wednesday.