4 Tour de Corse 2003
Talk to Solberg about this one and there’s still a wry smile and slight shake of the head. He arrived on the island knowing a good result was vital to a sustained challenge for the championship, but there was a nagging concern that, if it stayed dry, his Pirelli-shod Subaru Impreza WRC 03 would struggle against the French force that was Michelin, Sebastien Loeb and a Citroen Xsara WRC.
All this paled into insignificance when Solberg caught some gravel on the outside of a fast right-hander on the shakedown. The car slid off the road and hit a telegraph pole. The damage to the side of the Subaru was huge, but Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills knew how lucky they’d been; either side of the telegraph pole there was a very steep drop down a Corsican mountain.
“The car came back to the service park and it was so badly damaged,” says Solberg. “I was so low. Paul Howarth [Subaru operations director] said, ‘No, no, no, we can fix this’. I wasn’t sure. I was feeling so sh*t.”
Through the night the Prodrive mechanics worked to pull the Subaru as straight as possible. It was scrutineered again on Friday morning. It passed.
“I was up really early and went to see the car,” remembers Solberg. “I couldn’t believe it. The paint was still wet, but it looked amazing. What a team! It was a crazy job, but it showed those guys had the same passion for the championship that I did.”
Understandably, Solberg started slowly but built his speed and forced himself into the lead battle. He moved to the front of the field on the final Saturday stage and stayed there through Sunday.
Solberg remembers that Sunday fondly: “When we celebrated the win, I jumped on the roof and was just jumping up and down! I put some more dents in it, but I didn’t care. I just couldn’t believe what this incredible team had done. Thursday, we were lucky not to be dead, and four days later we are winning the rally.”