Ive noticed that over the past few rallies some of Petters comments seem a bit close to the bone.
Ive no doubt the is a world class driver and will probably be world champion over the next year or so but he allways came across as a realy nice guy, now im not so sure.
It seems as though the better he gets the bigger his head is getting.
It could be me taking some of his comments the wrong way...I hope so, as I realy hope he keeps his feet on the ground and remains a nice guy.

Andy

i think his jibes at Burns will come back to haunt him. :D

He never used to get involved with all this driver slagging nonsense, he seems to be being gradually pulled into that crap, which is a shame.

I am sure Petter is a really nice guy, but he is starting to come accross as a bit of a dick, there are only so many times you can be over the moon for having a decent drive. :D LOL

I agree, he is getting cocky.

Yup, my opinion too - the attitude he had at the Cyprus rally. From "I've got no chance, Richard will pull the time back on me no problem" suddenly changing to jumping up and down like the winner of a WRC event - WHEN HE'D ONLY FINISHED 2ND ! seemed very artificial. His "Hollywood" tag seems to have gone to his head a little I think. Nice bloke I'm absolutely sure but I think that he wants stardom as much as, or maybe more so, than being known for winning events.

This might be a dumb question but what is the sticker that Petter Solberg has on his side view mirrors? To me it looks like a little face of a pig or something...

I like the fact that Petter has a personality.

Most of the drivers seem to have lost their excitement for 'the job'.

Its nice to see Petter still enjoys it and can be emotional (either happy or angry).

There are also regular fun pictures of him on the Subaru rally site.

He adds to the entertainment (and is still my favourite driver).

I think Petter is becoming more familiar to the situation of not only being Mr.Hollywood, but also a fantastic and consistant driver. He contributes to the team and the development of the car and put some efforts into it all. And, unlike most of the other drivers, he does not look and appear like a Russian border guard on a bad day ;) Some of the statements he has given over the last events about other drivers and own capability is just a factor where he tries to put some stress on the other drivers. And, of course the fact that the press likes this and blows it up a bit.
Petter is Petter and for sure he has brought some extra spectators to the events as well as media coverage.

Cheers
STIVII

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/michelle.smalley/294690.1.jpg

Hmmm good question ?
It must be a sponsor but i havnt a clue who

[Edited by Attu - 9/10/2003 8:08:38 PM]

It's called having a psychological edge. At this level of competition and sport (any sport), you need to the best both physically and mentally.

Some of the comments on this thread are so typically English :) We have this habit of putting people down. It happened to Nick Faldo at the height of his golfing achievements. He was accused of being 'out of touch','cocky', over confident etc etc. He was none of this things - just a thoroughly professional bloke and focused sportsman.

To be the best, you have to have an absolute and total belief in your own ability. You have to believe you are number 1. This in itself causes friction, becasue to someone looking in, it appears to be arrogance - which it isn't. Look at Senna and Prost when they raced together. It caused no end of problems because they both believed they were the best!

Petter is the same, he knows he has the talent and the ability and he also knows that Burns is a top class driver. He will need to be at his absolute best to beat Burns next year. Petter is just trying to wind him up. I doubt he will fall for it that easily, as Burns is just as capable in that department if he wants to be.

Chris

[Edited by Chris L - 9/11/2003 9:20:47 AM]