Solberg, father-son victory for Norway at Nations Cup 2023

They became the favorite. They were imposed last year on the fixed route in the middle of the beach of Pete Havsbad (Sweden), at the beginning of Arctic Circleand this Saturday, the father and son once again imposed their speed as rally drivers to revalidate their crown in Race of Champions Nations Cup, took the title for the second time in a row in Norway. All this, in a day of competition full of emotions, with a direct qualifying round head-to-head between participating couples at the wheel of cars that differ from CUPRA Urban Rebel Conceptthe RX2e car from QVE Technologies or the lightweight vehicle from Polaris.

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Peter Solberg (48 years old), legend of WRCformerly of Ford and Subaru, and his son by Oliver Solberg21, current WRC2 driver with Skoda, prevailed in an even competition where they beat the star team that made up the driver 3-1 in the grand final Hyundai Motorsport Thierry Neuville WRC and reserve Aston Martin F1 driver Felipe Drugovich.

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Semifinal of ‘Photo finish’

Prior to this, the Norwegian father and son won the much-anticipated final, the semifinal the Solbergs played against local Swedish idols, Cupra ETCR and Audi Dakar driver Mattias Ekström, and the four-time World Cup champions. RallyCross Johan Kristoffersson. The rivalry is exciting. Four expert rally drivers who feel at home on snow and ice, face to face. And the expected tie resulted in a 2-2 draw. He finally overtook Norway by a small time difference. The equality was such that one of the sleeves, the one between Ekström and Peter Solberg, was decided in a ‘photo finish’, both crossing the finish line separated by only one thousandth, in favor of Mattias. This, however, was not enough for Ekström to win at home.

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In another semifinal, Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher, defending the interests of Germany, were left at the door of the final after losing to the team formed by Neuville and Drugovich. Vettel began to lose to a rally specialist like the Belgian, although it made him suffer. Schumacher then prevailed over Drugovich to level the race, and in two decisive sets of the semi-final, Sebastian seemed to defeat Drugovich and face a place in the final, but he was penalized for a false start to leave all in the hands. of a Mick who succumbed to Neuville’s supremacy.

So, Vettel warmed up for Sunday’s great individual event, the Race of Champions, where last year he was overtaken by a Sébastien Loeb who arrived late this Saturday, by helicopter on the same circuit.

Loeb, from helicopter to car

He arrived in his overalls and got into the car, just in time for a warm-up lap. He wanted to take advantage of the day to practice with the aim of defending the title this Sunday, but he had to start with fewer kilometers traveled than expected against Vettel, Kristofferson, Ekström, Solberg Sr., Solberg Jr. and some stars who want to make things difficult for him.