Pretoria on MyPR: Oliver Solberg And The 2021 Arctic Rally:
An interview with 19-year-old Oliver Solberg after his World Rally Car debut
Congratulations on a fantastic debut in Finland – finishing seventh straight out of the box. Tell us a little more about your first WRC weekend?
“It was a dream come true to be able just to start the weekend in a WRC car. It was an amazing couple of days, where I tried to enjoy myself as much as possible and finish every stage with a smile. I’m still struggling to put it all into words, but it was a dream come true for sure!”
You said this weekend were some of the best days of your life. Tell us a little more…
“Basically, it is something that I’ve always dreamed about. It has always been a goal to drive a WRC car in competition. To be able to do this so early in my career and to be able to achieve these stage times makes it even more special. Every stage was like a new experience. On the second stage, I sat on the starting line with a small tear in my eye just because of how much it means to be doing this.”
Just outside the top six by 1.2 seconds is incredible – did you expect any of that?
“I wasn’t really thinking about the final result throughout the rally – it wasn’t so important. My main aim was to learn as much as possible from the weekend, and for sure trying to do some good times. It went above all expectations, and for me, it didn’t really matter if it was sixth or seventh or fifth or whatever. It was more about the progression and the consistency that I was able to work on. It was a real privilege to be able to drive such an amazing car on those roads. Dancing between the snowbanks at full speed!”
Did you find the step up to a full WRC car more challenging under competition conditions?
“For sure, it’s different. You don’t know the roads, there are brand new pace notes, and also, I had a brand new co-driver. There was a lot to take in all at once. All of that in competition makes things a challenge. In the end, it went very well, and we managed to find an ok pace, which was a great feeling. I knew it would be complicated to understand the aero. But I was quite confident I would be happy at this speed. I didn’t expect to make these sort of times quite so early in the rally. It was just so much fun. Before the rally, Andrea told me there was no pressure, and I had to make sure I was smiling. I am smiling more than I ever did before now. The Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC was fantastic to drive, with so much grip, so much power and just so incredible to drive. When I was in the car, and really in the middle of the event, I was just driving and not thinking so much about what everything really meant. But when I was between the stages, and we were stopping behind [Sébastien] Ogier to change wheels and work on the car before the stage, I did stop a little bit and think: “Wow! This is just incredible – I’m here, and I’m fighting with the world champion!”
You had a new co-driver last minute too, how was the dynamic with Sebastian Marshall?
“It worked very well, and Seb is very professional. He worked hard all weekend and did a great job. We found each other straight away, so it was no problem to get up to speed quickly. I was really impressed!”
How is Aaron doing?
“It’s very tough; it was a dream for him too. To test positive so close to the weekend and have the opportunity taken away is not easy. Aaron said it could have been anyone – and things happen for a reason. I understand it’s how life goes sometimes, but we are both looking forward now!”
You can now call yourself a WRC driver, but what’s the biggest thing you learnt from this experience?
“A lot of work went into the technical side to try and improve the car. Everything was very different, as I said, but the aerodynamics were maybe the biggest learning point. I think I got my head around it ‘ok’, but there is still a lot to understand to get the most performance. It doesn’t make a whole load of sense to me in theory, but I can feel the effect when I’m driving the car.”
Tell us about rallying at full WRC power and in the dark – how insane is that?
“It’s probably the coolest feeling when you managed to get everything dialled in. I haven’t done much rallying at all in the dark, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. When you’re dancing in between the snowbanks at such speed, and it’s pitch black outside – it’s wild. You only have the lights on the car – showing you 50meters ahead, and you have to trust your pace notes entirely – it’s an incredible feeling.”
Will WRC2 seem a little easier now?
“The competition level is still extremely high in WRC2, so with this experience now, I think returning to WRC2 will be more difficult in some ways, but tougher in others. I think the full WRC car’s speed is so much more, so stepping back into WRC2 will allow me more time to think. Equally, when there is so little room for error, and you don’t have the power of a full WRC car behind you, then accuracy is massively important.”
You have some time before WRC Croatia; what are your plans?
“I hope I can be back in a WRC car again soon and become even better. I have some R5 tests lined up in the coming weeks, which will be important to develop the car. We will see what happens in Croatia, and then you never know for the rest of the year!”
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