The benchmark in WRC2 will finally get a second chance in the big league - and he's more than ready for it
Photography by Toyota & Hyundai
Words by Luke Barry
It’s quite remarkable that this feels like a debut.
Of course it is in Toyota terms, but Oliver Solberg has been at the Rally1 table before.
Only this time he’s really had to wait for it. He’s really had to earn it. But he really did get that call on Monday night to confirm it was happening.
Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson will take on Rally Estonia in two weeks with a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
“My first reaction was: ‘Oh s***!'” Solberg laughs. “And then I started to ask some questions, and of course I said yes.”
Few are as passionate about rallying as Solberg (possible exception made for his dad!) but the 23-year-old has not been given this chance because he’d love it. It’s because he deserves it.
And off the back of possibly one of the most complete performances of his career at last weekend’s Acropolis, the timing could not be better.
Many of us have felt this sense of injustice that Solberg is not competing regularly at the head of the field. He’s a great addition to the Rally2 roster, but an even more exciting factor in the Rally1 mix.
The last time he was here, the situation could not have been more different. Perhaps he wasn’t fully ready, but the team he entered certainly was not ready for a driver so fresh to the scene given the troubles it was experiencing.
In the years since, Solberg has continued to show his devastating pace – winning more stages than anyone in 2023, 2024 and so far in 2025 too. But that was never in question.
Situations like that silly crash on the first proper corner of Friday in Finland 2022, and the odd fumble in 2023, were where he needed to improve. And he has. Solberg has now found an enviable blend of pace and control.
There’s no doubt he re-enters the Rally1 fray a far more rounded prospect than he exited almost three years ago.
Solberg has flown higher than anyone else in WRC2 this year
Of course, being left out while others (with sometimes lesser CVs) stepped up and got their chance must have hurt. But that’s what makes this call up all the more special.
“I think obviously in that situation, at that time, it was very disappointing of course [to be dropped from Hyundai], but when you look back now you just see it as a massive learning experience and learning curve – and maybe that time wasn’t the right time,” Solberg reflects.
“And there was a lot of things obviously that didn’t work out, but I think everything that’s happened afterwards has been just fantastic and meant to be I guess.
“And you know every year it’s been building stones from being super quick and then from building consistency together with speed and then this year putting everything together, so I think every year you learn more.
“I am still building that experience to be a more complete driver into Rally1. I think it’s just important. And of course as a family we never give up, so my dream is always to be the best and I believe that one day I can be the best.
“And with the right team and backing around you, if you do it the right way everything is possible. So of course you will never give up.”
Make no mistake, Solberg will be on the back foot in Estonia. Having found out just two weeks before the event that he’s trading his GR Yaris Rally2 for a Rally1, he’s not had as much time to prepare as most drivers would like.
But equally make no mistake, he will give this his all.
“Mentally I am ready, definitely,” he states.
“Of course, it was always a dream or maybe like a plan, but I never knew really when [we would get this Rally1 chance]. And it wasn’t maybe ever a real plan when, but of course I think the better you do and the strong, consistent results that I’ve been doing and even beating some WRC cars at some point and throughout some races this year, I think all that for sure helps to give me a chance, I think, and an opportunity.”
The season goal remains to win the WRC2 title – and he’s put himself in a great position to do that with three wins from four starts thus far. But Solberg is smart enough to know what else is at stake in Estonia – impress the right people, and this could be more than a one-off.
For now, he has just one way to summarize what’s ahead.
Things didn't work the last time Solberg drove in Rally1 - this time it's very different
“It’s the biggest moment of my life, I think, 100%.
“You know, the last time I did Rally1 was a fantastic opportunity, I learned so much. And also back in with the ’17 cars, you know, was also the greatest moment of my life, which went amazingly with [Andrea] Adamo at that time.
“But I think now, to drive a Toyota Rally1 is the pinnacle of any rally drivers’ dream you know. And to give it a shot and do my best and try somehow to get into it as quickly as possible with only a day’s test really is going to be something different.
“I’ll just start the rally and see how it goes and get to the finish and be happy at the end of it and feel that I’ve done my best and have gotten into it as quickly as possible.
“I think that’s my goal, my dream, and then let’s see what happens for the future.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Oliver Solberg, Rally Estonia, Rally Estonia 2025, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date July 3, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/200D4tyk-TGRWRT_SAR25_R2__DSF0498-780x520.jpg July 3, 2025
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