Together, the two have won the World Rally Championship in 2003. However, with Mills wanting to retire from rallying and run his own motorsport preparation business, the Norwegian was left with the tough task of having to replace his long-time friend.
After yesterday we have reported to you that 3 co-drivers were in the books for the job, it has today been confirmed by Solberg that Northern Irishman co-driver Chris Patterson will fill in for Mills.
Patterson is certainly no stranger from the rallying world, as he has been reading notes for several WRC drivers since 1993. Amongst the most notable rally drivers he worked with throughout this period of time are IRC champion Kris Meeke, Alister McRae, Niall McShea, Gwyndaf Evans and last but not least Nasser Al-Attiyah, with whom he won a championship in 2006.
“He was right for me. He's calm and very motivated in the car - now I just want us to find that winning feeling together,” said Solberg when confirming Patterson.
The 41-year old driver was also a co-driver of WRC legend Colin McRae, back when the Scottish driver was testing for Ford. He'll step into the private Citroen C4 WRC of Solberg from as early as Rally Bulgaria, scheduled two weekends from now. Until then, however, the pair will take the car to the asphalt for a couple of days – also in Bulgaria – this weekend, in order to get the chemistry going.
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