WRC Norway

I finally watched round 2 of the WRC season, exactly a month after the event. The third round is almost completed already, so I'm really behind.

This rally was Hirvonen's best and perhaps only chance for 10 points this season, so finishing second on day 1 was not the best situation no matter how much he tried to spin it afterward. Both Mikko and Sebastian drove at the limit in every stage on days 2 and 3, and when taking that many risks, Loeb has always had the edge. Even so, this was only the second win on snow for Loeb so it was an impressive victory for someone as accomplished as he is.

It was great to see Petter Solberg back in a car and in his own team no less. He is my favourite driver of the current generation but he never seemed to have the best luck. He struggled for years in the previous generation Subaru which was never competitive. I often wondered if he still had the "stuff" and in Norway he dispelled any doubts.

Petter drove a 3 year old Citroen Xsara into the points in great style. It was only in the high speed stages where the older car seemed to lack the power to keep up. That may be a problem for him in rest of the season where conditions will not be an equalizer. Anyway, it was good to see Petter smiling and happy which was rare during the Subaru days. Maybe this is Petter's chance to restart his career.

Some of the stages in Norway were bloody fast, at over 200k/h on snow covered roads! Talk about driving beyond the conditions. It is this fantastic display of driving skill that makes WRC so wonderful to watch. I hope the sport is able to recover after the recession.