Solberg and Patterson vow to fight on

Ford ace Petter Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson are refusing to give up on finishing second overall on Rallye Monte-Carlo despite slipping to more than one minute behind their closest rivals Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio.

Solberg and MINI driver Sordo have fought out a close battle since the World Rally Championship powered by Nokia got underway in Valence on Wednesday morning. Solberg thought he’d got the upper hand with a commanding run through Friday’s first stage only to slip back when his choice of tyres proved unsuitable to the rain and ice-hit 12th test.

“We tried the best we could,” Solberg told World Rally Radio. “On the first stage there was no problem but the second stage was full of water from the start and there was big aquaplaning so we really backed off. Then there was more water and full ice in the forest - we didn’t have a good feeling and we didn’t want to end up in the ditch. Of course we’re still battling and we need to make a better choice next time.”

Patterson said: “We really struggled on the last stage, especially on the ice on the downhill [section]. We had a spin at less than 3kph and a stall but we’re still here and we’re still fighting. There’s a long way to go so we won’t give up.”

Ford team chief Malcolm Wilson added: “Stage 11 worked really well for us, but on stage 12, the conditions had deteriorated quite a lot since the [safety] crews had gone through it. Petter had a huge moment very early on, resulting in a 100-metre slide - as similarly happened to some other drivers - and after that, he sensibly decided to just get through to the end of the stage. He wanted to protect his podium rather than risk anything rash. Going forward, stage 13 this afternoon is likely to have rain, and of course we’ve still got the famous passes through the Col de Turini to go, so I very much believe anything can still happen."

With one stage of day three remaining, Solberg is trailing second-placed Sordo by 1m00.6s. Sebastien Loeb, driving for the factory Citroen team, continues to lead the event with an advantage of 2m09.0s.