Interview: Petter Solberg on World Rallycross and Lydden Hill

Q: How do you judge your season so far?

“It’s been fantastic. We started this project in January. It was talked about for a long time, but we only made the decision then, so there was a lot of work to get everything ready.

“We’ve shown a lot of performance, but we’ve had a few issues to sort out. Now those are done, we’ve shown a lot of performance. We’re leading the teams’ championship, which is our main goal this year, so it’s not bad.”

Q: How have you adjusted to the Polo after the Citroën DS3 (pictured below)?

“The Polo is a fantastic car. It’s good fun to drive, really easy. We’re developing it all the time and going forward. But it’s a hard competition, and we can’t sit still.”

Q: The racing has been very close this year…

“The sport is unbelievable. The competition between the teams and drivers, and how they work, is amazing. The teams are so professional and the drivers are at such a high level. This is what makes the sport so good – you can’t predict a winner.”

Q: Reigning champion Mattias Ekström had a fantastic start to the year, but you and Johan beat him in the last round in Belgium. How important was that?

“That was a very important race. I gave him the victory in Portugal after a puncture, and we’ve been going better and better. Belgium was a crucial race for us. We closed the gap in the championship, and we’re only 14 points behind, which is acceptable.”

Q: Did you think it would take a few events before you could challenge?

“We knew Mattias would be good, and he’s been driving his car for more than three years now. It took him two years to get it really good – we’ve had four months with the Polo. We’re in a good position, and we’ve got a lot of experience to help, especially with the support of Volkswagen Motorsport.”

Q: This weekend will be the championship’s final trip to Lydden Hill. How much do you want to do well there?

“We really want to do well, for sure. I want to try to end on the top in Lydden Hill. We’ve been fast there every year.

“It’s sad it’s going because it’s an iconic circuit and a fantastic track. It would be good to have both Lydden and Silverstone on the calendar, but it’s a good move to go to Silverstone. It’s a unique place with a lot of possibilities.”