During a press conference in the Norwegian capital city of Oslo the Petter Solberg squad revealed last Wednesday a Solberg-Doran coalition that will form a very imposing WRX proposition.
The much anticipated news that the defending World Rallycross Drivers Champion Petter ‘Hollywood’ Solberg and Liam ‘British Bomb’ Doran will be joining forces for the 2015 RX season was, according to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, confirmed on April 8 in Oslo. ERC24 had hinted on its Facebook at the pair joining forces, and following a press conference in the Ullevål Stadion last Wednesday it was admitted that this was the case. “We couldn’t have done this if we would race each of us for our car make. He is a good driver,” said Solberg, who, in the past, had some problems with the Brit. The combined outfit, officially named as the Solberg Doran RX (SDRX) team, will have their sights set on the FIA team championship title, and will be competing with the likes of current title holders OlsbergsMSE and their official two man driver team of Andreas Bakkerud and Reinis Nitišs.
Rallycross life was not all cakes and ale for Solberg and Doran, here pictured after the 2013 ERX round of Portugal… © JKR/ERC24
…and later that year during the Norwegian EuroRX round in Hell. © JKR/ERC24
European fan favourite Petter Solberg, who is both a previous WRC title holder [2003] as well as the current World Rallycross Champion looks to build on his hugely successful second year, entering 2015 in his third season since his return to the sport in 2013. Liam Doran widely recognised as Britain’s hottest Rallycross prospect and two-time X Games gold medallist completes the formidable team. The joining of forces was admittedly made easier due to the fact that the drivers both run with Citroën DS3 SuperCars, as Per-Espen Løchen of the SDRX team suggested, stating in said press conference that both drivers have individual sponsorship agreements. Therefore, to run a two car team cost no extra money, needs just a new logo, and makes sense in the quest for the team championship title.
2014 WRX: Petter Solberg hurling his Citroën DS3 SuperCar over the Montalegre soil in Portugal. © JKR/ERC24
For Doran, who had a difficult season in 2014, due to both a number of technical issues early in the season and a ban which saw him sit out five races, the pairing with Solberg shows his positive outlook on the 2015 season and working alongside the World Champion allows him the opportunity to best support his title prospects. Solberg, who outlined his ambition for 2015 by quite simply stating that: “The ultimate goal is to become World Champion” will both add a recognised star profile to his already successful squad, but also add another competitive edge to his team armoury. And with a fellow competitor applying pressure, Solberg will look to increase his dominance in the series.
2014 WRX: Liam Doran had a season of more downs than ups last year, eventually missing five of the twelve rounds. © JKR/ERC24
ERC24 has tried to get comments from both team partners, who eventually decided to remain silent till official announcements will be made at the WorldRX media day this coming Monday in Barcelona.
Top photo: Petter Solberg and Liam Doran pictured in close combat during the 2013 ERX round of Finland. © JKR/ERC24