So...what about the Solbergs?

[Josti]

Ok, so Henning did a great job finishing third in his home rally. Most important, in front of his brother Petter. Who else thinks, Henning will finish in front of his brother in this years championship and that he possibly could go for a win too? I do!

Don't get me wrong, I wish Petter the very best for this season, but I just don't see it happen...yet. Maybe it's because the Ford's are just that superb, but it could finally be Henning time right now

[JAM]

Henning is not far from Petter, because i never considered Petter a reference, Is a good driver, almost excelent but still not excelent. The actual Subaru is a limitation otherwise thins were better.

Henning made a rally that didn't impressed, maybe because i had big hopes to him. But he was regular and careful so the 3rd place is a prize for his consistency.

[Tomi]

Petter as expected, i expected Henning to fight with, Stohl, Carlsson but Henning better. Galli also did a good rally i think.

[Halvis]

Whether Henning will beat Petter overall in '07 is mainly up to the new Impreza, I think. No way Henning can follow Petter on sheer driving the remaining season. Snow is Hennings force vs. Petter (and most other drivers), when it comes to gravel, not to mention tarmac, he has no chance of following Petter if Petter's new car proves to be reasonable reliable.

I think that if Henning had got the same chance that Petter got in his age, he could have been as good, but that was not the case - hence he will not be as fast - ever.

There are 2 vital things that Henning lacks vs the fastest drivers, experience in all rallies, and not the least, amount of testing. All the manu guys gets to test the car quite extensivly, while Henning (and others in his situation) hardly have any testing at all. As an example, before sweden, henning had testet the car twice, a short test outside the Prodrive shop on gravel, and 50 km on snow. Petter, on the other hand had 1000 km on snow the week before Sweden. A huge, huge difference, that gives the manu guys a huge advantage in every rally. When Henning (and other privateers) starts a rally, they have to start with another drivers setup, and then gradually try to shange them into own driving during the rally. This is a factor that underestimated, at least in this forum, IMO.

I could of course be wrong, but I don't think so. Henning might be the best "privateer" in '07, but that's so far it can go.

[Mudflap]

Whether Henning will beat Petter overall in '07 is mainly up to the new Impreza, I think. No way Henning can follow Petter on sheer driving the remaining season. Snow is Hennings force vs. Petter (and most other drivers), when it comes to gravel, not to mention tarmac, he has no chance of following Petter if Petter's new car proves to be reasonable reliable.

I think that if Henning had got the same chance that Petter got in his age, he could have been as good, but that was not the case - hence he will not be as fast - ever.

There are 2 vital things that Henning lacks vs the fastest drivers, experience in all rallies, and not the least, amount of testing. All the manu guys gets to test the car quite extensivly, while Henning (and others in his situation) hardly have any testing at all. As an example, before sweden, henning had testet the car twice, a short test outside the Prodrive shop on gravel, and 50 km on snow. Petter, on the other hand had 1000 km on snow the week before Sweden. A huge, huge difference, that gives the manu guys a huge advantage in every rally. When Henning (and other privateers) starts a rally, they have to start with another drivers setup, and then gradually try to shange them into own driving during the rally. This is a factor that underestimated, at least in this forum, IMO.

Some great points here,
If Petter was driving a Focus he would be up there with Marcus and Mikko on every rally but the Impreza is just not up to it.On the testing point I would think Mikko did alot of testing before Sweden.I spotted this when the news broke that ford were sending a team to compete here in Ireland on the Galway Rally two weeks ago.Firstly I was hoping that it could be Mikko that was comong but it made more sence to send Marcus to test on Tarmac and I would think Mikko was testing on snow during this time.

[koko0703]

I must agree....it all comes down to how competitive the new Impreza will be. If Impreza WRC2007 is fast and reasonable reliable, Petter will do much better than Henning because of his experience, the amount of testing, and tarmac rallies.

[Tomi]

http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=138962

Seems that petter is not so optimistic about the new car anymore.

[A.F.F.]

Dammit. That article could have been an intersting one but it's all åkke bokke bukke dukke to me




:

[EuroTroll]

I think that if Henning had got the same chance that Petter got in his age, he could have been as good, but that was not the case - hence he will not be as fast - ever.

Since they're not identical twins, I think there's reason to believe that Henning would either have been better than Petter given the same circumstances, or worse. Pick! :

[Tomi]

Dammit. That article could have been an intersting one but it's all åkke bokke bukke dukke to me
:

if i did understand it correct, he said after watching how the other teams are doing, he is not so optimistic about the new car anymore.
The rest of the article is mostly, åkke bokke bukke dukke.