World RX of Belgium preview
News release
May 13, 2015
World RX of Belgium preview
Before last year I hadn’t competed in Belgium before. I didn’t know what I’d been missing! As well as this event last season, I also competed at the Rallye du Condroz late last year – and absolutely loved it.
Driving a Citroen C4 WRC, I was leading one of the most specialised rallies in Europe on my first attempt. Unfortunately we had a problem with the car and we couldn’t finish what we started.
There’s a little bit of that feeling from World RX of Belgium, 2014. We came into the final on the back of victory in the semi and everything was looking good. I took the lead and started to push as hard as I could to move ahead of the rest of the guys. Unfortunately a heavy landing on one of the small jumps broke the rear suspension – and, for a moment, it felt like my back as well – but we were just about able to carry on.
With the rear of the car on the floor, it was impossible for me to keep the rest of the pack behind – but I managed it until the final corner. I finished third, but that was the hardest I think I ever worked for the bottom step of the podium. Honestly, my back was finished after that race.
So now I want to come back to the beautiful Mettet track in Wallonia and keep the lead until the finish line – not just the final corner!
I love this circuit. It’s a great track where drivers can really express themselves, lean on the car and push themselves to go harder and harder (although I might not be doing this on all the jumps this time around…). There’s something really special about flying the car in corners and when you have some crests on curves like we do this weekend, you can do that.
Mettet, for that reason, is also a big test for the team to set the car up perfectly, so when it does land there’s no rebound from the suspension; you want a car which sits down and goes flat out as soon as all four wheels are back on track. That’s what we’re working on here at PSRX for this weekend.
We’ve made a good start to the season so far. We’ve laid some solid foundations with the championship lead after round two in Germany, but now we need to build on those. And that’s what this weekend is all about.
As well as PSRX success, I’m also hoping my fellow Monster driver Liam Doran can get a change in fortune in Belgium. Doran was really quick last time out and he deserves a break. Right now the team we share with him is leading the teams’ standings and it would be fantastic to increase that advantage as well.
Circuit:
Length: 1149m
Max width: 14.5m
Min width: 12m
Tarmac: 61%
Dirt 39%
Website: www.mettetrx.com
Timetable – all local times
Friday May 15
1600 World RX press conference
Saturday May 16
1100 practice
1330 qualifying heats
Sunday May 17
0900 warm up
1030 qualifying heats
1500 semi-final/final
1610 World RX press conference
Last time out…
Petter was winning again. Punted off the Hockenheimring in his opening race, the PSRX weekend got better and better from then on. Petter won his final heat, the semi (despite a puncture) and, of course, the final. Oh, and almost as important, the reigning World Rallycross champ got rid of his cold and extended his lead at the top of the table.
Belgium in anzahl, nombres and getallen:
3 is the number of languages spoken in Belgium: German, French and Dutch
6.4 is the per cent of Belgium’s landmass covered in water
389 mg is how much potassium can be found in seven Brussels Sprouts
390 is how many Brussels Sprouts the PSRX team won’t consume this weekend
400 is the number of years Belgium has been making chocolate
694 is Belgium’s highest point – 134.8m short of the world’s tallest building
2000 is the number of dedicated chocolate shops in Belgium
12879 is how many words Petter will say during the race weekend
173,000 tons of chocolate are made in Belgium every year
29,000,000,000 is the turnover in Euros of Antwerp’s diamond businesses
Contacts:
Per-Espen Lochen PR/media manager
+46 76 110 7 110
+47 952 43 245
World RX of Belgium media
Benjamin de Broqueville
benjamin.debroqueville@zelos.be
+ 32 476 816700
pettersolberg.com
@Petter_Solberg
www.facebook.com/PetterSolbergWRC
Produced in association with words pr
Sandra Evans
sandra@wordspr.com
44 (0) 7887 693993
We are words. And words (along with some pictures) make the world turn.
We are talented, passionate, committed and caring individuals. Together we make a great team. We make your team.
Sentences, make, don't, words, alone.
Words alone don't make sentences.
words pr don't make sentences. We sculpt them. And create campaigns.
But, while we're doing that, we're doing it with an arm around you. You're the reason we're here.
Tags:
