Remote:Service’s regular readers should know by now that whenever there is a post about Petter Solberg, what follows is a celebration of his loveliness.
So here you go!
In the days when he used to smile all the time, how I miss those days
Ok, so this isn't my definition of "hot stuff" but it makes me chuckle - Petter enjoying the Jordanian way of life
Fighting talk from Petter Solberg
Remote:Service’s favourite blue-eyed boy has come out fighting, telling wrc.com “A fight for third is my goal as soon as I’m on a rally, if I can’t do that there’s no point in driving.”
That’s a bit extreme isn’t it Petter?
We’re all well aware that Petter is a tad melodramatic, he’s not nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ for no reason, but this seems to be a bit OTT even for him.
Let’s think about it logically – he’s fourth in the standings at the moment, nine points behind Dani Sordo, nine points is nothing, right?
Well actually it is.
Dani is about as consistent as rally drivers come and although Petter can boast more stage experience, Dani is driving a much better car so I would be very surprised if Petter is able to keep up with him on all of the remaining events this season.
He’ll have to drive to the absolute limit if he’s to keep up with the pace and we all know what happens when Petter pushes to the extreme…flashback 2004….
I’m not for a second saying Petter shouldn’t have dreams but he’s got to be realistic about his chances.
After Subaru’s shock exit last year we saw a glimmer of the old Petter Solberg magic….Without a drive for 2009 he pulled a privateer team together within a month. He even turned down the offer of a full-time drive in the Courage-Oreca team for the 2009 Le Mans Sportscar series.
Does he really want to give it all up now when he’s poured so much into getting his career back on track?
He’s shown he’s the most dedicated rally driver out there and if he keeps on consistently finishing rallies as he is now I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets picked up by a manufacturer team next year.
A miracle might happen and he might finish this championship in third place, but he’s got to be careful – pushing too much and having goals beyond his reach can only end in a fall from grace.
The plot thickens on this story and I’m still not sure what to believe.
Earlier this week I wrote this post.
Unconfirmed reports from a Norwegian newspaper (see here) were stating that Petter had contracted Legionella during Rally Cyprus.
The funny thing is no one else was reporting it, no not even the WRC website.
Yeah, I was a bit confused too.
Well another Norwegian site is now reporting that Petter’s condition is improving, he’s had treatment and will be competiting in Rally Argentina next weekend.
Oh well, at least we know he’s better, sort of and hopefully the man himself will be able to shed some light himself on what’s been going on come next weekend.
Anyhoo, he was testing an Abarth S2000 last week so things can’t be that dire.
I’m not sure what’s going on with this story but it seems that Hollywood’s a bit ill.
A few weeks ago I came across this on the WRC website.
I just assumed that he’d caught a bug in Cyprus or just been pushing himself too hard and thought nothing else of it.
But I was doing my usual look on RallyForum and came across this news story from a Norwegian newspaper.
Now I’m not sure what to make of this and I’ve done loads of searching for similar news stories but haven’t found any telling the same story, even wrc.com and crash.net haven’t picked up on it so I don’t really know what’s going on.
All I can say is how determined is this guy if he was ill during Rally Portugal but still managed to get fourth place???
We’re all thinking of you Petter and Remote:Service is wishing you a speedy recovery.
…. or for anyone who needs cheering up after this post and this post – they were a bit depressing to be fair.
I looked back over my closing comments today and thought ‘man, that was a bit harsh of me’. So I dug out some pics of Petter that make me smile, back in happier times when he knew how to smile himself.
I much prefer the chiseled cheekbones to the Michelin man-like look that Loeb pulls off so effortlessly.
NB Yes Petter is a bit hyperactive but believe it or not he has very gentle hands, he’s very gentle when he gives you a hug the sensitive soul that he is.
A bit hot Petter?? Cooling down during the Acropolis 2003
Those chiseled cheekbones are on display, good times
This is the Petter we know......
....and this
….or then again maybe not, seems like I’m his only fan these days….bring out the violins.
My earlier post got me thinking about the days when Petter was the number one guy in the service park.
My mum, being the Sebastien Loeb obssesse in the family always put Petter down and I know for a fact that she’ll deny it but it’s true. One thing she always tried to imply was that the whole fan friendly image was apparently only for the cameras.
Well I beg to disagree.
I have met Mr Solberg on more than one occassion, three times in one day in fact at Rally Catalunya 2004. Firstly at Shakedown I waited and waited for an autograph, each time Petter got out of the car he apologised for not being able to come over, promising to come back later.
Eventually Petter came running over and dancing as if with ants in his pants he said “I’m so sorry I’ll be back in a minute, I really need a wee!” before running off behind the Pirelli van, doing his business and running back over to me while still zipping up his flies!
Not only did I get an autograph, I got a lovely cuddle to go with it.
Later in the day while parked up on a road section (parents were arguing over rally road maps) and Seb sped past. Knowing that Petter would be quick behind I got out the Norweigan and Welsh flags. I didn’t just get a wave, no, I got a manic wave, a Subaru weaving down the middle of the road, flashing of the lights and crazed beeping of the horn! It was great, I was the only one there!
Finally after the ceremonial start myself and my brother waited outside Parc Ferme and Petter walked past and I got a wink and a smile and my brother got an autograph and a shake of the hand. There were no cameras and very few other fans present so you can hardly say the guy was playing up to make himself look good.
It was the perfect end to the perfect day.
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