SOL BERG BATTLES FOR FITNESS
Injured champ rushes to be ready for German WRX round
Two-time World Rallycross champion Petter Solberg has undergone surgery on a broken collarbone as he faces a race against time to be ready to compete in this weekend’s Estering RX round in Germany.
The Norwegian had a crash at the start of the semi-final in Latvia 10 days ago and was taken immediately to hospital.
“I am in a lot of pain,” said Solberg. “It’s been decided that I will undergo an operation on Monday in Sweden to stabilise the collarbone. I am preparing myself mentally for that operation at the moment, and my intentions are to compete in Germany this weekend.
“At least I have decided to give it a try, and if it doesn’t work out, I will accept that also.”
Solberg is second in the standings with two rounds remaining. His PSRX Volkswagen Sweden squad secured the World RX teams’ championship title at Riga in Latvia earlier this month, while his team-mate Johan Kristoffersson secured the drivers’ crown with his sixth event win of the year.
“I was devastated not to be able to celebrate our and Johan’s world championship success,” Solberg added. “Instead I was crying out of pain in the hospital when we secured two world titles. My own and our team’s main target this first season together was to fight for the teams’ championship, and we reached our goal in the third race from the end.”
The PSRX squad will run a third Polo in Germany for Volkswagan Motorsport test driver Dieter Depping.
Solberg’s son Oliver won the final round of the Rallyx Nordic Championship at Strangnas on Saturday, racing his father’s former World RX title-winning Citroen DS 3 Supercar. He headed JC Raceteknik driver Thomas Bryntesson in the final. The second place man claimed the title in his first year in Supercar, driving an Olsbergsmse-built Ford Fiesta.