Petter Solberg has announced that he will select his new co-driver tomorrow (Monday).
Three candidates have been selected and will sit with Solberg through a small test, to demonstrate to the 2003 World Champion their potential.
One of the criteria thought to be necessary for the job is to be of a small stature, for weight saving purposes. Former co-driver Phil Mills was one of the larger people in the field.
“Weight is important, but it also needs to be someone who I have a good feeling with and who has a nice voice, with a good way of reading the notes. One thing’s for sure: it’s going to be very difficult to replace Phil. Whoever steps into his job is going to need big shoes.”
Shortly after news came through of Mills’ retirement, Solberg approached Giovanni Bernacchini, but the little Italian has prior commitments to Nasser Al Attiyah. Another person thought to be a candidate is Toshi Arai’s co-driver Daniel Barrett. The Irishman has a lot of experience in the hot seat, having sat with Conrad Rautenbach, Mark Higgins, David Higgins and Fumio Nutahara.
Solberg did not comment on whether or not a new co-driver would make a difference to his own performance.
“I really just don’t know. It’s one of those things that you only find out when it happens. But in all the time I’ve been rallying, there have always big stories and dramas and you learn to move on.” he said.
“It’s probably not fair to talk about who these people are until the situation is clear, but this is my idea. I’ve got a few people who could do it, but it’s a difficult task and very hard to know what is the correct decision.” added Solberg.
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