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Petter Solberg Starts Own Team in the WRC

Subaru may have left the World Rally Championship ahead of the 2009 season, but Petter Solberg's plans inside the series will not stop here. The 2003 WRC champion has struggled to find a racing seat in the series during the winter but eventually decided to start his own team. In less than a month, the Norwegian driver found the sponsor and the mechanics (most of them ex-Subaru employees) to found Petter Solberg World Rally Team.

Norwegian boat charter company Johs Lunde yachting will provide sponsorship for Petter Solberg WRT for the remaining 11 rounds of the WRC (hopefully). Solberg will tackle the 2009 campaign with long-time co-driver Phil Mills on a 2006-spec black-and-silver Citroen Xsara WRC.

“This is a dream come true. I have wanted to put together my own WRC team for a long time, but I must admit I had not planned for it to happen in exactly these circumstances or in this timeframe. But we are ready now and I am looking forward to this weekend's test and Rally Norway,” said Solberg ahead of his debut as driver/team owner in the WRC.

The team will be managed by former Subaru World Rally Team co-ordinator Ken Rees, and chief-engineered by Charles Hodge. Other ex-Subaru members that have joined Solberg in his 2009 challenge were mechanic Tore Dahl and rally engineer Francois Xavier de Maison. However, the latter will not be providing support for Solberg during the WRC events, as he also engineering for Citroen Junior's Conrad Rautenbach. Karine Vassant will replace De Maison on rallies.

“I have been working flat out, and I’m really proud to the present my new team today. I have a lot of brilliant people around me, and they have all been working 24hrs shifts for me the past weeks. Without them and my sponsors, this would not have been possible,” added the WRC ace.
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