Petter Solberg
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Petter Solberg (born November 18, 1974), from Spydeberg, Norway, is a professional rally driver. As of 2004, he is driving for Subaru. In 2002 Solberg came second in the World Rally Championship, stepping up to become World Rally champion in 2003. He is married and has a son.
Solberg won a nationwide Remote-controlled car championship at the age of 13 as he inherited his interest of motorsport through his parents who were keen Rallycross fans. He used to help around the farm, re-building cars as he was not yet old enough to drive. He entered his first rally a day after he got his licence, three days after his 18th birthday. He went on to become Norwegian champion in Hillclimbing and Rallycross in 1995 and 1996, and in 1998 he became a Norwegian champion in rally. His older brother Henning Solberg is also a successful rally driver (five times Norwegian Champion). By this time, the World Rally Championship team bosses were starting to realise the potential in him and in the end of 1998 he was signed to Ford. In 2000 he went from Ford M-Sport to Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT).
In 2003, Solberg beat young-gun Sebastien Loeb at the Rally Wales/GB to become to win the driver's title and become World Champion. In 2004, Solberg won five (out of 16) rallies, but lost to Loeb due to three retirements in a row and bad-luck. So far in 2005, Solberg has won two out of the four events (Sweden and Mexico consecutively) and is aiming for a second world rally title.
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