WorldRX – Petter Solberg winner in Trois-Rivières

Hollywood Petter Solberg has perfectly succeeded in his reconversion. After leaving the WRC, where he won the title in 2003 with Subaru, here he is currently dominating the peloton in the brand new World Championship. Rallycross. Last night in Canada, Solberg and his Citroën DS3 Supercar won in the final against the Volkswagen Polo of Swede Anton Marklund (Marklund Motorsport) and the Peugeot 208 from Russian Timur Timerzyanov (Team Hansen). This is the first podium for the last two cities, Timerzyanov having come a long way in this event after notably finishing a round in the barriers. “It has always been my dream to become the first person to win two world championships and now that dream is getting closer but there are still five races to go. » declared the winner of the day upon arrival.

The Latvian Reinis Nitiss (Ford – Olsbergs MSE), on the other hand, had a difficult day in Canada with two punctures. Despite everything, he reached the semi-final thanks to the withdrawal of Joni Wiman, then the final but finally failed in fourth position. Other setbacks for local hero Jacques Villeneuve. After a good start, the driver of the Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 saw his hopes go up in smoke following a problem with the fuel tank of his 208. The other Canadian driver Patrick Carpentier (Volkswagen Polo – Marklund) s He was shown to be rather lively, going from the Rallycross commentary microphone to the wheel this weekend, with a sixth place in the final.

Less success, however, for Frenchman Davy Jeanney (Citroën DS3 – Monster Energy), who narrowly missed qualifying for the final. Note the third place in RXLites of Julien Fébreau, fielded by Team Olsbergs MSE. Solberg now has a 20-point lead in the Championship over Toomas Heikkinen (Marklund) before the next round of the season at Lohéac (September 6-7).

Find the report from the Canadian round of WorldRX in issue 1973 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version and from next Wednesday on newsstands.