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World RX drivers meet stars of FC Barcelona

FIA World Rallycross Championship drivers Petter Solberg and Mattias Ekstrom met some of the world's most famous football players today (Friday 18 September).

The World RX drivers attended a training session at the Citutat Esportiva Joan Gramper, the official training ground of Barcelona FC.

The session was attended by the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar da Silva Santos Jr, Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique who were all training ahead of Barcelona FC's next game against Levante on Sunday evening.

Barcelona FC Captain Andres Iniesta and the team's goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen presented Solberg and Ekstrom each with their own personalised Barcelona home football shirt. Solberg and Ekstrom also presented the Barcelona FC players with team kit and various World RX merchandise including T-shirts and caps for the players.

"Today has been fantastic, I've really enjoyed meeting the guys and watching them train this morning," explained Solberg, the reigning World RX Champion and current points leader in this year's Championship. "My son Oliver is a huge fan and watches a lot of the FC Barcelona games on the TV. He will be really jealous when he sees the shirt that they have given me! To meet some of the players and to speak to them about rallycross taking part in their home city is really special and great promotion for the sport. I hope that some of the players will be able to watch us in action over the weekend."

Round ten of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy takes place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya over the weekend, with a total of 75 cars taking part in the inaugural Barcelona RX. Heats one and two will run tomorrow (Saturday) with two further heats, the semi-finals and final all taking place on Sunday.