Photo by: Ford Motor Company
Solberg’s Battle With World Champion Continues Into Final Day
Returning to Sweden for the second day of competition, Go Fast Energy World Rally Team’s Henning Solberg continued his assault on the snow-covered stages of the 60th Rally Sweden to hold seventh position heading into the final day of competition tomorrow.
Proving why they are the ideal candidates to promote the Go Fast brand, Henning Solberg and co-driver Ilka Minor kept eight-time World Champion, Sébastien Loeb, at bay over the morning loop. With a string of top-ten fastest times, the pairing kept in touch with the leading pack to maintain sixth place in their Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
With an army of Norwegian supporters lining the stages, Solberg continued to set competitive times throughout the afternoon loop. Unfortunately, the charismatic Norwegian was unable to halt a charging Loeb – despite setting the fifth fastest time – as the Frenchman recovered sixth place on SS16.
The fight with Loeb intensified in the penultimate stage of the day as Solberg set a fantastic time in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC. With Solberg 2.7 seconds up on the Frenchman over the 18.15km test, the pair emerged with identical overall times to leave the final stage of the day to decide sixth place.
The second pass over the Hagfors sprint stage saw Solberg lose 4.6 seconds to a charging Loeb. The battle for sixth is now finely poised as Rally Sweden embarks on the final day of competition.
Henning Solberg (7th) said:
“Today was a very good day. The conditions are good and the car is working well so tomorrow we should be in a good position.
“We’re having a really fun battle with [Sébastien] Loeb but it was not possible to beat him on the last stage today because he was just so quick!
“Tomorrow we’ll be flat out and will try to catch Loeb.”
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