Solberg stuns with debut win as Toyota hits 100 WRC victories

AS MUCH as I love motorsport, and watching cars rip around corners and tear down straights, I have to admit that rallying unnerves me a bit … quite a bit. 

It’s probably the control-freak in me, but watching cars navigate gravel roads, often dealing with sand, loose stones and mud – and sometimes within metres of each other – makes me want to curl up into a foetal position and suck my thumb.

I find it terrifying. I would often wonder how first-time, rookie drivers would hold their nerve, let alone fare, as they attempt the equivalent of trying to roller skate on a newly waxed floor covered in marbles.

But I need not wonder any more, after Oliver Solberg managed to secure a sensational victory on debut for Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team at Rally Estonia, claiming both his first win as well as the 100th for Toyota in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship.

As part of TGR’s commitment to provide a path for young talent to reach rallying’s top level, Solberg was handed the opportunity to step up for the high-speed gravel event in Estonia after his strong results driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car in the WRC2 category, where he currently leads the championship. It would be his first start in the highest category since 2022 and his 13th in total.

Instantly at home

After two days of testing in Finland last week to familiarise himself with the GR Yaris Rally1, the 23-year-old Swedish driver and his British co-driver Elliott Edmondson instantly looked at home in the car in the first fast forest stage on Friday morning, where they scored their maiden career stage win to claim the rally lead.

After two further stage wins through the rest of Friday, Solberg took a lead of 12.4 seconds into Saturday when, despite any road position advantage over the WRC’s top drivers now being reduced, he won four more tests and extended his advantage to 21.1s over local hero Ott Tänak (Hyundai).

The young Swede was elated after the race, saying, “It’s been the most amazing weekend. I’m feeling so overwhelmingly happy, after so many years of dreaming and working for this moment,” he said. “I want to say a big thank you to Toyota for giving me this opportunity and the chance to prove myself and have fun driving this amazing car. Thank you to the test team who helped me get so comfortable.”

He admitted that a win had felt unlikely, not even thinking he would make the podium. “I also never thought I’d get to celebrate on a podium with Juha, who has been a hero of mine since I was a kid and one I’ve been looking up to together with my father. Now this weekend he has been supporting me so well, keeping me calm and telling me what to do. 

“I’ve never had such a good time in my life, so thank you.”

One of the most remarkable victories

On Sunday, rather than be overawed by the occasion or the arrival of rain on the stages, Solberg took two more stage wins in the first two tests – taking his tally for the weekend to nine – before a third-fastest time in the rally-ending Power Stage was enough for him and Edmondson to secure one of the most remarkable victories seen for many years by 25.2s.

Solberg’s previous best finish was fourth during a first stint driving Rally1 machinery. He joins his father Petter (the 2003 World Rally Champion with Subaru) as a winner in the WRC and is the third youngest driver to ever win a round, behind his teammate Kalle Rovanperä and Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala.

He also becomes the 16th driver to win behind the wheel of a Toyota car, his victory bringing up a century of victories for the Japanese manufacturer since Walter Boyce triumphed in the inaugural season of the WRC in 1973 at the Press-on-Regardless Rally in the United States.

Further down the field

Rovanperä couldn’t match the form that had taken him to victory in the WRC’s last three visits to Estonia but did win the Power Stage and finished second to Solberg in the Super Sunday classification, scoring valuable extra points alongside fourth position overall with co-driver Jonne Halttunen.

Once more tasked with running first on the road and sweeping the loose gravel stages on Friday, Elfyn Evans also had a strong final day with co-driver Scott Martin, gaining sixth overall and finishing fourth on Super Sunday and fifth in the Power Stage to leave just one point behind the championship lead. TGR-WRT continues to lead the manufacturers’ standings by 52 points.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston had been running ahead of Evans until the penultimate stage but ultimately had to retire before the final test due to a mechanical issue. Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen finished seventh in their TGR-WRT2 entry, building their feeling and pace on fast roads after an early mechanical issue was resolved on Friday lunchtime.

In Solberg’s absence from the WRC2 category this weekend, two more GR Yaris Rally2 drivers finished on the class podium, with Estonian driver Georg Linnamäe (RedGrey) securing second on home soil and Finland’s Roope Korhonen (Rautio Motorsport) taking third.