Will Solberg win anytime ?

[WRC2006]

What makes you 100% sure Petter wouldn't get his motivation back? One success feeds another they say. .

He may get back his motivation unless the new car is totally on top and reliable. And I don't see this happenenig soon?! C4 is stronger already, Ford Focus is getting new parts and some updates by 15th August this year. All those 2 cars have been rallying since last year. It would be a suprise for me the new Subaru coming from a poor Impreza and outpace the superdog in the field?!

I agree it's hard to see him as a winner anymore but to totally write him off the map is bollocks. Professional athletics are a bit different people than the rest of us who seem to grow on streets..

Good luck for him.

It's funny to follow media praising one Teemu Selänne. It's funny since the same media which gave him no future with a sports anymore while he had abd period.

I never ignore the force of the media!

[Sulland]

This also has to do with driving style. The current car does not suite Petters style, and he is overdiving it to compensate for everything.

Atko seems to better to adapt his style to the car and drive around the problems.

If the new car does not work for him, I think Petter will do 1 of 4 things;

1. Get a drive in another team
2. Set up his own M2 team
3. Start driving Rally Cross with Marcus and Henning
4. Quit all active driving, and "retire"

Either of these 4 can happen before the end of the season !

[klm-607]

Petter's last 2 retirements were Car related problems, not his fault. He was in good positions both times, then... disaster! I'm not a big Petter fan, but I do believe he can still win, if only occasionally. Petter needs some luck & a more reliable ride.

I was & still am a Huge Gronholm fan, but now that he's gone I lean towards Henning & Jari-Matti. Jari-Matti has alot to offer in the near future. Henning just seems like a really nice guy... very likeable, & down to Earth.

[koko0703]

I believe Petter still got speed to compete against Loeb etc., but also he should be little more patient about the car. I can understand the frustration with poorly performing car but pushing the current Subaru beyond its limit doesn't do any good for Petter or team. Chris seems to settle with the best he can do with what he has right now, and Petter needs to adopt some of that style. Pushing to the limit doesn't always mean pushing to the limit of driver's ability. With little bit of patient, Petter could've got pretty decent result with unfortune of other drivers.

[N.O.T]

how many drivers did you see over the whole history of rallying to return from the dead and start winning again after a long absence ????

......


exactly......

[Brother John]

This also has to do with driving style. The current car does not suite Petters style, and he is overdiving it to compensate for everything.

That is exact what I have tried to say since 2006, nobody reacted or I had much critical responses.
I think Petter still can win rallys but not in these type of modern rally cars.
We have to blame the modern rally cars + factories, also the F.I.A. with their stupid rules. Everything together, that made a mess of rally.
Petter were or is not the only one who had problems to adapt to these cars.
Marcus Gronholm is also from the time that there still was real rally cars.
He got the same problem at Peugeot when they came with too much HIGHTECH in the car and he moved, plus he did not only chose for the money but also for the fun of driving.
At Ford he has himself adapted to the new rallycars style, but had longer fun to drive them and stopped in spite of he still has the fire inside him to drive.
You want more examples who left the wrc for the same reason?
For example look around and you find a lot of Rally drivers who left the WRC to do something else. I would say, F.I.A. wake up and don´t wait too long with everything.

[Tomi]

Petter were or is not the only one who had problems to adapt to these cars.

This i have never understood really, a top driver should quickly learn to drive different cars.

[MJW]

He seems not to know what is wrong with his car and drive accondingly. One of the example is the "dumpers". Since last year, we know that Subaru has got more problems with dumpers. Petter in cutting hard the corners and hitting the rocks in those corners, he contribute 100% in crashing his car. If he knows that the car can't resist on such pressure with high speed, why he cannot take off a little bit his leg from the pedal and preserve the car? How many time did you hear Chris having the same problems of dumpers? Because he knows the car is weak in that part so no need to push it hard. Chris is driving with his head (intelligence) and Petter is just loosing it.
.

I rather see a rally driver "drive flat out" and cut corners etc. rather than preserve the car. Real drivers, Colin, Tommi Makinen, Ari, Markku Alen, Marcus all attacked. Sure Burns and other intelligent drivers won championships but dont come in the same league for me. Drivers should drive, engineers and mechanics build cars to take this punishment.

[A.F.F.]

Drivers should drive, engineers and mechanics build cars to take this punishment.

Best damn words for a long time

[janneppi]

For example look around and you find a lot of Rally drivers who left the WRC to do something else. I would say, F.I.A. wake up and don´t wait too long with everything.

And how many of those weren't offered proper a seat in a car or were closing in on the 40 year mark?