Championship leader and former team-mate gives Rally Estonia winner his backing
Photography by Hyundai
Words by Luke Barry & David Evans
Ott Tänak firmly believes Oliver Solberg should be competing in Rally1 after his breakthrough Rally Estonia win.
In a one-off drive for Toyota, WRC2 leader Solberg stunned the service park with a dominant victory last weekend – winning nine of the 20 stages and leading from stage two onwards.
It was Solberg’s first Rally1 start since he was let go by Hyundai towards the end of 2022.
The performance was made even more impressive by the fact Solberg fended off home hero Tänak to take the win – which certainly left an impression on Tänak.
“I mentioned that maybe my mindset was not the greatest coming in here,” Tänak told DirtFish. “I had already a bit of struggles in the car before the rally and in a small event we did for the preparation, so I expected a bit to struggle to show the pace.
“Obviously, at the same time, you still have some kind of pressure to do well on your home roads where you have grown up and learned to drive, so it’s a kind of place where you should be able to deliver. But obviously I knew a bit that I will struggle with that.
“Honestly, I expected still to be able to fight for second, which we in the end achieved, but I was expecting that behind Kalle [Rovanperä] actually, not behind Oliver. I mean, fair play from him.”
The big moment in the rally was Saturday morning. In more equal road positions, Tänak went on the attack but ended up making a mistake in a chicane. However, he’s sure that Solberg would’ve won the rally regardless – proving he is ready for Rally1.
Even if I did this mistake on Saturday morning or not, he was still going to win this rally,” Tänak stated. “He was able to control it; he was able to enjoy it.
“To click like this immediately on the first rally, it’s a great achievement and definitely that kid is ready for Rally1 now. He’s proved already actually for some time that in Rally2 he has no ‘concurrents’ really, and now in Rally1 he proved that he is ready, so it’s great for the Solberg family.”
Solberg and Tänak endured tough season as team-mates in 2022
Tänak was Solberg’s team-mate during that turbulent 2022 season, so saw first-hand how difficult it was for him.
He added: “We all had struggles, you know. We know how late our car got ready and how many troubles we had in the beginning. He was the junior at the time and with Thierry [Neuville] we were experienced, we could manage it a bit better. But for him it was all learning at the same time.
“If you throw him in the water just like this you know for sure it’s difficult to swim. But still I mean it was an experience for him – he came back, he proved in Rally2 that he can beat everyone everywhere. And now he got this chance in Rally1, he proved that as well, that he can beat everyone.
“So, yeah, I mean he should be ready to go for it.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Oliver Solberg, Ott Tanak, Rally Estonia, Rally Estonia 2025, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date July 22, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/oMHSL57u-2025ESTONIA_AUS_6265-780x520.jpg July 22, 2025
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