Autosport 70: Solberg pips Loeb
23 September 2004
He may have been in the process of losing his World Rally crown to Sebastien Loeb, but Petter Solberg was not to be denied on Rally GB this week in 2004. The Subaru ace arrived 30 points behind Citroen star Loeb with five rounds to go (and with 10 points then on offer for a win).
Loeb set the early pace, but
Solberg held on. Heading into the final day the Subaru was just 7.3 seconds behind. And a stunning Solberg effort through the penultimate stage (Margam) stole the win from Loeb. “Corners that had been noted for a lift or a dab of the brakes were absolutely nailed in top gear,” said our report. “Loeb was a beaten man.”
Solberg won the rally by 6.3s to secure the third of his four consecutive Rally GB victories.
The big F1 news was that Ford had decided to put its struggling Jaguar Racing team up for sale. “It’s always consisted of a bit too much branding and not quite enough real performance,” lamented Autosport.
Christian Horner’s Arden concern and Red Bull were two of the parties believed to be interested. Ultimately Horner and Red Bull joined forces to create the team that would take its first grand prix victory in 2009 and become one of the most successful squads of the following decade.
In driver news, Jacques Villeneuve was buoyant about his chances on his F1 return with Renault, replacing the out-of-favour Jarno Trulli. Villeneuve wanted to put one over his old BAR team and help Renault secure second in the constructors’ table, but his three outings would yield no points and BAR duly wrapped up the runner-up spot.
Autosport debates the greatest rally car of all time as part of our special series of podcasts to celebrate our 70th birthday. Go to bit.ly/greatestrallycar