Solberg, Kristoffersson deny conflict rumours amid recent crashes
Volkswagen World Rallycross drivers Petter Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson are adamant there is no conflict in the PSRX team, despite the pair having come together in first corner incidents in the last two rounds.
Johan Kristoffersson, Petter Solberg
Race of Champions
Kristoffersson’s Polo R Supercar was thrown onto two wheels at the first corner of the final in Belgium last month, following side-by-side contact with Solberg’s sister car that forced him into the barrier.
Two weeks later, the pair made heavy wheel-to-wheel contact in the braking area for Turn 1 in the semi-finals at Silverstone, sending Kristoffersson’s car hard into the inside tyre wall after his left-front wheel made contact with the right-rear of Solberg’s Polo.
While Kristoffersson survived to win the restarted race and then the event to extend his championship lead, Solberg retired with transmission problems as a result of the contact.
“There’s no issues,” Solberg told Motorsport.com when asked about the incidents ahead of round five in Hell this weekend. “You know, for sure Johan is very professional and I’m professional, so for us there is nothing at all like that.
"Nobody does that on purpose in the team, there’s no chance. Silverstone was just very unlucky to be honest with you, it happened so quickly. We will just try to be even more aware and a little bit more careful, I think that’s the thing.”
Points leader Kristoffersson says forming a plan when starting start side-by-side in the World RX knock-out races is not easy.
“We had small contact in Belgium and we had a hard contact in Silverstone but you know, things happen like that," the Swede told Motorsport.com.
"And I mean, last year we were very, very strong and we didn’t make contact any time and over two years for sure you will have a contact at one point.
“For sure we will try in every possible way to avoid it happening again, it’s just one of these things that happens. You always want the best for the team but sometimes you make things more complicated from trying to make a plan and stick with it.
"Sometimes it’s just better to just let it happen, to let the racing sort itself out. Of course, when you have the time and possibilities to plan something, you will always try to do it but this time it didn’t work out.”
Solberg’s squad was one of several teams to undertake testing between Silverstone and the Norwegian round this weekend.
The Polo outfit tested at Strangnas in Sweden, that same venue that Mattias Ekstrom’s EKS team used to work on developments for its Audi S1, while privateer squads GC Kompetition, OlsbergsMSE and Gronholm RX also tested in Scandinavia.
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