Solberg's climb to the top of the world

Precisely 7,245 days after his father Petter Solberg, the 2003 World Rally champion, won his last WRC event on Sept. 18, 2005 at the Wales Rally GB, his son Oliver Solberg delivered his first WRC1 win at Rally Estonia. It was a remarkable result, especially when the duo was contacted by Toyota Gazoo Racing sporting director Kaj Lindstrom to compete in the Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 less than three weeks ago. Solberg and Edmondson won nine of the 20 stages and led the event for 19 of 20 stages in what was Oliver’s first Rally1 start since the Rally New Zealand back in 2022.

"Absolutely I’m great,” replied the 23 year-old Swede when asked how he was doing post-Estonia. “Unbelievable. As you can imagine. First of all, it was a dream to get back into the car, and it was such a good feeling to go out and win. It’s just incredible to win.”

Upon being contacted by Toyota to compete in the eighth round of the 2025 World Rally Championship, did Solberg realize the magnitude of the opportunity itself?

“No, not at all,” admitted Solberg. “They called me on Monday night after I won in Greece in WRC2. I was sitting there and having a beer and they said, ‘Hey, do you want to do the rally?’ My first reaction was, ‘Oh s***!’ Then I called them back and said, ‘No problem. I am in.’ Then me and my fiancé packed the camper and went straight to Finland to do testing, and then it was straight to the race. That all of this was going to have this outcome and this impact on everything is just unbelievable.”

Solberg was only graced with a handful of days to prepare and test the Toyota GR Yaris R1 before taking to the ultra-high speed gravel roads of Estonia.

“I was a little bit nervous because of that,” said Solberg. “Maybe not 100 percent confident with only a little bit of preparation before the rally, but that was the chance I was given and I was like, ‘Hey, let’s make the best out of it and get the best, good feeling that I can and then see how it goes.’ The feeling was already so good in the testing and the team was working so good and so closely to get me comfortable in the car. We were pushing really hard. It felt so good straightaway.

“I was quite calm to start the rally and to start learning. Overall, I was confident that I could do well and it could be a good future. Jumping in and winning straightaway... that, I did not expect. I’m over the moon. I’m so happy. And all my messages and social media everywhere, it just exploded. It’s just unbelievable. Best days of my life.” 

After earning his first-ever WRC1 sage win on Friday, did Solberg initially realize he would take control of the event?

“No, I won all the stages and was leading already from stage two,” said Solberg, who nailed down Toyota’s 100th WRC victory in Estonia. “From start to finish, really, it was unbelievable. I don’t know what else to say. I had such a good feeling from the start and I just wanted to continue with my rhythm and continue with the feeling and it just kept getting better and better.

“I felt confident and calm with myself throughout the whole rally. It was a perfectly calm Saturday and then halfway through the rally, I said, ‘OK, I have a good lead, but still the fight is on.’ Then I realized I had the possibility to actually win the rally, it was incredible. Then I started to feel a bit of pressure. But I said to myself, ‘Stay calm and do my thing and keep driving and it will be fine.’

“And it was fantastic between Elliott and myself. We both were so calm this weekend. We both were really so calm and confident over the weekend. We were both really confident and calm and we wanted to just do our thing and do our best, and yeah, incredible work for Elliott, too, this weekend.

“But during the weekend my goal was just to do stage-by-stage. Every time I got back on a stage, I would have a good feeling and just do my thing and it just turned out to work really well. I didn’t want to get too excited, you know? I just wanted to stay calm and do it stage by stage and enjoy myself and the driving just came automatically.

“That was the goal. We just said to one another, ‘Hey, let’s just take it stage by stage, keep our rhythm and keep our feeling and let’s see how it goes.’ Definitely. And it worked out fantastic.”

Solberg continued to speak of the differences between WRC1 and WRC2 competition and racecraft.

“For sure, it was a big difference. It was the first time in the Toyota, and to be part of that team and back in WRC1 was all new. The driving was there where you do your thing and do your rhythm, but racecraft was definitely a bit different. In WRC2 you can go from 100 percent down to 90 percent and it is still okay, but here you had to keep the speed and keep the same level because the gaps are so close. You can only go from 100 percent down to 99 percent. The level is so high that you always have to drive as clean and as fast as possible in every stage and that’s it.”

Petter Solberg’s take on his son’s Estonia-winning performance?

“He was so proud and so emotional,” said Oliver. “He was out of words. He didn’t understand at all how I did it. He was amazed with how quickly I had the feeling and how calm I was. I’ve never seen him so happy or impressed or even calm about it. Yeah, he was just over the moon.”

Currently leading the FIA WRC2 World Rally Championship, Solberg and Edmondson will return to the WRC2 fray next weekend at Rally Finland.

“Of course I’m ready to get back in the WRC2 car,” said Solberg. “It’s going to be a bit strange getting back into the Rally2 now, especially after you’ve done WRC1. But hey, that was the focus and that was the goal now. We want to go and win that WRC2 world championship.”