Last week Oliver Solberg competed in the Monte Carlo Rally, where he and his new Monster Energy Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 performed well in the mountains.

“We finished the Rallye Monte Carlo with a win on the Cole de Turini Piwerstage!” he wrote on Facebook. “It’s been a fantastic rally for us – winning 10 out of 18 stages and feeling good in the car, it’s positive for the future.”

Although 21 year-old Solberg did not register for WRC2 points at the event, he’ll now have seven chances to score points in 13 rallies during the 2023 WRC2 World Championship season. But that was all last week. This weekend, Solberg and his father Petter are in Pite Havsbad, Sweden to defend the Race of Champions Nations Cup title they won last year.

“It’s going to be so much fun,” he said. “My dad and me, we’re going to be driving together and it’s going to be tough, but it’s really going to be a lot of fun. We are coming off a great result at the Monte-Carlo Rallye and we won the Race of Champions event last year, so it is a great way to go into this event now this weekend.”

Solberg believes the positive momentum that he’s carrying out of Monte Carlo will put him in a good position to charge hard while in Scandinavia this weekend.

“Monte Carlo was really good. Really good,” he said. “I didn’t score points, but I didn’t go there for the championship. We wanted to see where we were at with the car. The car was amazing on tarmac. The team was great and just super-good people. Then we went out and won more stages than anyone. It was a super, super-positive. Yes, a bit of bad luck with tires, but the result didn’t matter anyway. It was just fun to be there and to be able to do some amazing stages.

“I did not expect the car to be that good so early on. I was a bit surprised to be winning so many stages so consistently and so calmly. At the very beginning of the rally we went a bit too much racing spec and then we lost a bit of time as it was quite slippery. After that we softened the car up a bit and it got much more progressive and we excelled from there.”

After the Race of Champions, Solberg’s focus will switch to the 2023 WRC Rally of Sweden.

“We have to see how the car will be now on a loose surface,” he said. “I actually feel real confident with the car and I feel confidence for the championship. Hopefully we can have a consistent and good season to fight for the world championship. The WRC2 class is so competitive right now. There are so many experienced rivers in WRC, and then you have all these youngsters like me and that all keeps everyone super-motivated. There are so many cars and teams that will really be going for it. It’s amazing. I’m very happy and I’m having a great time. It is better than it has been for a long time, so I am super, super happy.”