2003 champion Petter Solberg is returning to WRC for
the racing debut of the new VW Polo GTI R5 in Spain. Solberg and his co-driver
Veronica Engan will compete in the WRC 2 Class at the Rally Spain in Catalonia
from October 25 to 28. The Norwegian World Rally Champion returns to the same
place where he called time on his WRC career in 2012.
Solberg is currently competing in the World
Rallycross Championship with the PSRX VW Sweden team and he’s only coming back
to WRC for this weekend. The new VW Polo GTI R5 is making its competitive debut
at the Rally Spain and it’s going to be the car’s only outing with the VW works
team.
Solberg won the World Rally Championship in 2003
with Subaru, ending the season just one point ahead of Sébastien Loeb and
Carlos Sainz. The Norwegian rally driver has claimed 52 podiums and 13
victories during 188 appearances in WRC driving for Toyota, Ford, Subaru and
Citroen. The 2018 Rally Spain will be Solberg’s first rally with Volkswagen.
The new Polo GTI R5 will be run by customer teams in
national and international championships. The new rally car is powered by a
turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder with 268 hp and 400 Nm.
Power goes to all four wheels via a five-speed sequential racing transmission,
making the 1,320 kg rally car able to reach 100 km/hh from a standstill
in 4.1 seconds.
