Petter Solberg has won a lot of rallies and a lot of championships in a lot of cars. But he’s never driven a Land Rover in Ireland before.
But that is all set to change, as the 2003 World Rally champion will make his debut on the Clare Forestry Rally, the penultimate round of the 2024 Defender Rally Series, on Saturday October 5.
“I’m excited for this,” Solberg told DirtFish. “Anybody who knows rallying knows about Ireland – this place is crazy for our sport. We know about the passion the people have for rallying there, I remember Craig [Breen] telling me so many stories about his country.
“I competed there before when the WRC was there [in 2007] and I remember the amazing fans then. I hope some of them are going to be coming to Clare next month, it would be very cool to meet them.”
This is not a picture of a Defender crashing into a wall, it's our very own David Evans testing a Bowler-run 90 in Scotland
Solberg will test the Bowler Motorsport-built Defender for a day ahead of the event.
“I never drove this car,” he said. “Of course, I have seen them on the road and they look very cool, but it’s going to be interesting to see how Bowler Motorsport’s work has made the rally car. I did hear from DirtFish that the car’s very exciting to drive, I saw some pictures of David [Evans] in it – the guy next to him looked very scared!
“You know me, I’m always excited to be in the driving seat. This is something completely new, a new rally, new roads and a new car. It’s going to be a big challenge, but thank you to Castrol for making it happen. Now let’s have some fun.”
The Clare Forestry Rally includes six stages and 43 miles of competition on gravel roads.
