Subaru’s Petter Solberg is confident that cool and damp conditions in this weekend’s Rally Argentina will enable the Pirelli-shod team to stop Sébastien Loeb from notching up a sixth consecutive WRC victory.
Subaru’s Petter Solberg is confident that cool and damp conditions in this weekend’s Rally Argentina will enable the Pirelli-shod team to stop Sébastien Loeb from notching up a sixth consecutive WRC victory.
The South American round of the championship could be the ideal location for Subaru to kickstart its title campaign, given that it will be held during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter (in conditions that usually favour Subaru’s tyre supplier, Pirelli). The Italian company has been forced to play second fiddle to French rival Michelin over the recent hot Mediterranean gravel events.
Solberg led last year’s Rally Argentina until he encountered a technical problem while negotiating one of the many water splashes on the event, and the Norwegian believes he will be on the pace again this year. “Argentina is a completely different rally compared to the others we’ve done recently,” Solberg said. “Our performance there last year was good, and we were leading the event for a while so I’m feeling good about the potential.
“I like the rally a lot and it’s one of the events where I can win. Certainly I’m expecting some tough competition, but we won’t really know how good the other guys are until the rally begins, but I’m looking forward to getting out there. We are a team that likes a challenge,” the former champion added.
Subaru team principal David Lapworth shared Solberg’s optimism about the Pro Drive-backed team’s chances… “After some tough events for our team recently, Argentina presents a very different road surface, and it’s one that has suited our Pirelli tyres well in the past,” the Briton said. “The types of tyre and compounds we will use in Argentina are different to those used on recent rallies, where in some circumstances we have been suffering relative to the competition. Rally Argentina is a very different animal.
“Tactics wise, I think we’re going to wait and see. We have every reason to think that the whole situation will be different to the last few rallies. We’re in a different zone, with different tyres, and different conditions. We’ll wait and see where we are in Argentina before we show our hand,” he added.
