Current Skoda driver and 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol thinks Subaru’s Petter Solberg will clinch the WRC world championship at the upcoming Rally of Great Britain.
Current Skoda driver and 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol thinks Subaru’s Petter Solberg will clinch the WRC world championship at the upcoming Rally of Great Britain.
The Norwegian is one point behind Citroën driver Sébastien Loeb ahead of the season-ending Wales Rally of Great Britain. Loeb proved very competitive in the last three asphalt events – despite crashing out in Corsica. However, most expect Solberg’s Impreza to be the car to beat on the British gravel course.
“At the moment, I think it’ll be Solberg,” Auriol said this week. “Sebastien was very impressive in Australia, beating (team-mates Carlos) Sainz and (Colin) McRae on a rally he didn’t know well. He’s got nothing to lose. He can still hope for the title, but Solberg is driving very well, he’s very quick, his car and tyres are well adapted to the terrain and he won last year. He’s the favourite.”
However, if Loeb and Solberg finish the season on equal points, the tiebreak would make the young Frenchman the 2003 world rally champion.
The two drivers could easily finish level, if the Subaru man was third on the rally and Loeb was fourth, for example. Both have won three times this year, but Solberg has finished second only once, whereas Loeb has been second twice.
If necessary, the FIA would count the number of minor placings down to eighth, the lowest position that earns a point, then take the faster time on the first stage of the season (which would have favoured Solberg in this case, if the tie were unbroken) then decide the outcome itself, on unspecified criteria.