WRC: Petter Solberg to star at Rallyday

2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg will make his very first appearance at Rallyday, the UK's Premier Rally Car Show at Castle Combe Circuit this year on Saturday August 18, it has been announced. Solberg, who is one of the WRC's biggest names, will pilot the Castrol Edge sponsored Ford World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC car at the annual event. The Norwegian, who is currently second in the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship, 18 points behind Sébastien Loeb, has had a great start to the season and has finished on the podium in three of the five events. “I'm really looking forward to attending Rallyday 2012," Petter said. "Everybody knows how passionate I am about this sport, and to be surrounded by so many legendary cars and drivers will just be awesome! I also can't wait to put on a spectacular show for the fans in my Ford Fiesta RS WRC. It looks like being a really fantastic day.” Rallyday organisers, Brian Stubbings and Darin Frow are both looking forward to seeing the popular Norwegian in action, the latest in a long line of WRC drivers to represent the 'Blue Oval' at Rallyday, following on from Jari-Matti Latvala, former Ford driver, Mikko Hirvonen and Britain's Matthew Wilson. Castrol's support for Rallyday has now been in place for seven years and has been instrumental in helping the show evolve to the size and scale it is today. The very latest Castrol Edge sponsored Fiesta RS WRC at the show will again give spectators the chance to see the current WRC machinery in action in addition to a broad spectrum of other iconic rally cars from Group B Supercars to Historics through a series of spectacular displays and demonstrations. “We are delighted that Petter Solberg will be at Rallyday 2012,” said Stubbings. “Petter is an incredible driver and he is not known as 'Hollywood' for nothing. We know that Rallyday will provide him a great backdrop to entertain spectators with his flamboyant driving outside the normal pressures of competition within the WRC.” “It is great Petter is back with Ford this year in the World Rally Championship and to have him appear at Rallyday for the first time is going to be fantastic,” Frow continued. “We'd also like to thank Castrol again for their continued support too. This year's event is shaping up very well and we have some exciting developments in the pipeline.” Confirmation of Solberg's attendance follows on from news at the end of February that the Race2Recovery team, comprised primarily of injured service personnel, will return to the event for the second consecutive year in 2012. The attendance of the Race2Recovery team is a further boost for the dedicated Cooper Tires 4x4 Rally Raid Zone, which was formally added to the successful Rallyday mix in 2011. Tickets for Rallyday 2012 are on sale now and are fantastic value, with advance tickets booked online before July 30th priced at just £13 for adults. Accompanied children under 16 go FREE.