Petter in action during Shakedown!!

Chris in action during Shakedown!

Xevi in action during Shakedown!

Jari-Matti in action during Shakedown, he set the fastest time today!

Henning Solberg in action during Shakedown!
Hard to miss that bright orange Ford Focus, isn't it?


Good Luck to all you boys!!!


Photos courtesy of Glen Devenie

Thanks Glen! :-)

Petter getting his book from Josh!!
This photo was on both Japanese and German websites!

Petter signing Josh's jumper. He's not smiling though, maybe he's wondering if this means he can never get his jumper washed again! LOL

Sara, Phil Mils, Josh & Glen after they gave Phil his book!
Josh must be looking at some beautiful girl behind them!

Sara, Glen & Chris Atkinson with Josh!
What is Josh looking at this time? Something interesting in Chris' hand?


Photos courtesy of Glen Devenie!!
Thanks Glen! :-)

Rally New Zealand 2007

Rally New Zealand gets underway officially in just 2 hours (Japan Time). Shakedown was held yesterday and things were pretty smooth. Jari-Matti Latvala surprised with the top time. Petter came in 4th, Chris 3rd.

I'm hoping to see all three of those boys on the podium come Sunday!!!

Some of my good friends are at the Rally and supporting Petter on behalf of all the Solberg Army!

I'll be posting some of their pictures this weekend as the rally progresses.

Glen & Sara's beautiful son Josh is the cutest member of the Solberg Army! We made a message book for Petter, Phil, Chris, Xevi and Jari-Matti and Josh was able to deliver the book to Petter. In doing so Josh and his parents were featured on a few websites with their photo! Great job guys!!! My dear friend Hiromo made beautiful covers for the books (as she always does) and had to do them during "vampire time" in order to get them done in time for our friends to print and bind them.
But just seeing how nice the book looks in Petter's hand is all worth it, right Hiromo?

Enjoy the photos!
Love,
Viki

GOOD LUCK PETTER!!!!!!

Can It Get Any Hotter?

Wow, another blistering day!! Today when I left in the late morning to head for the gym I checked my mailbox downstairs and noticed my flower pot with my three flowers was missing. I thought "did someone steal my flower pot?" I know this is Japan so it couldn't happen. Then I looked across the street. My neighbor (the grandma one) had taken my flowerpot over to put in front of her house out of the sunshine so it would be cooler. I found out she has been watering my flowers every day too. One night I came home and she was watering them just after dark. She said they were "kawai so" (best translation: pitifully hot) in the heat. I thought it was sweet she had taken them in front of her house.

The other day she asked why the store temporary pots were still just sitting on top of the big flower pot. I mentioned that my intentions were good when I bought them but hadn't gotten them transplanted yet. Really they looked fine...
But today when I got home my pot was back in front of my house and the flowers were transplanted into the nice pot!

I will try to find something nice to buy her tomorrow, some sweets or something. Well, with this heat a nice gift might be a delivery of ice cubes?!

It was again 43 at the house today and when we went to the gym even there the a/c couldn't keep up it seemed and we were hot all afternoon. It was on but it was working overtime to keep up.

When I left my work tonight at 2100 it had just rained and there was a breeze. It was the most wonderful smell and felt cool even. Soon, I got home, the water dried up and it was just hot again!

Tomorrow should be another scorcher!!

Time for me to get a little work done now, it is about 1:30 in the morning Tokyo time. I have to start getting to bed earlier than after sunrise because I have to transition from Vampire Life to Human life starting Saturday when I work "human hours!"

I really like Vampire time in summer because it is slightly cooler at night and I have more energy. However, I'm not sipping the Vampire choice of beverages, just flavored waters... LOL

Love,
Viki
xxoo

HOT HOT HOT & HOTTER in Japan!!!

This has been a hot couple of weeks in Japan! Today my neighbor (a very sweet grandmother type) told me that she feels this has been the hottest time in Japan in 70 years! She also complained to me that they are trying to run the air conditioners more (usually the older people rarely turn them on) because they can't stand the sweat! I've been sleeping with my air conditioner on in my bedroom rather than just having it on for an hour or so before bed because I can't stand waking up in a swimming pool of sweat! It makes it too hard to wake up as well!

The other day at the gym I had a little extra time, I thought "I'll go and spend a little time in the sauna." As I opened the door I thought to myself "what the heck am I doing, I live in a sauna!"

It is hard on many people and we've had some deaths this year due to heat exhaustion! Last Thursday was one of the worst days! (See Japan Times article on the Heat Wave) The record temperatures aren't really accurate that they report as well because they don't take into account the adjusted temperatures. Like at my house in the area direct in the sun it was more than 43C degrees. In my parking lot with all the asphalt and rocks the temperature was also more than 43C but in the shade a bit cooler of course. Anyway I can just say hot hot hot!

It rained a bit then it was slightly cooler but again this morning waking up in a puddle of sweat was miserable again! My friends in Texas complain about the heat too but I lived there and I remember it. When you only have to go from the centrally air conditioned house to the car, to the centrally air conditioned and very cold store, school, office whatever and back it isn't so hot.
But in Japan many people don't even have an air conditioner and many who do rarely use them because they are so expensive. I have units in some rooms of my house and I use them sparingly. My bedroom for example, before I go to bed, cool it off (usually try to turn it off before I sleep) and my computer room, I use that one a lot. But just using two air conditioners and not even full time (just a few hours a day) my electric bill will be at least up by an additional $120.00. (I hope not more!)

I've been spending every afternoon with my friend Joe at the gym exercising because it is cooler there and when you sweat it is worth something! We don't have to use any electricity at home during the hottest part of the day this way.

Just one more week of Summer Vacation, I can't believe it is almost over! Where did the time go?

Love,
Viki
xxoo

Rally Germany Leg 2

Jari-Matti's Jump!

Look at all these Subarus parked at the stage!

Rally Germany Pictures Leg 1


Petter

Chris

Xevi

Jari-Matti

Rally Germany 2007

Rally Germany is over and done! It was actually a very exciting weekend even though the results weren't quite the ones most of us Subaru fans had hoped for!

At the end of the 2nd day there were 3 Subarus in the top 10, two in the top 8! Quite amazing!!!

Unfortunately Chris Atkinson had an off on the first day and had to climb all the way from the bottom to the top 10 by the end of day 2. He showed the most incredible speed on Day 2 and 3 that many were amazed! But, another unfortunate off on Day 3 when he hit a wall and damaged the car and it was "rally over!" Xevi Pons also suffered engine trouble on the first stage of Day 3 and was out. So it was just the time for Petter to tow the line for the Subaru World Rally Team.

The last stages were very eventful! Toni Gardemeister in a Citroen had trouble the final few stages which dropped him down (sorry Toni) and boosted Petter up! And the biggest event of the day was in the final stage when Marcus Gronholm (BP Ford team) who had been holding 2nd place had an off and damaged his car severely. At the time control Colin Clark (Rally Radio) said it was unclear whether Marcus could even make it the 30kms back to service. Under new rules in 2007 the cars can't go into service dragging on 3 wheels like in the past. The car has to have all four wheels into the final service for scrutineering. Marcus did make it back in the end but had lost so much time on the final stage that he gave up his 2nd to Francois Duval (Kronos Citroen) and Marcus' team mate Mikko Hirvonen moved up to 3rd and Marcus had to settle into 4th place. When Colin interviewed him later he said he was surely disappointed but this is rally and anything can happen until the very last second.

Petter ended the rally in 6th place, his best ever finish for Rally Germany and took 3 points. Jari-Matti also ended the rally in the last points position and scored a point for 8th place. Jari-Matti's first ever tarmac rally points! So all in all the result wasn't so bad!


The top 8 looked like this:

1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen
2. Francois Duval, Citroen +20,3
3. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +1.19,1
4. Marcus Grønholm, Ford +1.36,5
5. Jan Kopecky, Skoda +3.07,0
6. Petter Solberg, Subaru +3.14,7
7. Toni Gardemeister, Mitsubishi +3.37,5
8. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford +5.29,3

In fact Petter would have been in 5th if it hadn't been for a gear box and clutch change which had to be done at mid day service. It normally takes more time but they managed to do it in 10 minutes but Petter was still 1 minute late out of service time control and incurred a 10 second penalty! Click Here to see the fantastic mechanics who made it possible and set a time record!

As a result the season standings have Gronholm in 1st, Loeb in 2nd, Mikko in 3rd and Petter in 4th!

Well done everyone, we are on to New Zealand in 10 days time!

Love,
Viki
xxoo

Now that's a JUMP!!!!!
Guy Wilks flies in Rally Finland!! Nice Job!!!

This might be the best jump I've seen so far!!!!

Congratulations Chris Atkinson!!
Nice job in 4th place!!

Look at this photo, the fans are able to watch the cars from the water, isn't that cool?! I'd love to try that!!!

Henning Solberg

Nice Jump!!!

Congratulations Henning on 5th place in Rally Finland!

Congratulations Xevi Pons!!!

Your first time in SWRT and you finished well in 6th place!
Welcome to SWRT hope you have great success!

Way to go Mads Ostberg!!!
You've got your first WRC points! Congratulations!!!
Mads is just 20 years old now, if my info is right!
We'll be seeing a lot more of him in the future!

Mikko gets really lucky!! This could have ended badly!

Congratulations Marcus!! You did a great job in Rally Finland!

Rally Finland Final!!!!
(thank goodness it is over!)

Oh my gosh, the entire Rally Finland started crumbling day by day until it was over!! It was unbelievable! My heart has been broken twice (actually three times) this weekend!

First Jari-Matti retires and can't restart due to damaging his roll cage! Then the next day Petter retires due to team orders because the car is nothing but rubbish really! It is uncontrollable, no handling at all. He drove most of day one on what was close to 2WD. I have no idea what is wrong with that silly Subaru! The reports from people watching the TV coverage (sad-I can't see in Japan) is that the car was handling like a snake! No control at all. They retired the car and packed it up and sent it back to Prodrive immediately to get it analyzed and sorted out. Petter must use the same engine in Germany, it was wise to retire and save the car as it was so hopefully they can figure the problems out in two weeks time!

There are some good points to this rally though! I hate to take away from them with all the sadness...

Chris Atkinson came in 4th!! He did very well and worked hard and was not plagued by the same car troubles as Petter. Congratulations Chris! Job well done! We love you-as always!! Hiromo loves you more! :-)

Marcus and Mikko kept Loeb behind them which is fantastic. It was nice to see Seb Loeb struggle in a rally, it usually doesn't happen. He claimed he just couldn't match their speed! GREAT to hear him say that! Congratulations Marcus and Mikko! You won your home rally 1-2 in front of your fans and friends!

Young Norwegian Mads Östberg came in 8th scoring his first ever driver's points in a WRC rally! He is very young! What a fantastic accomplishment! Congratulations Mads!!!!!

Finland is a tough rally, it is the fastest and has the biggest jumps. All that can equal trouble depending on how you land! Last year many co-drivers were injured to the point they couldn't even talk after landing and having the wind knocked out of them and being in pain! This rally claimed a lot of good drivers this time!

Now we look forward to Rally Germany coming up in two weeks time. Petter will be back in action with his car sorted out! Jari-Matti will not lose his concentration and end up damaging his roll cage.. it will be a fantastic rally!!

I can't take any more bad news and luck!! For me personally the whole weekend just went down hill fast. Even my own luck was horrible. Whew, what a weekend! Looking forward to a Monday, maybe restart the luck again?

Love,
Viki

EILEEN
Eileen, thanks so much for calling me!!! That was so cool today to talk to you and Tone! I hope you can reach me later and I can talk to Petter maybe?! I hope you are having a wonderful time! I do admit though that I'm still SUPER jealous!!! Have fun for both of us!! Oh, and don't worry about the kiss for Colin! I told Becs about it on the radio and she told him that you were supposed to deliver it but couldn't. So she gave him a big smooch on the air from me. He said something like "you don't know what that means to me!" Becs is cool, I love her!! But of course I love Colin too! I am the president of his fan club and all!! Big kisses to Colin!!!
Love you Eileen!!
Love, Viki

Chris doing some jumps yesterday too!! Love to see the Impreza when it is flying! Go Chris!! You are in 4th now and you can keep it! It would be nice if something happens to Citroen ahead of you! Still hoping to see you on the podium!!
Love, Viki

Jari-Matti in action Friday before having to retire!!! So sorry J-M, this is your home rally and I know you are disappointed!! We love you though and just look ahead!!
Love, Viki

Petter doing a jump, what Finland is famous for! This was taken Friday!

Xevi Pons has just joined the Subaru World Rally Team from this Rally Finland on for the rest of the season. Welcome to you Xevi. It is your first time in the Impreza and you are doing fantastic in this rally!!! And most of us girls seem to agree you look really hot in the SWRT colors!!! Good Luck

Rally Finland Leg 2

Today was a total bust! My heart broken in tiny pieces!! Jari-Matti Latvala could not return to the rally for today and tomorrow under Super Rally regulations because he bent his roll cage. Under those conditions they can not restart due to FIA regulations!


Then after Stage 15 today Petter's car was having so much trouble that SWRT decided to retire his car and start analyzing the problems. The team felt there was no reason to continue the rally with the car as it was. They couldn't identify and fix the problem. Hopefully now they can analyze things and get them worked out before Germany!


Today was hard on many drivers, Manfred Stohl also retired today due to rolling his car! Thankfully he and Ilka are ok but it is uncertain whether they can continue tomorrow or not. I like them, they were so nice to me last two years and they've both signed my Legacy as well. Manfred and Ilka even talked to Eileen on my cell phone while she was in Ireland while they were signing my car last year in the parking lot of their hotel in Hokkaido! They are both really cool!


Today also claimed Dani Sordo but that is fine, we are happy to see his Citroen out of the rally. Sorry Dani, it isn't personal but we just don't like your team!


The rally is over today and will continue tomorrow with three more stages. It will be a really short day as the stages won't start till 10am Finland time which is 4pm Japan time. Everyone can get a little extra sleep... maybe!

Leader board after Leg 2
1.Marcus Gronholm
2.Mikko Hirvonen
3.Seb Loeb
4.CHRIS ATKINSON
5.Henning Solberg
6.XEVI PONS

Oh one great thing today, Eileen called me from Stage 14 today. She was with Tone and they talked to me on Eileen's cell phone! That was cool!! I love you Eileen and I love you Tone!! It was great to talk to you!!


Time for me to get a few emails out and get to bed. It is only 1:30am and I'm trying to get out of my vampire mode! I've been laying down after the sun comes up. (on my futon, NOT in a coffin..LOL) I used to love Vampire time but I really hate it now. I'm getting too old for that! However, this time of year in Japan vampire time is much better, I'm not sweating during the night like I am in the day time!


I'll update you on the final day of Rally Finland tomorrow! I've also got a bit of exciting Sumo news to share!


Love,
Viki
xxoo

Petter Solberg!!!

Rally Finland Day 1 is almost over!!! Unfortunately Petter's day hasn't gone as well as he'd like. But there are still two more days to go. Anything can happen in Rally and those of you who know rally surely know that! There is only the Super Special left which I'm trying to stay awake to see! Rallies usually aren't won on a Super Special but they can be lost! So even the 2.06 kms are important!

The Current Results after SS10

1. Marcus Gronholm
2. Mikko Hirvonen
3. Seb Loeb
4. CHRIS ATKINSON
5. PETTER SOLBERG
6. Dani Sordo
7. Henning Solberg
8. Manfred Stohl
9. Juho Hanninen
10. Urmo Aava
11. XEVI PONS

1-2 Marcus and Miiko are at a huge advantage being Finns and being in the strongest cars this season: Ford Focus!

Hopefully Day 2 will see Petter and Chris moving up to the top 3 and shoving out Loeb for sure!

Love,
Viki

Jari-Matti Retires for the day! :-(

Oh no!!!! What a terrible day!! Jari-Matti has hit a bank and broke the right rear wishbone! Just 800 meters from the end of the last stage before last service! What a disaster!! He'll be back tomorrow under SuperRally but I know he's heart broken as this is his home rally!
Jari-Matti, I'm so sorry!! It is just not your lucky rally!! Good Luck tomorrow and just wait for a better day!!Cheer Up!!!!
Love you!
Viki

Petter Solberg during shakedown yesterday! I love this picture!!
(courtesy swrt.com)

Isn't this a hot photo!?
Chris, Petter & Xevi in the Service Park, Rally Finland!
*photo courtesy swrt.com*

Rally Finland Update!!!

Oh my gosh, things already going haywire in Finland!!! I went to bed with my dream podium in mind... Chris was in the lead and I was so happy!!!

Yesterday I had a bit of my own personal bad luck, then today my guys are having their own personal bad luck! I cried last night, I must cry again today!!!

Chris went from 1st to 4th after only 3 stages today! Petter had so much trouble it was a disappointing morning, he's down to 6th. Jari-Matti had an off! Oh NO! During his interview he said he just lost his concentration, had an off and a stall and had to get pushed back on I hear! Amazing he had a stage win 2nd stage today and that put him in 1st place after SS2 and I was so excited! My heart was beating and I almost screamed when I saw that.. but as with any rally *Poof* then he had an off on the next stage and dropped all the way down to 21st! Unbelievable! Jari-Matti's car pictured above!! He's really a great kid! Only just turned 22 years old! He's got a lot of years ahead of him to do well but this is his home rally so I know he wants to do well!

Jari-Matti did come back the 4th stage to get the 3rd best time but still he's in 21st place now. It is service now and the boys are back getting their cars fixed up. Hopefully they figure out what is wrong with Petter's car and fix that so he can fight back in the afternoon stages. As for Jari-Matti I hope he overcomes the let down and can fight his way back up!!!

Good Luck Boys!!! Love you lots!!
Viki
xxoo

WRC Rally Finland SS1

Rally Finland is live and my heart is pumping for the 2nd half of the WRC season! It is time for Subaru to take a win or two.. or three... what the heck, they now have 3 cars running wouldn't it be spectacular to get 3 Subarus on a podium?!

It is now 3:15am Japan time! I just finished watching the Thursday night Live Super Special Stage 1 in Finland on the net.

Happy to report that Chris Atkinson is leading the rally after the 1st Super Special Stage. It isn't a long stage but it is sure nice to go to bed in the lead! Congratulations Chris!!!! Hiromo must be even more happy than I am!! LOL



The results after the SS1:
CHRIS ATKINSON (Subaru)
Marcus Gronholm (Ford)
Seb Loeb (Citroen)
Dani Sordo (Citroen)
PETTER SOLBERG (Subaru)
JARI-MATTI LATVALA (Ford)
Mikko Hirvonen (Ford)
Manfred Stohl (Citroen)
Henning Solberg (Ford)
Juho Hanninen (Mitsubishi)
Xevi Pons (Subaru)





Congratulations Chris so far you're doing great!!
Good Luck Petter & Jari-Matti!! I want you both on the podium!!

Love,
Subaru Girl Viki (with little spot for J-M's Ford Focus on the side)

More Girls we took pictures of!!! All of them are so cute, don't you think?

"The Chair!"

Some people have been asking about the "sex chair" which I took pictures of Joe sitting in. I thought a series of shots might be more fun and helpful... or embarrassing for Joe? No, Joe's not easily embarrassed!

The pictures speak for themselves just imagine one of them with their wives and it might be easier to imagine.. :-)