The Subaru World Rally Team ace Petter Solberg has struggled in each of the European rounds held thus far in the 2006 season. His best European result this season has been his seventh place finish at the RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada in March. The biggest difference between the previous European rallies and the coming Rally d'Italia Sardegna is that the Italian rally will be a gravel event - and Solberg has driven well on both gravel rallies held this season - finishing them both with second place positions.
It's no secret that Solberg has found his pace on gravel, and the Norwegian even lead both Corona Rally Mexico and Rallye Argentina before giving his position to rival and points leader Sebastien Loeb.
Solberg commented at the end of Argentina that if there were no problems with his Impreza WRC2006, he would win the Italian rally - a bold prediction but not totally unfounded. Solberg's pace in Argentina was a match for Loeb, and the Impreza seems suited for the Sardinian gravel. This event has also been positive for Solberg in the past as he finished second in 2005, and lead the event from start to finish in 2004.
"I was very happy with my drive in Argentina," said Solberg. "Okay, things could have been even better but I think we're getting there. We tested in Greece last week and we're making small steps in performance, plus the reliability is improving a lot. We have to prove now that when everything goes well, we can win. This is what the whole team wants, everybody. We need to win."
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