Solberg storms to emotional maiden Rally1 win

Oliver Solberg stunned the World Rally Championship field to score a commanding maiden win on his Rally1 return in Estonia and deliver Toyota’s 100th WRC victory.

After receiving a call to join Toyota’s Rally1 ranks two weeks ago, WRC2 leader Solberg and his co-driver Elliott Edmondson delivered a masterclass performance claiming nine stage wins from the 20 fast gravel tests. It has come two and a half years since the pair’s last Rally1 outing with Hyundai.

The 23-year-old Solberg took the win by 25.2s from Hyundai’s home hero Ott Tanak, with the Estonian’s team-mate and reigning world champion Thierry Neuville scoring a much-needed third [+48.3s] to kickstart his title defence.  

“After everything, after so many years and trying and trying and dreaming, me and Elliott have done it,” said a tearful Solberg. 

Solberg had only two test days in Finland to adjust to the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car, but it didn’t hamper the Swede. Solberg was seventh fastest after Thursday’s super special stage before stunning the Rally1 regulars on Friday. Solberg took his maiden WRC stage win in stage two to leap into the rally lead – a position he wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the event.

Solberg produced consistent speed throughout to claim three stages wins to lead Tanak by 12.4s at the end of Friday, while Neuville trailed his team-mate and one of the pre-event favourites by 1.8s. Tanak had the disadvantage of starting second on the road but was also struggling to find the performance sweet spot with his i20 N. 

On Saturday, Solberg faced a tougher test with his starting position similar to his rivals having been eighth on the road on Friday. The road position change had little effect on Solberg, who continued to deliver incredible speed and maturity behind the wheel. Four stage wins helped Solberg increase his advantage to 21.1s over Tanak heading into Sunday. The lead was helped by Tanak making a rare error when he misjudged his braking in stage nine, costing seven seconds. 

Solberg had been concerned that forecasted rain could scupper his dream Rally1 return having never driven the car in the wet. However, Solberg thrived in the rain that arrived on Sunday morning, adding another two stage wins on his way to victory, while claiming the Super Sunday classification. 

The win comes 20 years after his Norwegian father, 2003 world champion Petter Solberg, scored his last WRC win at Wales Rally GB. Oliver Solberg also became the first Swedish WRC winner since Kenneth Ericsson won in New Zealand in 1997, while Edmondson is the 16th British co-driver to win at rallying’s top level. 

Tanak admitted the gap to Solberg was too large to recover on pure pace alone on Saturday and his focus turned to holding onto second. The 2019 world champion, spurred on by a vociferous crowd, became locked in an intense fight with Neuville.

The pair switched positions on six occasions through Saturday before Tanak took control on Sunday. Any hope Neuville could snatch the position away was thwarted by a 10-second jump start penalty on stage 18 that the Belgian labelled as “super unfair”. With Solberg not registered to score manufacturer points, Hyundai took a 1-2 in the constructors’ battle.     

Tanak has now moved to the top of the championship overtaking Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who again struggled for speed throughout and ultimately finished sixth [+1m43.4s] after overtaking Takamoto Katsuta on Sunday. Evans managed to pick up 11 points, but now trails Tanak by one point in the standings.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Solberg aside, it proved to be a difficult weekend for Toyota as neither of its regular drivers showed consistent speed. Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera was tipped to shine having won the last three WRC editions of the event. 

The Finn topped shakedown, but that was as good as it got as Rovanpera continued to struggle adapting to the new-for-2025 Hankook tyres – ending the rally with a Power Stage win in a lonely fourth [+55.6s].

Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux endured a slow start, but quickly climbed the leaderboard to finish fifth having claimed a fastest time in stage six. Toyota’s Sami Pajari suffered a brake issue on Friday that hampered his progress and he finished seventh after Katsuta retired with a mechanical issue. 

Martins Sesks emerged as the best of the M-Sport-Ford trio to finish eighth [+3m36.0ss], comfortably ahead of team-mates Josh McErlean [+5m29.8s] and Gregoire Munster [+5m57.5s]. 

Estonia’s Robert Virves fought off a sickness bug to claim a first WRC2 win by 18.4s from compatriot Georg Linnamae.