Petter in a Ford in 2012
Ford extends World Rally Championship participation with new two-year agreement with M-Sport
• Ford of Europe continues its World Rally Championship programme for 2012 and 2013
• Company signs new two-year agreement with British-based M-Sport, Ford’s long-term rally partner
• Jari-Matti Latvala confirmed as lead driver in Fiesta RS World Rally Car
• Former world champion Petter Solberg joins the team as second driver.
COLOGNE, Dec. 15, 2011 – Ford of Europe announced today it is extending its participation in the FIA World Rally Championship into 2012 and 2013.
Long-term partner M-Sport, the British-based preparation company, which has successfully operated Ford’s WRC activities since 1997, will continue to operate the programme from its state-of-the-art facilities at Dovenby Hall in north-west England.
The Fiesta RS World Rally Car will continue as Ford’s WRC flagship in 2012 and 2013. The car, based on the successful Fiesta road car, claimed a clean sweep of the podium in both the first and final rounds of its debut season this year.
Finland’s Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila, who topped the world rankings for special stage victories in 2011 and won the final round of the championship in Britain last month, are confirmed as team leaders for 2012.
They will be partnered by former world champion Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson, who have signed a one-year agreement to drive the team’s second Fiesta RS WRC in all 13 rounds. The experienced Solberg won the world title in 2003 and the 37-year-old Norwegian has 13 world rally wins to his name. It will be his second stint with Ford, having launched his world rally career with the team in 1999.
The squad will be named Ford World Rally Team and will retain support from long-term partner Castrol for both 2012 and 2013.
Ford has a long and successful heritage in rallying. It is second in the all-time wins list with 79 world rally victories and its run of 145 consecutive points finishes, dating back to the opening round of the 2002 championship, is the longest in the sport’s history.
Ford of Europe chairman and CEO Stephen Odell highlighted the strong will of all parties to continue in the WRC.
“Ford has a rich history in world rallying and we’re excited to continue fighting for titles on the world stage with our great partners at M-Sport,” said Odell. “WRC is a great fit with the Ford brand DNA of precise handling, fun-to-drive cars with leading technology and we’ll continue to leverage rallying to inspire innovation in future vehicles and reach new audiences.”
Gerard Quinn, Ford of Europe’s senior manager for motorsport, emphasised what WRC competition means to Ford.
“The WRC is motorsport’s toughest competition for production-based cars,” he said. Through WRC, we can convey the attributes of our road vehicles and send a clear message to our customers and fans about Ford’s passion and expertise.
“We feel that the timing for our announcement is right. We had to be confident about the stability of the championship and to ensure it continues to provide great value and increased exposure globally. We discussed it with our stakeholders and after receiving such assurances we look forward to focusing on competition once again,” said Quinn.
“We have a great team with M-Sport and its leader, Malcolm Wilson, and in Jari-Matti Latvala we have one of motorsport’s rising stars. Already regarded by many as the fastest driver in WRC, this year he showed consistency and expertise on all surfaces. We believe he will flourish in his new role as Ford’s team leader, and look forward to seeing his pace light up the special stages around the world.
“The addition of Petter Solberg to the team brings one of the sport’s most experienced and flamboyant drivers back to the team where he started his top-level career. A drivers’ world title and 13 world rally victories are testament to his abilities and his vast experience will be a great asset to our line-up,” added Quinn.
Wilson, M-Sport managing director and team director, said the new deal was a vote of confidence in his company.
“The performance of the Fiesta RS WRC in 2011 was strong on all surfaces and I’m genuinely excited about what we can achieve in the future,” he said. “We want to challenge for world titles and I have no doubts that our car and driver combination, allied to the infrastructure and expertise of our staff at Dovenby Hall, will allow us to do that.”
M-Sport recently completed its ladder of opportunity, adding a first rung to complete a structured path to take young and talented rally drivers from the grass-roots to the top level in Ford Fiestas. From the entry-level MS1 car, drivers can progress via the increasingly more powerful R2, S2000 and Regional Rally Car models to the top-billing World Rally Car.
“Ford has five different Fiesta models in which drivers with potential can graduate from entry level to the WRC. This ladder is the breeding ground of Ford’s future stars, and in the next seasons we will see drivers with ability climb it and begin to emerge at the top,” he added.
Well deserved, congratulation Petter and Chris!
congratulations see 2012 . good luck
Congratulations!
Was bit sad to think of the WRC community without you.
Also all the best wishes for your team mebers that supported you during your time as privateer; they did a hell of a job
Congratulations Petter…!!!good luck for 2012…!!
Congratulations in this new team
amazing news congratulations Petter and gang but will miss the PSWRT Logo flying around the hills!!!!! but cant wait for 2012 now. Petter were behind you 110% as always!
:)
Matt
Nice, really good news.
Off topic: does that mean that abu-dhabi withdraws as a sponser?
Yeaaaah!
Good luck and cannot wait until next year!
Absolutely brilliant news. Nobody deserves it more on effort of ability. All the best!
Great news indeed! Let’s hope Ford brings you more luck, cause it’s the only thing you miss to win!
Fantastiske nyheter med fabrikkssete for Ford! Takk for at du aldri gav opp og heller satset på Citroen. Glemmer aldri SS1 Rally Norway da du banket alle ved å kjøre fransk bruktbil, jeg stod trollbundet på Bjerke. Lykke til i Ford. Bedre teamkompis enn Latvala kunne du ikke hatt.
Per
All the best Petter! Knew you would make it to any of the teams in 2012!
Congrats Petter and Chris!
With factory support, this will be a very exciting season!
The best of lucky´s!
Yes!!!!
I’m, no, we all are very happy to hear this news and looking forward to seeing you in 2012 season, on the center of podium.
Hvordan skal du kunne vinne i en Ford når du ikke vinner i en Citroen? Håper jeg tar feil !
Stor takk.
Det har vært en ære og glede å få jobbe sammen med Petter, Pernilla, Oliver og hans solide team i to sesonger. Så godt har det vært, at det umulig kunne vare evig.
Vi vil trenge litt tid på å venne oss til, at Petter ikke er i nærheten med sin entusiasme og ”never give up” holdningen. En holdning som vi har lært å ta videre inn i Citroën og som igjen har gitt oss suksess.
Citroën i hele Norge takker for den flotte tiden og ønsker Petter lykke til videre.
Øystein Hågenvik Johansen
Citroën
Thank God! Congratulations and good luck in 2012 Petter & Chris!! You deserved this chance to be on top at the WRC.
Fantastic news Petter. Can’t wait for next season and it’s wonderful that you are in WRC next year in works car!
All the very best…and have a great Christmas time
The good news to rally world is spreading.
Looking forward to see your performance in a works car again.
Congratulattions to both of you.
“Never give up”
Best of luck from Iceland,
Steini
Congrats you deserve the support…
Go Go Petter!!!!
Yessssss! Congratulation. I hope You will be the first at M Sport and win the World Championship
Fly Petter fly!!!
GOOD LUCK
great to see you back to Ford, Well deserved, congratulation Petter and Chris! all best for 2012
hope to see you soon
Carlos From Chile
Congrats & best wishes for a successful 2012 to Petter and Chris. You sure are worthy of the drive :-).
LOEB DEFEATED
good luck in 2012
SUPER GOOD NEWS!!!!!! Very happy you got a GOOD deal. See you next year, WRC isn’t THE Same without you!
Congrats!! good luck for the season. cheering for you and Chris =)
Fantastic news Petter and Chris.
Congratulations and a fantastic season 2012.
Dream team ford GO !GO!GO!PETTER !
Well done Petter!!! It just shows all your hard work and efforts plus self funding have paid off. You deserve to be at the top, all the very best for next season. Rallying has retained the services of one of it’s greats. Now show them what you can do, every success!!
Dave Edd & Mike
Endelig.!!!
Ønsker deg og chris lykke til hos Ford…
Latvala kunne ikke fått en bedre :Second driver:
Good luck Ford. Latvala. Og Petter.
Great news Petter Looking forward to next season
Gratulerer så mye med fabrikkskontrakt igjen! Detta har du virkelig fortjent! Stå i ramma og ta dem!
Suport the team buy a Ford…..
GREAT NEWS, Petter and Chris! That elusive win is gonna come soon after all :) Good Luck!!
GREAT NEWS!!! FANTASTIC!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)
I’m over the moon with happiness. Exactly what was wanted!! Peter Bravo Bravo.
I wish you successful 2012th .. WRC champion ….
This is à very very good news am extremely happy
So happy to hear that, thank you very much. There could not have been any better xmas present for us.
Good Xmas time and a happy and successful 2012 for the solberg team and all Solberg fan’s arround the world.
Thanks Gustaaf … nice of you to say so! Lorraine :-)
Great news, I’m very happy for you,
See you on Monte-carlo roads…
Finally. :) I really look forward to this season now, and I hope that you will make a big impact in the WRC in 2012. :)
Regards,
Inge
Great job and news congratulations Petter. I cant wait 2012 and fight against Mr Latvala.
Regards from Finland
Very good news,all the best for 2012 !!!
Congratulations !
I’m soooooooooo happy for you and can’t wait the opening 2012 season !
Good luck !
Lots of love,
xx
All that work, all that effort delighted that you and Chris will be in 2012 and in a factory Ford. Many thanks to the whole team at PSWRT for all their hard work over the past three years.
Kate
Petter welcome back to the team.Bring the title to Ford with Jari and take the championship.I wish you with all my heart all the best for wrc 2012!!!!!
Wanna see you winning! Good luck Petter!
Petter is BACK!!
Peter nijs joe Ford Driver 2012 Good luck Duhts rally Fan
I’m so happy, looking forward to the new season!
Well done Petter, congratulations to you and Chris. Looking forward to seeing you in 2012.
Believe in the magic, you can beat the frog now.
See you in Wales.
Verry Good News
I’m Happy, this is the best option for you and for us spectators :-)
I can’t waiting for the season 2012
I’ll see you on the Sweden Rallye
we wish you all the Best
Remo + Gisela
Switzerland
Congratulations – all the hard work running your private team has paid off – good luck for 2012 and I hope you get a win soon and maybe a championship.
GRANDES NOTICIAS, Ford volvera a estar peleando mas fuerte el campeonato, Petter y Jari haran bailar a los Fiesta, Citroen a temblar
HUGE!!!!!!
yes yes yes this is good news !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
great news Petter!!! You are simpy the best!!! Show them where the hammer is next year!!! Let’s go…
Yyeeeess … This is great Petter, and not least the Ford. I just have to congratulate each of them. Now I can begin to look forward to WRC next year. Did I just had to follow the IRC. Without Petter, I would not devoted WRC special attention.
GREAT NEWS!!! Well done Chris and Petter! Now it`s time to beat them all. Looking forward to 2012.
well done petter,if anyone deserves this drive you do,I hope this is the start of a run of good luck for you and I am sure you can win rallies next year
fantastic for petter and chris,time the we man from ireland won a wrc rally !!
Congratulations Petter…looks like the good guys get a break after all…Keep up the good work, you’re an inspiration!
well done petter!
well done petter and chrise we are trilled and cant waite for 2012 world rallys sexual choclate
from alan and aisling ps thanks for your pics with me in wales xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Congratulations Peter !!
I’ll be watching you on Argentine’s rally
Great news Petter and good luck in 2012. No more head aches running your own team. You can no just turn up and drive flat out!
This is fantastic news for petter and for ford :-)
Totally awesome! With the new starting orders, being no.2 driver should not really make much of a difference in most rallies. Very excited for 2012!
Hi Peter,I am very happy but you know would be more fasted you are oficial team,no private.I wait you win any rally wrc
CONGRATULATIONS
PS I am interesting your truck Scania R730
Gratulerrer Petter fantastisk nytt håper du får en kanon bra sesong!!!!
What about the pikes peak project? is it still on?
Petter,
Congratulations from Serbia!!!
You’ve earned a place in top team
Good luck in the new season
[...] You can get the story straight from Petter’s website here. [...]
Oooh this is wonderful!!! Congratulations!!! This is a christmas gift to all of us!! And Petter, you´re right: NEVER GIVE UP!!! I´m so so so fu…. happy that all these efforts worked. Best wishes and crossed fingers to all of you!!!!!!
So very, very pleased for you Petter! Great decision by Ford WRC you really deserve this drive! Can’t wait for 2012! Be great to see you in Wales again. Well chuffed :)
GRATULERER PETTER!
ENDELIG er du tilbake der du hoerer hjemme; som FABRIKKFORER!
Congratulations!!
I am cheering for Peter from Japan.
ZENKAI!!
Congratulations Peter and good luck with the Fiesta, and bring again the WRC title :D
Petter!
So happy that you secured a seat with a factory team! I’m sure you’ll be able to fight at the top again now that you’re not worrying about paying out of pocket for any risk-taking. =D
Show them how it’s done!
I’m so happy for you, Chris and your family.
What’s going to happen to the PSWRT?
Fantastic!
We flying finns are very very happy that one of the true rally legends have given a second chance. Thank you for your stubborness and thank you Ford and Malcolm for finding the ways to continue Fords succesfull campaign in wrc.
Fantastic news and the best christmas present for all rally fans. Keep up the good work, and good luck in 2012 :-)
Congrats Petter you deserve it – have fun and go out an win it!
Oh, Petter, I’m so so happy for you! You so deserve it! Everybody thinks so! It’ll be a great year, all for the win! I am sure you will win rally/rallies next year! Go for it and push to the limits, as always! We will be cheering for you and for Chris! Can’t wait to see you again next year! Remember? Your biggest Hungarian fans: Évi, Kinga, Szabolcs, Viki
All the best for Petter . From Sri Lanka.
a really good news for the sport! Allez Petter! Allez Ford!!
Hell yea!!
gogo peter!you finaly went back to what you deserve!a factory team!cant wait to see you in greece again.wish you best of luck,show them what you can really do!
yes yes yes yes fantastic petter new you would wh a fantastic year you are going to have welldone and good luck :) :)
Well Done Guys Hope to see you some time next year roll on the resession happy days.
GREAT NEWS!!! Well done Chris and Petter wish you best of luck,show them what you can really do!!!!!see you in Acropolis, do your best…i was there in Lilea service park when you have the white focus….
Going to be weird seeing you in new livery but I’m so happy for you Petter! Best of luck in Ford ♥
top news wishing you all the best
top news petter, good luck to you and chris see you in wales again next year..
EXCELLENT NEWS !!!!
You deserve driving for a big team
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
PETTER & CHRIS
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
EXCELLENT NEW Well done Chris and Petter wish you best of luck
Nuno (Madeira Island)
Lykke til Petter :)
Petter, i am beyond happy for you!!. good luck from your Jamaican supporters!!… i will be watching all the races, all events!!!
[...] και το πρώτο video με τον Solberg να δοκιμάζει το Fiesta WRC.[Πηγή: Peter Solberg, Nasser Al Attiyah] google_ad_client = "ca-pub-0915262125106369"; /* 468 mesa */ google_ad_slot = [...]
hope YOU will kick asses…
[...] [...]
Now you got more time.. Try to enroll in some more non-wrc rallies and maybe Nurnbergring races, like Latvala did before. Any additional testing will pay you back for sure..
Congratulations !
it’s really a good news for the rally world ,,
make him happyniest ,,
french people are with you ,
i saw your last video in ardeche and the driving look perfect and better than jarri matti
,,
Monaco will be certainly a good pleasure and a special day !
jean michel ,FRANCE
Dette er fenomenale nyheter!! :-))) Med et fabrikksete vil Petter hevde seg i toppen i hvert eneste rally. Nå trenger han kun å konsentrere seg om kjøringa, ikke drifte et helt team. Cant wait to follow u in 2012 Petter!! :D
congratulations petter.
will be rooting for you again next year as allway`s,can`t wait
for the start of the season
Very happy for you Petter!!! Now you can concentrate 100% on driving again. Good luck!
Lucio, Chile
This was the sweetest Christmas present for everbody who love rallying and og cause best ever gift anyone could give you Petter.
Show the world who is the best all round rallydriver and they will be stunned by your pace and ability to diliver top result in every rally.
Please Petter don’t do a Mikkelsen in the Rally Monte Carlo as he did last year.
Now you can consentrate fully to your fitness and enjoy life with friends and familiy.
I will not be suprised if you become the new WRC Champ 2012 :-)
Congratulations Petter!
I wish you good luck to the new season :) Im with you Petter! You are the biggest star of the rally sport for me and I always enjoy your onboards especially POWER STAGES :)
GO PETTER SOLBERG!!!
Martin Tupy – CZECH REPUBLIC
you look good driving that ford petter :) happy days
jon sorby i agree mate :)
Congratulations!
U absolutely deserve it!!!
D e jo kanonbra Petter. No kan du bærre kjør og ikke tenk på å drifte heile teamet. Tru du vinn 2012!
Dette var redningen for Norske fans !
Du har havnet sammen med den sjåføren som har den høyeste toppfarten av samtlige i WRC, Latvala, men det skal mer enn toppfart til for å hevde seg. Nå som Latvala er 1. fører vil jo jobben din bli litt utakknemlig, men du får stå på, vise respekt og sette deg i respekt. Jeg er sikker på at Ford nå fikk den beste sjåføren de kunne drømt om.
Håper du finner deg til rette i teamet og at du fremdeles henger med i toppen nå som du kan konsentrere deg om kun en ting: Kjøre fort !
God Jul og et suksessfylt 2012 !!!
I’m really stoked for you both, Petter and Chris, and for other rally fans. You really deserve this. Incidentally, I live in Daventry in the UK home to one of Ford’s largest parts distribution centers. I’m sure we will all be cheering you and the team on for 2012. Good luck!
Great Petter!!!!!
…..I’m so happy…..
Congratulations I wish You a Great 2012!!!!
Congratulation Petter and the best to you in 2012!
From Argentina, Elda.
Vis Latvela respekt og gi ha all den stotte
han fortjener! saa er jeg sikker paa at
du til slutt kan staa overst paa resultatlistene
Vi heier paa deg!!!
Finally! Right man on the right place. I believe there is a mistake in the announcement, by the end of the year you will be the one who will fight with Loeb for the championship. So who’s the second driver?! Those fools from Ford mixed something up:) All the best from Poland.
Congratulations! This is a great news for all. Petter gets the car. Ford get the needed change. Perfect setup! Now catch Leob!
All the best in the new ride in 2012 from Canada.
we can’t wait to see you again at greece with your new car.
It is a good tool Jon. Magnificent…
It is really helpful tool especially for someone who doesn’t know how to write article.
peter u are the best remember to hit Citroen guys this year to make us more happy 2012 is a ford year