The last time Petter Solberg did a rally across the Irish landscape, he finished the race on his 33rd birthday. Now 49, he is set to head back to compete in the Defender Rally Series.
The Defender Rally Series is a spec rally series overseen by Bowler Motors, now in its third season. Its UK Championship, which Solberg is competing in, will visit Ireland for the first time on 4–6 October in support of the Clare Forestry Rally.
Solberg last competed in Ireland in 2007 when the Rally Ireland was added to the World Rally Championship after two years as a national event. He finished fifth.
Rally Ireland was removed from the calendar in 2008. Although it returned in 2009 as the season opener, Solberg missed the race since he was without a seat following Subaru’s WRC shutdown.
He rejoined the championship at the second round as a privateer and continued to be a regular until his retirement in 2012, but Ireland was dropped after the 2009 slate.
Since retiring from full-time competition in 2018 after a five-year stint in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Solberg has continued to dabble in various one-off events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the 2019 Wales Rally GB, and Race of Champions. The Norwegian has also been open to racing the Dakar Rally someday.
