Solberg was one of the star guests at the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint in 2002

Ex Subaru World Rally Team driver Markko Martin will make a sensational one-off competitive appearance in a works-prepared Impreza World Rally Car at next month’s Bettega Memorial Rallysprint.

The 32-year-old Estonian, who drove for the Subaru World Rally Team in 2001, will drive the latest evolution of the car, the WRC2007, on the Italian event which takes place on December 15th and 16th

Equipped with the latest Subaru machinery, Martin will compete head-to-head with a host of full time WRC drivers, top privateers and stars from other forms of motorsport.

“The organisers of the Bettega Memorial Rallysprint invited Markko and the team to come together for this special occasion and we were happy to help,” said Subaru World Rally Team managing director Richard Taylor.

The knockout contest takes place in a mixed-surface arena that resembles a WRC superspecial stage and includes one heat run in the dark on Saturday night. It is one of the most popular motorsport events to take place at the Bologna Motor Show and honours the memory of the late Attilio Bettega, a star of the world rally scene in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Martin is the latest special guest to be invited to drive a works specification Impreza at the Bettega event. In 2004 Colin McRae was reunited with the model that took him to the 1995 World Rally Championship, while in 2005 MotoGP star Valentino Rossi thrilled his home crowd when he drove an Impreza WRC2005.