Rallying’s newest Swedish sensation

Oliver Solberg’s breakthrough maiden World Rally Championship victory in Estonia sent shockwaves through rallying. The coming-of-age achievement for Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson will be talked about for many years to come as one of the finest drives in the championship’s history.

Even weeks after the stunning triumph on his Toyota Rally1 debut, Solberg is only just realising what he has achieved. 

“It’s still not sunk in,” sighs the 23-year-old. “It still feels so incredible and a dream come true. Everything just felt so amazing but I think what I start to realise now is that it’s real. Everyone else seems to know [how special the drive was] but not me.” 

Solberg’s use of ‘everyone’ includes a plethora of motorsport’s greatest, including four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, NASCAR superstar Jimmie Johnson and 1981 WRC champion Ari Vatanen.

All took time to either call or message Solberg to congratulate him: “I had messages from Sebastien Loeb and Sebastian Vettel, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Sebastien Ogier. Ari Vatanen and Tommi Makinen called me. It was incredible. Then you maybe realise you have done something good.”

That’s something of an understatement. It’s not often that a victory in the WRC is so well received and causes a stir within the rally community and the wider motorsport fraternity, while lighting up social media. 

Solberg’s one-off Rally1 return came two and a half years after a difficult first foray with Hyundai in 2022, which included a first-corner crash in the Finnish forest that reduced him to tears. The programme was cut short after scoring points in the next two rounds, and a return to Rally2 followed to rebuild and hone his craft, narrowly missing out on the WRC2 title last year.

While leading the standings this season, Solberg got the call he had been waiting for as Toyota handed him a golden opportunity to rejoin the WRC’s elite with only days to prepare.

The manner of Solberg’s victory in Estonia is pretty hard for teams to ignore

Photo by: Toyota Racing

What followed was redemption and a reward for perseverance. After two test days, stipulated by Solberg, in order to adjust to the Toyota GR Yaris Rally, and some advice from eight-time world champion Ogier, Solberg and Edmondson issued an emphatic statement win having led from stage two.

It produced tears of a different kind as Solberg beat 2019 champion Ott Tanak by nearly half a minute, triggering an outpouring of emotions. “I have always been passionate, open and honest and so on, but it felt that everyone was with me on this journey,” he reflects. 

But what was the key to the success that confirmed the pair are ready to join the WRC’s top tier? There is no doubt Solberg has matured mentally and refined his natural talent behind the wheel in recent seasons.

Perhaps the best example of this was in Acropolis Rally Greece, the rally before Estonia, which proved to be particularly difficult thanks to intense heat and incredibly punishing stages. Solberg was among the few to complete the rally without issue while displaying the control to know when to push and when to preserve, to claim a dominant WRC2 class win.

“I think his mental strength was unbelievable; what he has shown is what you need to win” Petter Solberg

The progress has been noticed by his father Petter and co-driver Edmondson, who has called notes for Solberg since the end of 2021. 

“I think he has been ready for this mentally for a long time,” reckons 2003 WRC champion Solberg Sr. “The second thing is that the team and the test team gave him the possibility to find his driving style and find it quite quickly since he only had two days, and the confidence he had came from the test.

“I think his mental strength was unbelievable; what he has shown is what you need to win. And then there is the trust he has with Elliott and the relationship they have. That relationship has to be so strong to go that fast.”

“We have helped each other in that process and the maturity is absolutely fantastic to see,” adds Edmondson. “It demonstrates where both of us are in our careers and what we are capable of. It shows that we are more than ready for this level.”

The Solberg "never-give-up story" applies to both father and son

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Solberg has attracted attention from Rally1 teams since 2022, but the ghosts of his time at Hyundai have made the Swede even more meticulous when it comes to making the next move in his career.

The patience to wait for his chance has been one of his shrewdest moves. With any young driver, seat time is worth its weight in gold and this year Solberg is contesting every rally, which is delivering results. 

“It’s a never-give-up story,” says Oliver. “My dad had so many years without winning and never gave up and I think he was very important for me through that process after Hyundai. I just needed to keep believing and fighting, and he knew my pure potential and he always supported me and tried to help me along the way.

“I think there have been tough years because I have never done a full season before, I’ve done half seasons. This year is the first where I have driven a lot of rallies back to back and wins back to back, and had a really good feeling with one team.

“We did a lot of work with the car on the test to get me driving how I want to and the flow, and how to dance with the car. I could get really close to where I have had experience with Toyota in the Rally2 car.”

This meticulous preparation for Estonia, which included phone calls with Ogier, certainly played a part, but this was simply a “perfect weekend” according to Toyota deputy team principal and four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen.

“I was looking at the data and I’ve never seen a young boy like that driving like that,” he acclaims. “It was a 100% job and he is a talented boy, there is no question.”

Ogier goes a step further, pointing out: “What he did on Saturday and Sunday was a different story, that kind of speed in equal conditions, not so many drivers can do that. He earned a lot of respect from this performance and it’s nice for the championship to have some fresh blood at the top.” 

Tough lessons were learned from Solberg’s 2022 WRC outings with Hyundai

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Tanak perhaps summed up the general feeling when he said that Solberg had humiliated the Rally1 regulars, before adding: “He has definitely proven he’s ready for Rally 1.” But being ready to step up to Rally1 and securing a full-time seat are two different things. 

Unfortunately for Solberg, it is unclear when he will compete in a Rally1 car again as his focus shifts back to the WRC2 title chase, which he currently leads. Two weeks after the glory of Estonia, he was back behind the wheel of GR Yaris Rally2 car at Rally Finland. The WRC2 return didn’t go to plan – Solberg found readjusting to the slower car a challenge, before a collision with a rock kicked the car into a ditch and retirement.

“Coming so soon after winning Rally Estonia, this is kind of hard to take,” he states. “The change of emotion is quite incredible in less than two weeks. The sport can give you some incredible high moments, but it can also hurt you a little bit.”

While it is unknown when a Rally1 return will happen, it is pertinent to note that Toyota has form in investing in young talent and offering further drives after impressive performances. Last year it handed WRC2 points leader Sami Pajari an outing in Finland, which resulted in a run to fourth. This led to two further outings before Toyota opted to sign the Finn on full-time deal for 2025.

“The change of emotion is quite incredible in less than two weeks. The sport can give you some incredible high moments, but it can also hurt you a little bit” Oliver Solberg

If Toyota follows a similar process, Solberg says he would happily forsake a WRC2 title push: “If I would get a Rally1 chance now then I would not care about Rally2 anymore and that is realistic. But at the moment the Rally2 is the only thing I have, so you have to respect that and continue doing your best.”

Full-time seats in Rally1 are extremely limited, but the manner of Solberg’s Estonia victory is now impossible to ignore. It poses a headache, albeit a positive one, for Toyota as it weighs up its options for its driver line-up for 2026.

Quite how Solberg can fit into a Toyota roster that currently includes two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera, four-time WRC title runner-up Elfyn Evans, Ogier, Takamoto Katsuta and Pajari remains to be seen.

But Solberg has his sights firmly set on a full-time Rally1 drive in 2026 and is hopeful that talks will begin in the coming weeks. “Everything just came together so beautifully, but for me it felt so automatic and natural and normal and I think that proves I’m ready,” he declares.

“The discussions need to be had and for sure I think I deserve to have discussions with them [Toyota]. The dream is to have a full-time seat in Rally1 for next year and I think that is the only realistic goal to have.”

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the September 2025 issue and subscribe today.

Solberg came back down to earth with a bump upon his return to Rally2 in Finland

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool