The Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, also known as the ''Ford Motor Co. Team'' prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Company's motorsport arm selected the Malcolm Wilson Motorsport company to run its factory team, entering the Ford Escort World Rally Car. The new team took their first victory in the 1997 Acropolis Rally.

The team

Management

Gerard Quinn senior manager motorsport Ford of Europe

Malcolm Wilson team director

Christian Loriaux technical director

Partners

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority

Castrol

Pirelli

Pulsar

Trade partners

Sparco

OZ Racing

Beta

Pulsar

Recaro

M-Sport

Reiger Racing

History

Ford's rally heritage

Ford had a long and successful history in rallying, winning the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 1979 with the Ford Escort RS1800 and drivers Hannu Mikkola, Björn Waldegård and Ari Vatanen. In 1986 the Group B Ford RS200 made its debut, but by the end of the year Group B was banned. From 1987 Ford Motorsport entered the Ford Sierra. The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was introduced in 1993 and won rallies until 1996. For 1995, Ford handed over the running of its programme to RAS Sport of Belgium. At the end of 1996, Ford of Europe and its motorsports arm selected Malcolm Wilson and his M-Sport company to run the cars in the WRC from 1997 onwards.

1998 season

1998 marked the final season of the Escort RS Cosworth, with that year's Rally of Great Britain being its last event, ending the model name's thirty year association with factory-backed international rallying. The team's drivers were a pair carried over from previous seasons: four-time world champion Finn, Juha Kankkunen, who had joined the team as a refugee from his former banned Toyota team as a replacement for a disappointing Armin Schwarz mid-way through the 1997 season, and Belgian Bruno Thiry, a championship mainstay and veteran pilot of previous Ford rallying models, including the Escort RS Cosworth.

As events transpired, neither driver would manage to mark the Escort's swansong year with a final victory. The Escort still proved, frustratingly for the championship hopeful Kankkunen, persistently ineffective in the task of scoring points on the asphalt rounds of the calendar, woes for which not even Thiry's performances could compensate. A late injury to the Belgian provided an early season cameo role for 1981 world champion Ari Vatanen, who finished third at the Safari Rally, behind compatriot Kankkunen and first-time world rally victor for Mitsubishi, Richard Burns. Kankkunen eventually scored sufficient points and podiums, including second ahead of Thiry in Britain, to finish fourth in the 1998 drivers' standings, although, with the announcement of the looming high-profile arrival of Colin McRae to the team for the following year, this success did not deter the Finn from deciding to leave the M-Sport outfit, both he and Thiry proceeding to sign Subaru contracts for 1999.

1999 season

The Ford and M-Sport-built Ford Focus WRC replaced the Escort WRC for 1999. It debuted on the Monte Carlo Rally in January, with Colin McRae and Simon Jean-Joseph driving the two Martini Racing-liveried works machines. It set several fastest stage times and McRae finished a provisional third place on the stages, only to be disqualified later due to an illegal water pump. McRae gave the Focus its first win two events later at the Safari Rally, in Kenya, finishing over 15 minutes ahead of the second placed Toyota Corolla WRC of Didier Auriol. Although McRae then immediately followed up this success with a victory at the next round in Portugal, the Scot's title chances faded amid reliability problems with the new car and a series of costly shunts. McRae finished sixth in the drivers' standings.

During this debut season, many drivers drove the second Focus of the team - Jean-Joseph for some tarmac events, Petter Solberg and Thomas Rådström on loose-surface rounds and Piero Liatti for the San Remo tarmac roads.

2000 season

His former role at Toyota now redundant after his former team's withdrawal as manufacturers' champions at the end of the 1999 season, double world champion Spaniard Carlos Sainz chose to return to his 1997 team for the 2000 season, joining the incumbent Colin McRae. Both men drove the Focus WRC at every event of the season. They finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the drivers championship, albeit only managing to bring Ford 2nd place in the manufacturers title race behind Peugeot. Once again, bit-part driver Piero Liatti was called upon to help improve Ford's points returns on asphalt.

2001 season

McRae and Sainz were joined for the 2001 season by a regular third driver in the returning Ford favourite of the early to mid-1990s, Frenchman François Delecour. McRae's season oscillated between a protracted pointless run on the season's first few rounds, including retirement on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally while leading the event from Tommi Mäkinen, and a run of three consecutive victories on the Argentine, Cypriot and Greek events, the latter placing him as joint leader of the championship with Makinen mid-way through the season. Leading the points standings outright upon entering his final home round, however, McRae led in the initial stages only to crash out of the event, allowing a consistently points-scoring Richard Burns to sneak past him for the title. Ford also lost their opportunity for the manufacturers' title on this event, as rivals Peugeot secured a decisive 1-2 finish with Marcus Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä.

Sainz, meanwhile, endured a winless but not wholly uncompetitive season, even remaining an outsider for the title entering the final event. A crash of his own put paid to such ambitions, with the Spaniard slumping to sixth place in the points standings, with 33 points.

2002 season

McRae and Sainz regrouped for both drivers' final seasons with Ford in 2002. Simultaneously, youngster Markko Märtin replaced Delecour as the team's third driver, having found himself crowded out by the presence of Richard Burns and Petter Solberg at former team, Subaru.

Sainz's third place in the championship beat his Scottish teammate's fourth place in the standings. His only victory of the year came on that year's Rally Argentina, which he inherited after the unlikely exclusion of the both of the initially 1-2 finishing dominant works Peugeots of Marcus Grönholm and Englishman Burns. McRae began his own season with fourth place on the Rally Monte Carlo, but he suffered an injury to his hand when he crashed out on the Tour de Corse, which left him hampered and struggling to a single-point-scoring finish on the following tarmac round in Spain. Injury worries for Sainz, meanwhile, came not from himself, but in the form of long-time co-driver Luis Moya, who was forced to end his unbroken year-on-year chain of appearances with his compatriot in order to recuperate, with Marc Marti stepping in for the double world champion's home rally. Intrusive spectator parking on the event blinded Sainz, causing him to eventually crash out. With the Fords having initially dominated the stage times on the first rough gravel event of the year in Cyprus particularly through McRae, Märtin and François Duval, successive retirements left McRae as the sole occupier of the lead for the Blue Oval, which he lost after a number of unfortunate shunts which eventually left himself holding on to a mere sixth place overall, and the two factory Peugeots as 1-2 finishers on this event.

After Sainz's perhaps fortuitous Argentinian win, McRae resumed his role as rally winner on the Acropolis and Safari rallies. The first success came despite initially being unexpectedly led on the stages by an imperious Märtin, while the latter, achieved on the landmark occasion of the fiftieth running of the fabled endurance event, and its last at World Rally Championship level, in retrospect proved to be the last career victory for McRae and Welsh navigator Nicky Grist, ironically on the day on which the Scot became the first world championship driver to reach the quarter-century mark of individual WRC wins, and came to stand alone as the most successful driver in the history of the World Rally Championship.

Despite the profile of these attainments, both McRae and Sainz were to leave the team at the end of the year as team-mates to the then less seasoned Sébastien Loeb at new championship full-timers, Citroën.

2003 season

In the absence of the departed McRae and Sainz, Ford opted to promote their younger supporting drivers, Estonian Markko Märtin and Belgian François Duval, to their top two seats. A comparatively thorough redesign of the Focus debuted at the 2003 Rally New Zealand, where Märtin in particular proved immediately competitive, leading only to later be forced into retirement with engine problems. The team's new leader did score his first of five career rally victories on that year's Acropolis Rally, however, (notwithstanding a dramatic mid-stage moment for he and navigator Michael Park, when the car's bonnet unexpectedly flew up), as well as becoming only the third non-Scandinavian victor of the Rally Finland, formerly the 1,000 Lakes Rally.

The junior Duval, meanwhile, as had been publicly predicted by team boss Malcolm Wilson, secured a podium finish on this year's Tour de Corse, having scored his first ever podium finish earlier in the year in Turkey.

The two drivers finished the season in 4th and 9th places respectively in the drivers' standings.

2004 season

Märtin and Duval again drove the two works Fords in 2004. Märtin managed to win the French, Spanish and Mexican rallies, giving him third place in the overall championship. Both drivers left at the end of the season, to join Peugeot (Märtin) and Citroën (Duval).

2005 season

The 2005 season saw Ford take on two relatively inexperienced drivers; Finn Toni Gardemeister and Czech Roman Kresta. Gardemeister achieved podiums at the Monte Carlo Rally, Rally Sweden, Acropolis Rally and the Tour de Corse. Kresta's best individual rally result was sixth, which he achieved on five events. The duo respectively finished in 4th and 8th places in the drivers' championship standings. The team also successfully introduced its 2006 car, the Ford Focus RS WRC 06 at the final rally of the year in Australia, where despite a few teething troubles, it was immediately quick as Gardemeister and Kresta both achieved a fastest stage time during the rally.

2006 season

The team's entrants for the 2006 season are a new-look, all-Finnish team of 2000 and 2002 champion Marcus Grönholm, codriven by Timo Rautiainen, and the youngster Mikko Hirvonen, who renewed his link with the M-Sport run team for the first time since 2003, codriven by Jarmo Lehtinen. Grönholm joined the team from Peugeot, with whom, as planned, he ended his association after the joint withdrawal from the sport of both PSA Group marques. He won his first two events for the team, on the Monte Carlo Rally and the Swedish Rally, but was closely shadowed on both of them by the two-time champion and now driver with semi-works Kronos Citroen, Sébastien Loeb, who was soon to assert himself sufficiently in order to overtake the Finn in the points standings. Despite further victories, including Greece and Finland, Grönholm never regained the championship lead from the Frenchman and with the exception of Hirvonen in Australia, the two proved the only two drivers worthy of individual rally victories all season. Although with four rounds remaining and a 34-point lead, Loeb's injury from a mountain-biking accident shortly after the Cyprus Rally appeared to offer Grönholm a chance to close the deficit, the Finn's title challenge was finally mathematically ended with a crash on the penultimate round in Australia.

His team, however, were to benefit from Loeb's absence against a now weakened Kronos Citroen left to depend on their two inexperienced Spaniards, Xavier Pons and Daniel Sordo (although the team initially called upon Colin McRae to substitute for Loeb on their first event without him, in Turkey). Ford, already gaining on the points lead due to the combined proficiency on gravel of their two senior drivers, soon reclaimed a championship lead they were never to lose, achieving its greatest success in winning the manufacturer's title, the first such win for Ford since 1979.

2007 season

The team's primary entrants for 2007 were unchanged from 2006. After watching his opponent of the previous year, Sébastien Loeb, return to winning ways on the official return of the 2003–2005 manufacturers' championship-winning factory Citroen team on the season's curtain-raiser in Monte Carlo, Grönholm followed up his own third place by winning for the first time that season in Sweden in February, and led his opponent, now driving a newly homologated Citroën C4 WRC, in the drivers' standings over the championship's post-Rally Finland summer break (an event also incidentally won by Grönholm, for a record-beating seventh time, to further extend his points lead).

Unfortunately for the drivers' championship ambitions of both the Blue Oval concern and Grönholm, however, having announced his impending retirement from WRC competition at the end of the season, the elder Finn was to suffer an early exit on Rally Japan, in doing so surrendering the long-held lead in the standings to Loeb. Grönholm then shunted his Focus, knocking himself briefly unconscious, on the tarmac stages of the inaugural Rally Ireland and penultimate round of the year. Combined with adversary Loeb winning, this meant an almost impossible points deficit to overhaul for the rapidly fit-again Finn come the season-ending Wales Rally GB. It culminated in the Frenchman, settling for a safe third on the rally to the Finn's second, triumphing in the second long points duel between the pair in consecutive years. Ford, however, aided by supporting team-mate Hirvonen's continued superiority on loose-surface events over his Citroen counterpart Daniel Sordo, sealed a successful defence of the Constructors' Championship. Meanwhile, Hirvonen, for his part, in addition to ending the season in style by topping the timesheets after the three days' competition in Wales, had also earlier taken his second and third career world rally victories in Norway and Japan.

At the half way stage of the 2007 World Rally Championship, a joint venture between BP-Ford and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Board was announced to bring a third official Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to the team's campaign. Khalid AlQassimi and co-driver Nicky Beech contested the Neste Oil Rally Finland, ADAC Rallye Deutschland, Rally RACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada and Rally Ireland.

For their work in the 2007 season, BP Ford and M-Sport received the Rally Business of the Year Award from the Motorsport Industry Association.

2008 season

Mikko Hirvonen and codriver Jarmo Lehtinen resumed the implicit role within the team of the Cumbria outfit's leading crew for the 2008 season, after Marcus Grönholm and codriver Timo Rautiainen elected to retire following the 2007 season, with the more experienced Finn later to be found dabbling for Ford in rallycross and maintaining his links with the BP-Ford WRT team in an "ambassadorial role". Hirvonen was joined in the new-look M-Sport line-up by another fellow Finnish driver, Jari-Matti Latvala, who stepped into the vacant berth from his former spot at the satellite Stobart Ford team. Khalid AlQassimi returned with a programme of ten events on the 2008 WRC calendar aboard a third car. His co-driver, Nicky Beech, was replaced by Michael Orr, former co-driver to Matthew Wilson.

The season got off to a promising start for both Finnish drivers, with Hirvonen taking second to the seemingly omnipresent Loeb on the Monte Carlo Rally in January, before Latvala shattered Henri Toivonen's long-standing record as youngest World Rally Championship-qualifying event winner by outpacing Hirvonen to victory on the following Rally Sweden. Hirvonen collected his first win of the year on the Jordan Rally and led Latvala in an astutely tactically judged Ford 1-2 on Rally Turkey to assert a slender points lead over Citroen's Loeb heading into both Finns' home round of the Championship in August. Unfortunately for Ford, however, neither Hirvonen nor Latvala were able to defeat Loeb, with the now dominant Frenchman proceeding to record his eighth and ninth victories of the season on the New Zealand, Spanish and Corsican rallies. For the latter two, asphalt rounds, team boss Malcolm Wilson drafted in, in place of Latvala, pacy Belgian and one-time full time pilot for the Ford team, François Duval, in order to maximise the team's points haul on a surface traditionally favourable to their French rivals.

Although Hirvonen did return to winning form to head a Ford 1-2 with Latvala in Japan, it was at the same event where Loeb finished third to finally clinch the drivers' title, although the team did close in to within eleven points of Citroen in the manufacturers' title race, with a possible total of eighteen still available, as the season-ending Wales Rally GB loomed in December.

2009 season

Hirvonen, Latvala and Al-Qassimi were retained in the team. Rival team Citroën got their season off to a good start, Sébastien Loeb winning all of the first five rallies. After finishing third in Ireland, Hirvonen scored four consecutive second place finishes, but retired in Argentina with an engine problem. The team won their first rally of the season in Italy, Latvala beating Hirvonen. Hirvonen then took four consecutive victories, giving him a five point lead over Loeb with two rounds to go. Hirvonen finished third in Spain and took a one point championship lead to the finale in Great Britain. However, Loeb beat him to the victory in Britain, winning the championship. Hirvonen finished second in the standings, with Latvala fourth. Ford finished second in the Manufacturers' championship behind Citroën.

2010 season

Hirvonen, Latvala and Al-Qassimi were retained again in the team for 2010. The team made a strong start, Hirvonen winning in Sweden with Latvala in third. However, the Fords struggled at the next round in Mexico, Hirvonen and Latvala only managing fourth and fifth respectively as Citroëns filled the podium. Hirvonen went off the road on the opening day of the Jordan Rally, but Latvala was fighting for victory. Both teams used tactics to determine the road order, Loeb eventually winning for Citroën. Hirvonen finished third in Turkey, while Latvala beat Sébastien Ogier to win in New Zealand after Loeb made errors and Hirvonen struggled for pace. Citroën filled the podium again in Portugal, Hirvonen the leading Ford in fourth.

Gallery

See also

Ford Racing

Ford TeamRS

Ford Focus WRC

Ford Focus (International)

M-Sport

External links

Official website Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Official website Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Image Library

M-Sport website

Sources

WRC Category:World Rally Championship teams

ca:Ford World Rally Team es:Ford World Rally Team fr:Ford World Rally Team it:M-Sport nl:Ford (rallysport) pl:Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Petter Solberg
birth date	November 18, 1974
nationality	Norwegian
years	1998–present
teams	Ford, Subaru, Petter Solberg World Rally Team
races	164
championships	1 (2003)
wins	13
podiums	45
stagewins	400
points	641
first race	1998 Swedish Rally
first win	2002 Rally GB }}

Petter "Hollywood" Solberg (born 18 November 1974 in Askim), from Spydeberg in Østfold, Norway, is a professional rally driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford factory team in 1999. The following year, Solberg started his successful partnership with the Subaru World Rally Team.

With the Subaru works team, Solberg finished runner-up to Marcus Grönholm in 2002 and then became the first Norwegian to win the drivers' world title in 2003. In the following two seasons, he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb. Following Subaru's withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season, Solberg secured private backing to start the Petter Solberg World Rally Team and competed with a 2006-spec Citroën Xsara WRC for the majority of the 2009 season, before switching to a 2008-spec Citroën C4 WRC for Rally Catalunya and Rally GB.

Career

Early career

Solberg won a nationwide RC car championship at the age of 13 as he inherited his interest of motorsport through his parents, mother Tove and father Terje, who were keen ''bilcross'' (an "inexpensive version" of Norwegian rallycross, similar to Swedish folkrace and Finnish ''jokamiehenluokka'') competitors and rallycross enthusiasts. He used to help out around the home farm rebuilding competition cars, as he was not yet old enough to drive. Solberg entered his first ''bilcross'' in 1992, three days after his 18th birthday and only one day after he got his driving license. He went on to become Norwegian champion in rallycross as well as hillclimb in both 1995 (winning 19 out of 21 events) and 1996 (winning 15 out of 19 events). In 1995 he took part in his maiden rally, the Norwegian Rally Bjørkelangen, by driving a Volvo 240 in the ''Volvo Original'' class. His female navigator by then was Maude from Sweden, nowadays spouse of his older brother Henning. In 1998 Petter became the Norwegian Rally Champion, his brother Henning won this title five times in a row between 1999 and 2003.

WRC career

By this time and with the aid of his compatriot John "Mr Škoda" Haugland, who helped him on events in the late 1990s, the World Rally Championship team bosses were starting to recognize Solberg's potential and by the end of 1998, after winning a comparative test drive, he agreed to drive for three years as a junior pilot for the Ford Motor Company. Initially expected by Malcolm Wilson to maintain a somewhat lower profile, Solberg actually became a nominated points-scorer for Ford on, of all events, the gruelling test that was the Safari Rally in early 1999, after usual understudy to the team's star driver Colin McRae, Thomas Rådström, suffered an injury and was subsequently ruled out from taking part.

2000-04

In 2000, however, Solberg was able to leave Ford's M-Sport outfit prematurely, due to an insufficient contract, to sign with the Prodrive Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT), then led by a driving staff of Richard Burns and Juha Kankkunen. His first podium had to wait until the Acropolis Rally, Greece the following year, as an altruistic Solberg forsook as many of his own points as possible, as he did in dropping voluntarily from 4th to 5th in Sanremo, to assist his senior team-mate Burns in sneaking to the title.

In 2002, with four-time champion Tommi Mäkinen installed as his new team-mate in the light of Burns' departure to Peugeot, Solberg won his first ever WRC event in Wales (Wales Rally GB) after a consistent display of driving prowess and an unlikely accident by Marcus Grönholm. In 2003, Solberg beat fellow WRC young-gun, Citroen-mounted Sébastien Loeb at the Wales Rally GB, launching him to his second win in Wales and his first (and to date, only) World Rally Championship title.

In his title defence, however, Solberg's winning of five of a possible sixteen events, including the hat-trick making Wales Rally GB, proved insufficient to deny the title to a now increasingly efficient Loeb. On Solberg's part, a perhaps unfortunate string of bad luck was encapsulated by three DNFs (retirements) in mid-season.

2005

Welcoming a new team-mate for the year in Australian Chris Atkinson, who replaced the disappointing Finn who had been the former Champion's SWRT team-mate throughout 2004, Mikko Hirvonen, Solberg started his 2005 season brightly as he sought an immediate answer to Loeb, the Norwegian winning two of the first three events, in Sweden and Mexico. These successes coincided with the early seizing of a championship lead. He was, however, soon overtaken by a rampant Loeb, and was left to score 71 points for the year, pipping Peugeot's Marcus Grönholm to the championship runner-up spot on a tie break.

He added an unwanted Wales Rally GB win after the death in a day three crash of fellow competitor Markko Märtin's co-driver, Michael Park, with Loeb sacrificing his victory on the road in order to avoid having to simultaneously celebrate the title. Solberg won three rallies in all, though was severely affected by bad luck while challenging for wins at the end of the season, most notably on the Telstra Rally Australia, where he was forced to retire after striking a wayward kangaroo.

2006

For 2006, Solberg continued his partnership with the Subaru team, driving a new version of the Impreza WRC. His main sponsor was 24SevenOffice with a 5 million kroner sponsorship deal, a Norwegian record. His results, though, proved patchy in comparison to Loeb. While Loeb went on to register five rally victories on the bounce in a privately (Kronos) run Citroën Xsara WRC, his winning of the title unhampered even by breaking his arm at an advanced stage of the season, Solberg could only comparatively muster a handful of runner-up places on rallies all season — in Mexico, Argentina and Australia. Failure to claw his way any higher than sixth in the year's final points standings duly brought an end to the chain of top three drivers' championship appearances which Subaru had enjoyed since 1994.

2007

The Norwegian did, at least, get his 2007 season off to a rather more auspicious start, managing a joint-career-best finish of sixth place on the Rally Monte Carlo. He surrendered a potential third place finish in Sweden after a substantial time loss, as well as being bested by his brother, Henning, in the race for the final podium place on the siblings' home event – Rally Norway. In Mexico, Argentina and Sardinia Petter struggled with his Impreza — technical problems caused two retirements and a plummet down the leaderboard in Italy. Good pace in Portugal and taking third place on the Acropolis Rally at least appeared to mark a turnaround in the quality of the younger Solberg's results, although even Greek event wasn't problem-free for the Norwegian as he experienced some damper problems.

Despite Subaru's confidence in their car performance and reliability built up during summer break tests, Impreza S12A failed again — Solberg had to retire on day two in Finland, after monstrous handling and steering problems which the engineers were unable to deal with. On the next round, Rallye Deutschland, where he finished sixth, the car by itself was reliable, but the Norwegian hit a rock on SS5 heavily damaging the steering, which had cost him considerable amount of time because the team wasn't able to fully repair it. The New Zealand event was another problem-ridden outing for Solberg — he described the handling difficulties as similar to those he had experienced in Finland earlier.

At the next round on Rally Catalunya, it was a difficult rally for Solberg  — he struggled to maintain a good pace and in the end finished sixth, almost 3 minutes adrift from the winner, Loeb. He was however pleased with changes in car setup made for day 3, which seemed promising for the following Tour de Corse. Unfortunately for the Norwegian, the setup wasn't as good and he had problems with handling again which, along with a stalled engine on the start of SS5, resulted in a disappointing fifth place, behind young Finn Jari-Matti Latvala. In Japan, his team's home event, Petter clocked several top-ten times on the early stages, but crashed badly on SS5 then, probably due to damage sustained in accident, his gearbox locked in sixth gear, forcing his retirement for the day. He later rejoined the competition under the SupeRally format and finished 16th, managing to score two points in the Manufacturers' Championship. On the day of his 33rd birthday, Solberg finished fifth on Rally Ireland, calling it "the most difficult rally he has ever done"; he had also found his car's performance better than in previous events.

On the final event of the season, Wales Rally GB, Solberg had consistent pace and won the battle for fourth with Spaniard Dani Sordo even though the Norwegian hit a rock in the morning and again had some minor handling issues. This result allowed Subaru to retain their third place in the Manufacturers' Championship, and Solberg ended the 2007 season in fifth place overall. He also took part in the 2007 Race of Champions, representing Norway, along with his brother, Henning. He didn't manage to win the first race with David Coulthard, but in Nation's Cup Norwegian brothers made their way to the semi-finals.

2008

For the 2008 season, Solberg and Atkinson were retained by SWRT as driving staff. Solberg started his season with a fifth place in Monte Carlo and fourth in Sweden, but went on to retire or finish outside point-scoring positions in the following four events. A radical new hatchback homologation of the long-serving Subaru Impreza, the WRC2008, debuted on the Acropolis Rally, marked by the Norwegian collecting a runner-up spot to Sébastien Loeb.

Although Solberg went on to break his personal record in consecutive point-scoring finishes, Acropolis remained his only podium of the season. He finished sixth overall in the drivers' championship, four points behind teammate Chris Atkinson, while Subaru took third place in the manufacturers' standings.

2009

Subaru announced on 16 December 2008 that they would not be participating in the World Rally Championship any longer, a mere day after Suzuki announced their withdrawal. Petter and co-driver Phil Mills were left without a ride. Looking at their options with the remaining teams they had to sit out the 2009 season opening Rally Ireland. After careful evaluation of several privateer options including Ford and Citroën cars, Solberg confirmed having acquired (most likely leased) a Citroën Xsara WRC (in 2006 WRC spec) as of 25 January 2009, and that Phil Mills and himself would return to the WRC in a privateer team for the 2009 Rally Norway. On 1 February 2009, Solberg indicated that five sponsors for the 2009 season were in place. The sponsors announced were Microsoft, Pareto, Hurtigruta Carglass and two undisclosed sponsors.

On 6 February 2009, Solberg officially unveiled the Petter Solberg World Rally Team, with himself as driver and Phil Mills as codriver. The team served Solberg and his 2006-spec. Citroën Xsara WRC with active suspension and diffs. A 13-member team, PSWRT employed ex-Subaru World Rally Team members Ken Rees as team manager, and François-Xavier "FX" Demaison as chief engineer. The PSWRT also returned Solberg's personal friend and ex-SWRT member, Tore Dahl, to the WRC scene as a mechanic. Swede Sven-Inge Neby, for about 40 years the engineer of Petter's father-in-law Per-Inge Walfridsson and his brothers Lars-Erik Walfridsson and Stig-Olov Walfridsson, is another support to the international team.

It took some time to adapt to the new car during their first round in Norway, but eventually Petter and Phil managed to secure a sixth place and three points in the drivers' championship. Following that result and a new engine from Citroën, Solberg finished third in the Cyprus Rally, being the first true privateer in a privately run team to be in the podium since Malcolm Wilson back in 1993. Solberg managed to repeat this feat in Sardinia.

Solberg and Mills retained their consistent fight for 3rd and 4th position through the three next rallies; Portugal, Argentina (Retired from 3rd position due to loss of fuel pressure on the final stage) and Italy. Solberg "threatened" to swap to a Peugeot 307, unless he got the 2006 spec upgrades for his Xsara. He received the upgrades (mainly improved intercooler and mechanical differentials) for Sardinia, which made them able to defend a 3rd place, in very hot conditions. Solberg expressed that they were unable to push harder in hot temperatures, and remained open to analyze what to do for the next events. Solberg was believed to be in talks of upgrading to a Peugeot 307 CC but decided to stick with the Xsara. After retiring from Rally Finland, Solberg decided to miss Australia to concentrate on finding a more competitive car. After testing a Citroën C4 WRC in France, and a Ford Focus WRC in Britain, Solberg confirmed he would drive a C4 at the final two rounds of the season, Rally Catalunya and Wales Rally GB. The car was to be a 2008-spec C4, but would feature updates to bring it as close as possible to the factory cars of Sébastien Loeb and Dani Sordo. Solberg continued to drive for his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team for Catalunya, but was a nominated points scorer for the Citroen Junior Team at Wales Rally GB, alongside Sebastien Ogier. He finished in 4th position in both of these events, and ended up 5th in the overall 2009 Drivers' Championship standings.

2010

Solberg announced on 12 January 2010 that he had purchased two Citroën C4 WRC (2009 spec) cars from Citroën and that he would compete in the 2010 World Rally Championship. On the Swedish Rally Solberg was unable to find the rhythm and pace, and finished 9th earning him 2 points. At the second round of the season, the Corona Mexico Rally, Petter held the lead after day 1, with a 27sec gap down to Loeb on 3rd. With Petter sweeping the road on Saturday Loeb advanced to a 55 sec lead by the end of the day, with Solberg on 2nd place 2.7 sec ahead of Sebastien Ogier. A great battle for 2nd place played out on Sunday, with Petter Solberg trailing Ogier with 0.6sec going into the last super special stage. Petter sat a fastest stage time here by 1.4 sec which secured the 2nd place podium finish, marking the best result by PSWRT to date. In the third Round of the season, Rally Jordan, Solberg trailed Latvala (−16s), Ogier (−19s) and Loeb (−43s) going into the last day. Ogier was sacrificed in a new level of tactics, sending him out as first car as road sweeper for Loeb, while receiving penalties and losing his good position. The exploiting of the rules received much criticism, and was subsequently banned for the next rally. The other drivers kept their position with Solberg scoring a 3rd place podium. In Rally Turkey, 16–18 April, Solberg held a good position through the whole rally, and had a serious chance to battle for the victory on the last day, positioned 2nd on the road, 16sec after Loeb. With several stages canceled on safety reasons due to too much mud, and later a scary meet with a tree on the slippery conditions, Solberg wisely stopped fighting and conceded to secure the 2nd place. Hirvonen, Latvala, Sordo and Ogier all had incidents/offs, hindering them to challenge Solbergs position. This result put Petter second in the Driver's Championship standings, 1 point ahead of Hirvonen and 6 points ahead of Latvala, but a full 40 points after Loeb, with 4 out of 13 rallies completed. In Rally New Zealand Solberg made a tactical blunder, simply by not adapting any road position tactics, and finished in first position on day 1, with a marginal lead. Sweaping Saturday's stages left him 54 sec behind, in 5th place, realistically out of reach of a win. But for the final 30 km stage of the rally, four drivers were within 18 seconds of the lead, which lead to an epic four-way battle for the victory, between Ogier, Latvala, Solberg and Loeb. Three of them took a maximum attack, high-risk approach, which none of them managed to complete without incident. Ogier and Loeb both had a spin that cost them some seconds, and Solberg going too fast around a high speed bend hit a telegraph pole on the road shoulder and retired from 3rd position. Latvala did no serious mistakes and took his 3rd WRC win by 2.4 seconds. Loeb crashed two times during this rally, but still managed to finish only 15 seconds behind. On 11 June 2010, PSWRT announced that Phil Mills have decided to leave the codriver seat to focus on other things in life. This brings to an end a 152-event unbroken run of the pair competing together, over 11 years since 1999. In their time they have driven for Ford, Subaru and for their own Citroen team, winning 13 individual world rallies and the 2003 world title. 29 June PSWRT announced that Chris Patterson would be Solberg's new codriver.

In their first rally together, the tarmac event Rally Bulgaria, Petter and Chris put in an impressive performance; five stage wins and finished 3rd, 6.8sec off Dani Sordo in 2nd place.

After more podiums in Japan, France and Spain, Solberg finished 2nd on Rally GB, securing his goal of finishing in the top three in the championship.

2011

On 14 January 2011, PSWRT confirmed that Solberg will compete in the 2011 World Rally Championship in a Citroën DS3 WRC.

In February, Solberg had his driving licence suspended in Sweden after police caught him travelling 32kph above the speed limit on the way to the fifth stage of the country's WRC round, forcing co-driver Chris Patterson to take up the wheel.

Personal life

Solberg is married to a Swede, Pernilla Walfridsson, with whom he has a son, Oliver. Pernilla is the daughter of former Volvo factory driver and 1980 European Rallycross Champion, Per-Inge "Pi" Walfridsson (who also claimed a remarkable fourth overall in the 1973 RAC Rally). Pernilla was also, for some time, one of the world's leading female rally drivers.

WRC victories

:{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; max-width: 49em;" width=100% ! No. ! Event ! Season ! Co-driver ! Car |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 1 | 58th Network Q Rally of Great Britain |align="center"| 2002 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 2 | 31st Cyprus Rally |align="center"| 2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 3 | 16th Telstra Rally Australia |align="center"| 2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 4 | 47ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France |align="center"| 2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 5 | 59th Wales Rally of Great Britain |align="center"| 2003 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 6 | 34th Propecia Rally New Zealand |align="center"| 2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 7 | 51st Acropolis Rally |align="center"| 2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 8 | 1st Rally Japan |align="center"| 2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 9 | 60th Wales Rally of Great Britain |align="center"| 2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 10 | 1º Supermag Rally d'Italia Sardinia |align="center"| 2004 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 11 | 54th Uddeholm Swedish Rally |align="center"| 2005 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 12 | 19º Corona Rally México |align="center"| 2005 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |- |align="right" style="padding-right: 0.5em;"| 13 | 61st Wales Rally of Great Britain |align="center"| 2005 | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC |}

WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! WDC

! Points

rowspan=2

! Shell Norge

Toyota Celica GT-Four

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

–

0

! Petter Solberg

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

rowspan=3

!rowspan=2

! Ford Escort WRC

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

19th

2

Ford Focus WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! Petter Solberg

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

rowspan=3

BP Ford World Rally Team>Ford Motor Co

Ford Focus WRC>Ford Focus WRC 00

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

10th

6

! Petter Solberg

!rowspan=2

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! Subaru World Rally Team

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2001

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 10th

! 11

rowspan=2

555 Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2001

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2002

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Subaru World Rally Team>555 Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2003

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

rowspan=2

!rowspan=2

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2003

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2004

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

rowspan=2

Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2004

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2005

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2006

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

! 6th

! 40

rowspan=2

Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2006

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

5th

47

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2007

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

rowspan=2

Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2007

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

6th

46

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC2008

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

rowspan=2

Petter Solberg World Rally Team

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

5th

35

! Citroën C4 WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! Petter Solberg World Rally Team

! Citroën C4 WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

! Petter Solberg World Rally Team

! Citroën DS3 WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! 5th*

! 94*

* Season in progress

IRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! WDC

! Points

! Petter Solberg

! Peugeot 207 S2000

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! –

! 0

References

External links

pettersolberg.com – official website

Petter Solberg's profile at RallyBase.nl

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:World Rally Champions Category:World Rally Championship drivers Category:Norwegian rally drivers Category:Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers

bg:Петер Солберг ca:Petter Solberg de:Petter Solberg et:Petter Solberg el:Πέτερ Σόλμπεργκ es:Petter Solberg fr:Petter Solberg ko:페테르 솔베르그 hr:Petter Solberg id:Petter Solberg it:Petter Solberg lv:Peters Sūlbergs lt:Petter Solberg hu:Petter Solberg nl:Petter Solberg ja:ペター・ソルベルグ no:Petter Solberg nn:Petter Solberg pl:Petter Solberg pt:Petter Solberg ru:Сольберг, Петтер sk:Petter Solberg fi:Petter Solberg sv:Petter Solberg uk:Петер Сольберґ

{{Infobox racing driver | name = Ken Block | image = Ken Block (rally driver).jpg | imagesize = 250px | caption = Ken Block in 2008. | nationality = American | birth_date = November 21, 1967 | birth_place = Long Beach, California | current series = Rally America | first year = 2005 | current team = Monster World Rally Team | prev teams = Subaru World Rally Team | co-driver = Alex Gelsomino | career points = 453 | best finish = 2nd Overall in Rally America | year = 2006 and 2008 | award years = 2004

---

2005 is a professional rally driver with the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders and recently appointed Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes. Vermont SportsCar prepared a 2005 Subaru WRX STi for Block to compete. His first event of the rallying season was Sno*Drift, where he ended up finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Group N class. During the 2005 season, Block had five top five finishes and placed third overall in the Group N class and fourth overall in the Rally America National Championship.

2006

In 2006, Ken Block along with his DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana signed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru. Block gained his first Canadian rally win at the event. In the X Games XIV rally competition, Block finished tied for third place with Dave Mirra. This occurrence was due to both competitors having issues with their car. Block, who made it to the semi-finals of the event, had a radiator problem after landing the car awkwardly on a jump. With both bronze place competitors in damaged cars unable to compete, the medals were awarded to both of them. Next up for Block this rally season is three World Rally Championship events.

2010

On January 6, 2010 the Monster World Rally Team announced Ken as their driver for selected rounds of the World Rally Championship, in which he will be campaigning the Monster/Ford Racing Focus RS WRC 08. His car will be prepared and run by the North of England based M-Sport, who also prepare the official Ford WRC cars. He will be simultaneously running in his sixth season of the Rally America Championship in an open class Ford Fiesta, as well as his fifth X-games. Ken will also be the first ever American driver to campaign for the World Rally Championship. On February 27, Block won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Rally America) for the 5th consecutive time. This broke the record held by John Buffum. Ken is currently being trained by former Ford factory driver Markko Märtin. At the Spain rally, he won his first 2 points in World Rally Championship.

2011

On March 23, Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino were taken to hospital, having rolled their Ford Fiesta RS WRC during the shakedown stage of the 2011 Rally de Portugal in Faro, Portugal. A representative of the Monster World Rally team later stated that both men were fine.

Complete Rally America results

(key)

! Year

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! DC

! Pts

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

! Subaru Impreza WRX STi

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

! Ford Fiesta

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

Complete WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! WDC

! Points

rowspan=2

! Ken Block

Subaru Impreza WRX STI

style="background:#cfcfff;"

NC

0

! Rally FaNZ

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! Subaru Rally Team USA

! Subaru Impreza WRX STI

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! NC

! 0

! Monster World Rally Team

Ford Focus WRC>Ford Focus RS WRC 08

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

! 19th

! 2

! Monster World Rally Team

! Ford Fiesta RS WRC

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

! NC*

! 0*

* Season in progress.

Other Motorsport Activities

On October 15, 2009, it was reported that Block was close to a deal to join the World Rally Championship in a new Ford team. Long time co-driver Alex Gelsomino is also reportedly involved in the deal. Former Subaru WRC driver Chris Atkinson has been reported to be lined up as Block's team-mate in the all-new Monster Energy Drink Ford World Rally Team.

In 2005, Ken Block along with his DC Shoes associates participated in the Gumball 3000 Rally. For the event they sent out three modified 2004 Subaru WRX STi's sponsored by DC Shoes.

In 2006, Ken Block competed in the One Lap of America competition along with Brian Scotto. They were teamed up in a 2006 Subaru WRX STi and finished forty-fifth overall.

In 2006, for the Discovery Channel show ''Stunt Junkies'', Ken Block jumped his Subaru WRX STi rally car and a max height of .

Ken Block also holds the world record for the world's fastest snow cat, a modified Subaru STI called a Trax STI.

On September 14, 2010, Block's third Gymkhana video, featuring a Ford Fiesta, was released on YouTube. The video got more than seven million views in its first week.

On August 16, 2011, the fourth Gymkhana video, ''The Hollywood Megamercial'' was released on YouTube, featuring Block driving around the Universal Studios backlot.

Involvement In Colin McRae: Dirt 2 and Dirt 3

Ken Block is featured as a driver in Codemasters Colin McRae: Dirt 2, along with his Subaru Rally Team USA Impreza. In Dirt 3 he is seen as a driver and Gymkhana teacher.

References

External links

Ken Block's Official site

Monster World Rally Team

Rally Results and News

Subaru Rally Team USA

Rally America Website

Ken Block Official Merchandise Store

Ken Block Interview

Gymkhana racing improved by Ken Block, Video, ~4min

dirt2game.com/

Category:American rally drivers Category:World Rally Championship drivers Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:American sports businesspeople

cs:Ken Block de:Ken Block et:Ken Block es:Ken Block fr:Ken Block it:Ken Block hu:Ken Block nl:Ken Block pt:Ken Block (piloto) ru:Блок, Кен fi:Ken Block sv:Ken Block

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History
followed by	}}

''The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History'' is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.

The first person on Hart's list is the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination.

The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.

Hart wrote another book in 1999, entitled ''A View from the Year 3000'', voiced in the perspective of a person from that future year and ranking the most influential people in history. Roughly half of those entries are fictional people from 2000–3000, but the remainder are actual people. These were taken mostly from the 1992 edition, with some re-ranking of order.

Hart's Top 10 (from the 1992 edition)

{| class="wikitable" width=90% border="0" cellpadding="1" |- style="height:50px" ! style="width:2em;"|Rank ! width="30%"|Name ! Time Frame ! Image ! Occupation ! Influence |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 1 | Prophet Muhammad | ''ca.'' 570–632 | | Secular and religious leader | The central human figure of Islam, regarded by Muslims as a prophet of God and the last messenger. Active as a social reformer, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, humanitarian, philanthropist. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 2 | Sir Isaac Newton | 1643–1727 | | Scientist | English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. His law of universal gravitation and three laws of motion laid the groundwork for classical mechanics. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 3 | Jesus Christ | 7–2 BC – AD 26–36 | | Spiritual leader | The central figure of Christianity, revered by Christians as the Son of God and the incarnation of God. Also regarded as a major prophet in Islam. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 4 | Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha | 563 BC–483 BC | | Spiritual leader | Spiritual teacher and philosopher from ancient India. Founder of Buddhism and is also considered an Avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 5 | Confucius | 551 BC–479 BC | | Philosopher | Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Indonesian thought and life. Founded Confucianism, and influenced Neo-Confucianism and New Confucianism. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 6 | St. Paul the Apostle of Tarsus | 5–67 | | Christian apostle | One of the most notable of early Christian missionaries, credited with proselytizing and spreading Christianity outside of Palestine (mainly to the Romans) and author of numerous letters of the New Testament of the Bible. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 7 | Cài Lún | 50–121 | | Political official in imperial China | Widely regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 8 | Johannes Gutenberg | 1398–1468 | | Inventor | German printer who invented the mechanical printing press. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 9 | Christopher Columbus | 1451–1506 | | Explorer | Italian navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages led to general European awareness of the American continents. |- style="height:50px" valign="middle" align="left" | style="padding-right:9px; text-align:right;"| 10 | Albert Einstein | 1879–1955 | | Scientist | German theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation ''E'' = ''mc''². |}

See also

Time 100

References

External links

Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People

Category:1978 books Category:20th-century history books Category:History books about people Category:Top people lists

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