This year's World Championship series begins on Thursday with the Monte Carlo Rally.
"Ugh, that's the hardest one. Especially Thursday night, in the dark, you don't know what the conditions are, you don't know which tires to take," says Oliver Solberg.
He has a lot to brag about: his grandfather (Per-Inge Walfridsson) and both parents (Petter and Pernilla) have driven rallycross and rally. No wonder he has been working toward becoming a rally driver since he was 5 years old. He secured a factory contract in the top World Championship class with the leading team Toyota already at the age of 24.
There has never been anything he would rather do than drive a car.
"No one has forced me, and I have tried different things, but I have always come back to this. It is my life, I can do nothing else and it is the most fun I know," says Solberg.
Ogier is the role model
After winning the WRC2 World Championship title last fall, Solberg has been given a place in Toyota's WRC1 team for this year. He chose to stay with Toyota despite receiving more lucrative offers from other teams.
"But it's not the money I drive for. My dream is not just to be there, but I want to give myself the best chance to be the best. That's why I chose Toyota," he says.
At Toyota, he has his greatest role model, nine-time world champion Sébastien Ogier.
"For me, it's a golden opportunity to learn as much as I can from him as long as he's driving."
Father Petter Solberg says his son's ability not only to know how he wants the car, but also to convey that to the technical team, is one of his greatest strengths.
"It's probably a unique quality I have, a sense of what I need in the car," says Oliver Solberg.
“Took everything away”
His feel for the car led to victory at the World Rally Championship event in Estonia this summer, which helped him move into the top series.
"It was incredible that he was allowed to do what he wanted; that's not common in a factory team," says Petter Solberg.
Oliver Solberg has learned the hard way to fight for what he believes in. His father says that at Hyundai, his son tried to get the car set up the way he wanted for a rally.
"Just before the race they took everything away. Maybe someone didn't wish him well. But he has a strong head and got back on his feet," says Petter Solberg.
Facts: Oliver Solberg
TT
Born: September 23, 2001 (age 24) in Fredrikstad, Norway.
Lives: Mitandersfors in Arvika municipality.
Parents: Father Petter Solberg, former rally and rallycross driver with one World Rally Championship title and two World Rallycross titles; mother Pernilla Solberg (née Walfridsson), who won the Norwegian Rally Championship and now works in the World Rally Championship (WRC).
Team: Toyota. Will drive as a points driver in WRC1 from 2026.
Co-driver: Elliott Edmondson, Great Britain, since 2022.
Merits: Debut in WRC2 in 2019. Took first victory in the World Rally Championship in Wales the same year and also won the Latvian Rally Championship. Drove WRC1 in 2020 for Hyundai. Took the WRC2 title in the World Rally Championship in 2025. Also won his first rally in WRC1 last year, the Estonian World Rally Championship.
Current: Becomes the first Swede since Kenneth Eriksson in 2002 to drive a full season in WRC1. The first competition, the Monte Carlo Rally, starts on Thursday.
