WRC2 leader opens up on "dream come true" Estonia pre-event test in GR Yaris Rally1
Photography by Toyota
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
With his first day of testing aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 completed, Oliver Solberg has confirmed that dreams do come true.
The 23-year-old drove the team’s test car for a day in Finland on Tuesday ahead of his competitive debut for Toyota Gazoo Racing at next week’s Rally Estonia.
Solberg said: “To be in Finland with the Toyota Rally 1 car, it’s first of all a dream come true. It’s the coolest thing I’ve done ever in my life and the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. So far it is fantastic and to drive such an incredible car, already feeling comfortable in the car and having good speed it’s just absolutely unbelievable.
“For sure, I feel a little bit nervous, you know, it’s fast, but the feeling is good and we’re learning step-by-step and that’s the main goal.”
Solberg leads the WRC2 standings with three wins from four starts aboard his GR Yaris Rally2. Discussing the differences between the two cars, he said: “For sure, first of all, the aerodynamics and the speed you can have in some of the corners and the stability the car has is just remarkable. And the engine, you know, is very different with four-cylinder compared to three-cylinder now. So, in that sense, it makes the driving experience very different. And the speed and the corner speed, the jumps, everything just becomes more.
Everything comes faster in a Rally1 car on Finland's undulating roads
“It’s just an incredible, incredible feeling. It’s a fantastic opportunity. I got told only like a week ago on Monday night to be part of this. And they said: ‘Do you want to drive a Rally 1 car?’ I’m like: ‘Yes! Sure! Let’s go!’
“It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity and just a lot of fun to be able to do Rally Estonia in such a fantastic car. I feel ready to be back in Rally1 and to learn and get experience again and get back to the level where it is the highest and learn that again and learn to fight.
“For sure, everything will be quite new and a totally different car and team and everything will be different, but at least it will be a great time to come back and I feel ready and it’s been a great season so far. I feel ready.”
Estonia and the Baltics have already served Solberg well in the past and he’s hoping for more of the same next week.
He added: “Rally Estonia is a rally I’ve done great in the past. I’ve won it two times in a Rally2 car. It’s always been one of my favorite rallies. It’s a fantastic, cool rally. Very tricky, very difficult, quite technical and it can be quite rutted, but also super-fast. It has absolutely everything in one rally.
“It’s not an easy rally to start with, that’s for sure, but any rally will be difficult to start with, so it’s just great to have the opportunity and then have some fun, some big jumps and go as fast as possible.
“My goals for the rally, I think, it’s pretty simple: first of all is to finish the rally, get as much experience in the car as possible, get more and more comfortable during the rally. I’m not looking to win the first stage and win the rally, but for sure, you know, the goal is to get into it step-by-step, progress the speed and get confidence back.
“I want to just start calmly, to get into the event and feel calm, feel happy. I’m just super, super-excited. So that’s a great starting point and then we just see how it goes. It’s been a while [since I was in Rally1] and it’s a very different car and a very different experience since last time. So, definitely, build step-by-step, come to the finish and have loads of fun. But yeah, I am definitely more than ready to just start this adventure.”
Words:David Evans
Tags: Oliver Solberg, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date July 9, 2025 DirtFish
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