The international rallying series WRC (World Rally Championship) is owned and governed by the FIA. Inauguration took place during 1973. Apart from the Formula One, the FIA is also regarded as one of the oldest FIA world championships. Seasons are scheduled across one full calendar year. It consists out of 13 three-to-four-day rally events. Surfaces for these rallies range from tarmac and gravel to ice and snow. The rally itself is split into 15-25 special stages. These special stages are run against the clock for a distance of up to 220 miles/350 km of closed roads.
An interesting turn of events at the WRC
Sweden’s Oliver Solberg claimed a stunning maiden World Rally Championship (WRC) victory at Rally Estonia on Sunday, nearly 20 years after his father Petter Solberg won the last of his 13 WRC races. The win marked Toyota’s 100th in the WRC. Solberg extended his lead with composure to seal a 25.2 second win over home favorite and 2019 world champion Ott Tanak and the Estonian’s Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville finished third.
On his debut in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, the 23-year-old Solberg and Briton co-driver Elliott Edmondson were drafted in for a one-off drive a few weeks prior to the rally and had only two days of testing. “After everything, so many years trying and trying and trying and dreaming, and me and Elliott finally made it,” Solberg said. British rally co-driver Elliott Edmondson is currently the co-driver of Oliver Solberg for the Hyundai Motorsport.
Learning more about Estonia
Edmondson has been actively participating in the championship during 2013 and then again from 2015 up until the present moment. Out of his 64 rallies, he has had 1 rally win and 1 podium. First rally being the 2013 Wales Rally GB with the latest one being the 2025 Safari Rally.
“I just want to say thank you to Toyota, to the test team who helped me get so comfortable, for all the help this weekend from this beautiful, beautiful team. I’ve never had such a good time in my life.”
Solberg got off to a flying start, winning Friday’s opening stage and taking a lead, he did not relinquish all weekend. He carried a 21.1-second overnight lead into Sunday’s final three stages, where he emerged untroubled by the tricky grip in slick, damp conditions. Hyundai’s Tanak battled inconsistent grip and Neuville, who started the day four seconds behind, was handed a 10-second penalty for a false start on special stage 18 and finished 23.1 seconds back in third.
Great future predictions for Solberg
However, Tanak snatched the championship lead from Toyota’s Elfyn Evans by a single point, with the Briton managing a sixth-place finish in Estonia. Toyota, who have won every rally so far this year except for Greece, also tightened their grip on the manufacturers’ race with 399 points to Hyundai’s 347. Solberg’s father Petter, who represented Norway, won 13 WRC races from 2002 to 2005.
Petter has been given the nickname of “Mr. Hollywood”. As can be established from the above information, he is a former professional rallycross and rally driver. Apart from the 13 rally wins in the WRC, he also had 52 podiums. Stage wins amounted to 460. Petters first WRC rally was the 1998 Swedish Rally and his last one the 2019 Wales Rally GB.
As can be gathered from the above, Oliver Solberg is definitely a driver with a promising career. This Swedish rally driver has won multiple crosskarting championships throughout his earlier years. In 2018 he became the RallyX Nordic Champion. 2019 Saw him clench the title of FIA ERC1 Junior Champion. His career in the WRC started in 2019 with the Wales Rally GB. The win took place during the 2025 Estonia Rally. Of his 54 WRC rallies thus far, he has had a total of 9 stage wins.
GCN.com/Reuters