Now we’re getting somewhere. Pernilla Solberg as WRC Commission president is very good news. I always knew it, but Saturday’s DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit confirmed it.
Her enthusiasm is utterly infectious and only outdone by her work ethic. She simply doesn’t stop. I’m not entirely sure she knows how to. And now the world of rallying will feel the full force of that capacity for making things better. And doing things right.
I’ve been fortunate to know the Solbergs a very long time. I well remember interviewing her through the 2000 Rally of Great Britain. I knew she was quick in a Group N car, but this was back in the day when I firmly believed British privateers like Gavin Cox and Jeremy Easson were comfortably as quick as anybody in a showroom-spec runner through Wales.
Had she not dropped 20 minutes in Rhondda on the first morning, Pernilla would have been on the podium in Group N – a feat she’d already managed at Rally Finland. She ended what would be her last ever attempt at Britain’s round of the world championship on a high, by taking a second a mile out of all her class rivals in Margam.
Solberg's Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI on Rally GB 2000
Could she have won the Production Car world title? Without a shadow of a doubt. She had the commitment and the common sense to drive a car very, very quickly. And still does. A good few years later, her masterful control of a Volvo XC90 in deep snow was a sight to behold.
Pernilla’s husband is also a fairly handy driver. In their day, so were her mother and father. And both uncles. And obviously, the next generation Solberg’s pretty handy too.
But as Petter’s career began to seriously take off and rally wins started to build towards a world title, Pernilla selflessly stepped away from the driver’s seat.
The real insight into the force that is Pernilla Solberg came in 2009. Subaru had withdrawn from the world championship, leaving Petter high and dry without a drive. No problem. They would set up their own team.
Now, Petter is one of the most driven and determined people I know – but that drive and determination is more than matched by Pernilla. She lived on the telephone from as 2008 became 2009 and she built a team in next to no time. And then ran it.
And when the WRC was done, she transferred those skills to World Rallycross. And topped the world as a team principal. Little wonder Volkswagen Motorsport had no worries about handing her the reigns when the German manufacturer arrived in time for the 2017 FIA World RX campaign.
In five years in WRX, Pernilla helped Petter, Johan Kristoffersson and the team capture six world titles. Latterly, she’s worked more on Oliver’s career, helping construct sound commercial footings for what will surely be a second world title in the coming years. And she does all of that while managing a bunch of other family businesses.
Like I said, I’m not sure she knows how to stop.
Kristoffersson and Solberg got used to the taste of victory during their five years together in WRX
In December, my colleague Eliot Barnard and I were with Oliver filming. Petter and Pernilla were away for the day on business. We were packing up and getting ready to leave the family farm in Torsby.
We were told we would be staying for dinner. Half an hour later, I walked into the kitchen and Pernilla had cooked up the most incredible ham and mashed potato, while reading what looked like amendments to the WRC’s sporting regulations.
Supper done, we retired to the sitting room, where the TV was filled with onboards and action cuts from rallies around the world. She was front and center in the analysis and absolutely on the button with developments – of every kind – within the sport.
Solberg and WRC commentator Becs Williams at last week's DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit
“This,” she smiled, “is our life. Rallying is our life.”
It sounds terribly cliched and passé, but as we set off down a snowy road to Oslo, I was very aware of two things: Pernilla was made to run our sport.
Secondly? She would have been driving this road an awful lot better than I was.
