Debut victory in Estonia raises inevitable question of what Toyota has planned next for WRC's latest winner
Photography by Red Bull & Toyota
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
Estonia wasn’t even past the halfway point before the pontificating began. Oliver Solberg, according to many, would be in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 for the remainder of the year. No doubt.
Then he won and the word from Tartu was that the deal was already done. He would spend the rest of his career in a Toyota. Even less doubt. Without being overly tautological, the hyperbole went into overdrive.
But what is the reality? What are the chances of Solberg returning to Toyota’s top table in time for next week’s Rally Finland?
Zero. It’s not going to happen. The plan is firmly fixed with five cars for Elfyn Evans, Sébastien Ogier, Kalle Rovanperä, Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari. Now, you may have ideas about a switcheroo and bringing in Solberg in place of one of the above, but the team is very clear on its plans.
Does that mean there’s no chance for the remainder of the season? That’s a different question. It’s possible, and the most obvious proposition is if Ogier elects not to tackle one of the events – but even then if Toyota hasn’t budgeted to run a Rally1 car on that event, it’s not a slam-dunk to think Solberg would slide straight in.
Sixth car? Yes, I know we’ve just talked about the budget side of things, but let’s at least ask the question.
Toyota technical director Tom Fowler smiles a wry smile and offers perspective to DirtFish: “Five cars running in this rally means that, back at the workshop, we’ve got 15 cars rotating. Oliver and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] joining the team means we’re now managing and talking with 12 different rally drivers and co-drivers. It means 20 gearboxes, 20 rear differentials throughout the season and 70-something car rebuilds.
“Honestly speaking, I think a sixth [Rally1] car would put our guys over the limit. We’re not going to think about that, for the moment.
“Everything needs to be a measured approach, here. Oliver and Elliott winning this rally, it wasn’t necessarily a complete surprise. And you can’t change your entire plan because of one result.
“He still has a very important job to do for himself, to win WRC2. And that’s also a job that we want him to do, to win WRC2 again in our Yaris Rally 2 car. So I think he’s going to do a good job and he still has other commitments to fulfill and I’m sure he’s well aware of that himself.
Solberg will return to WRC2 duty in Finland, aiming to extend his points lead
“With the busy rest of the season, with all of our drivers and different championship commitments, throwing the plan in the bin because of one result would not be something that would be, let’s say, very sensible.
“As you can imagine, we are so pleased to have helped Oliver achieve this dream and seeing how happy he is with the result, it’s fantastic for him and all of the mechanics and engineers who made this happen.”
Next year?
“Everybody’s going to draw their own conclusions from this situation,” Fowler said. “But at the end, we have to make the decision who’s going to drive which car. I think it would be very difficult to imagine that this makes his situation worse.”
But definitely not next week…
“We have Sébastien Ogier coming back for Finland. I think we’re in an OK position driver-wise!”
Words:David Evans
Tags: Oliver Solberg, Rally Estonia, Rally Estonia 2025, Rally Finland 2025, Tom Fowler, Toyota Gazoo Racing, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date July 22, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/ZiYspPGc-SI202507190354-780x520.jpg July 22, 2025
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