2 DECEMBER 29 2011 motorsport-news.co.uk

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“Our policy is to

“Our policy is to “Our policy is to run rookie rookie run rookie run drivers ”

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P4

Toro Rosso head Franz Tost on his new F1 rookies

BRANDS HATCH PLANS CIRCUIT CHANGES

P7

Graham Hill Bend will be revised to help overtaking

Ø STBERG LEFT IN THE COLD BY

SOLBERG’S FORD DEAL

P8

Norwegian WRC star could switch to Citroën DS3

RELIVE ALL OF THE VERY BEST BITS FROM

THE 2011 SEASON

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Find out who were the stars of the UK tracks in 2011

P24

Karting/Sporting Scene news 13 SEASON REVIEW SPECIAL Racing review:single-seaters 14 Racing review:saloons 16 Racing review:sportscars 18 Racing review:points 20 Historic race and rally review 22 Rally review:Andy Burton/BTRDA 24 Rally review:Scotland and Ireland 26 Rally review:club and road rallies 29 Sporting Scene review 32 Karting review 34 SUBSCRIBETOMOTORSPORTNEWS 36 Letters/Comment/What’s On 37 Classified 38 Wanted:An end to cold turkey sandwiches

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Former champion happy to play the team

Pe tter Solber g w ill re tur n t o t he Fo rd cockpit fo r h is 2012 challeng e

By Dan McCalla Petter Solberg insists he is happy to play a supporting role to Jari-Matti Latvala at Ford for the 2012 WRC season, after the team confirmed that Latvala will be its chosen contender for the drivers’ crown. Norwegian Solberg, 37, has been given a rallying lifeline by the Blue Oval, which has handed the former world champion a one-year deal as it launches an assault on the manufacturers’ title with two experienced drivers.

The push is part of Ford’s renewed commitment to world championship rallying until at least the end of the 2013 season.

Petter plays deputy Solberg has returned to Ford 12 years after his exit led to a major fall-out with team boss Malcolm Wilson. The seat was the last works driver to be filled for 2012, and Solberg told MN earlier this month that it was his only option to continue in the WRC. Despite his ambitions of a second title Solberg is content to play second fiddle to Latvala for 2012, as Latvala is the established figure in the team.

“Jari has been in the team for a long time and he’s a very fast driver, so this is the thing I have to accept,” Solberg told MN. “I have no problem with that. I respect him a lot as a driver as well, so it’s no problem for me. I have my dreams and I work really well with Jari. Hopefully both of us can win a few

Solber g h as Fo cus ex per ience rallies and we can win the manufacturers’ championship. The championship will be very important, so we’ll start from the first rally and see how we go. You have to start smart and it’s very important to get good points from the start of the season.”

Solberg’s contract explicitly states that he will be Ford’s designated number two driver, although there will be no disparity in equipment between his Fiesta RS WRC and Latvala’s. Team chief Malcolm Wilson admitted that several drivers came into consideration for the season, including young hotshots Ott Tänak and Mads Østberg. But he explained that taking on a driver with well over a decade of WRC experience gives Ford a fighting chance of winning the makes crown for the first time since 2007.

“We had a complete review of drivers, with Ott, Mads and others,” Wilson told MN. “I felt those two have great potential but I didn’t want to put them into the main team this early. I suppose that’s my memory of putting JariMatti into the main team too soon. I would prefer to have those guys do another 12 months without the pressure of being in the main team and going for the title. I feel with the combination of Jari-Matti and Petter we have a strong chance of going for the manufacturers’ championship whereas going with one of the youngsters would have lessened that chance.” With Solberg’s contract only running for a single season, he will have to prove himself in order to hold onto the drive, with Wilson confirming that both Tänak and Østberg could put themselves in the frame for 2013 if they impress next year.

“At the end of 2012 both Petter and Jari are out of contract,” said Wilson. “I’d like to keep Jari but we’ll also be evaluating Petter throughout the season. We will also be evaluating Mads Østberg and Ott Tänak to see if they’re ready to make the step up, so it’s a question of seeing who comes up to the grade.”

Ford’s bright future For Wilson, Ford of Europe’s confirmation that it will stay in world championship rallying came as a huge relief, following months of uncertainty that the Cumbrian’s firm 15-year tenure as

MN, Dec 7: Solberg pins his hopes on Ford works drive the Ford factory team may have been about to end. Wilson said that a deal appeared more and more likely over the course of the autumn, but that the recent uncertainty around the WRC’s global promoter North One Sport threatened to scupper it. However, assurances from FIA president Jean Todt that the series would not be left without a promoter allowed the Blue Oval’s board to commit for two years, with an option to extend the new arrangement into 2014.

“We’ve had a couple of weeks where we thought we were OK, but the big bombshell was the North One situation,” said Wilson. “Ford wouldn’t sign up until they got some assurances from the FIA – I don’t blame them for that, because you can’t sign up for a world championship when you don’t have a promoter in place. The green light came on Tuesday [December 13], and then it was Classified advertising: 0208 267 5355

motorsport-news.co.uk DECEMBER 29 2011 3

HEADLINE NEWS

Photos: mcklein-imagedatabse.com and worldrallypics.com game with new Ford WRC deal

SOLBERG TO BACK LATVALA’S TITLE BID

about 48 hours to get everyone else in place.” As a further boost to M-Sport, the amount of funding that Ford is contributing to the project has increased, although it is still not entirely funded by the manufacturer. Ford’s European motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said that the firm wanted to capitalise on the team’s upturn in form in 2011, and as a result is expecting the team to win a makes’ crown within the next two years.

“The level of funding has increased,” said Quinn. “We have made a significant financial contribution to reflect our commitment to the sport. We are a strong challenger and the finance is in place to reflect that. We are the Ford World Rally Team and we want people to sit up and

Solberg has already tried the Fiesta WRC in a test take notice of that. The manufacturers title is very important for us and that’s something we definitely want to achieve over the next two seasons. There has been some tremendous work gone into the team over the last few months to put everything together, and we now have two drivers who have the potential to win us the title.”

The team has lost its longstanding title sponsorship from Abu Dhabi, and is now seeking a new main sponsor to replace it. With only Castrol as a major private backer for the time being, the squad has entered the 2012 campaign simply as Ford World Rally Team.

Wilson said that the lack

Ford has new-look paint job of a main sponsor will not have any adverse effect on the Fiesta RS WRC’s performance, but did admit that the loss of Abu Dhabi meant the team didn’t have the financial firepower to sign French star Sébastien Ogier.

“The sponsorship has been another issue that has involved a lot of discussion, so we’re still looking for a major partner for the team,” he said. “At the moment we’re entered as Ford World

Rally Team, we’re glad that Castrol are staying with us, but unfortunately Abu Dhabi wasn’t in a position to stay with us for the future. We’re still looking for major backers, but there’s no threat to the team. It’s no secret what has happened – with that situation, we ultimately didn’t have the funding to take on Ogier. That’s the main difference that it had, and it won’t effect the development and the investment into the car.”

DAN McCALLA

closed for press, there is no way the Blue Oval would have put pen to paper if the outlook was bleak.

What this means for the WRC Ford committing to the WRCandsigning Petter Solberg is a sign that the series has turned a corner. Amid all the uncertainty around the WRC’s promoter, the fact that Ford is confident enough in the sport’s future that it has signed up for at least two years means that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Even though there has been no official news on new North One Sport funding asMN

Ford’s confirmation that Solberg will have to play second fiddle to Latvala means that the drivers’ title fight should be a twohorse race. It’ll be interesting to see to what extent Solberg and and Solberg extent though Even tunnel.

no been has there

Mikko deputy Citroën

Citroën deputy Mikko Hirvonen are are Hirvonen new on news official

Sport One North as funding MN

to around shunted

Seb and Latvala help shunted around to help Latvala and Seb Loeb – and how Solberg reacts to how and – Loeb to reacts Solberg

Latvala:

Latvala: Top man man Top the playing playing the bridesmaid.

bridesmaid.

WHAT WILL MADS ØSTBERG DO NEXT? FIND OUT ON PAGE EIGHT