Oliver Solberg

Oliver Solberg (born 23 September 2001) is a Swedish-Norwegian rally driver. He is the son of the 2003 World Rally Champion, Petter Solberg, and Swedish mother Pernilla Walfridsson, who is also a successful former rally driver.[1]

Oliver Solberg
Oliver Solberg in 2014
Nationality Swedish[lower-alpha 1]
Born (2001-09-23) 23 September 2001
Fredrikstad, Norway
Related to
World Rally Championship record
Active years2019–present
Co-driver Aaron Johnston
Rallies8
Championships0
Rally wins0
Podiums0
Stage wins0
Total points8
First rally2019 Wales Rally GB

Oliver was introduced to the world of the WRC even before his first birthday, attending the 2002 Cyprus Rally with his mother to watch his father compete. By the age of eight he was competing in crosskarting, winning his first ever race. Over the next years he won multiple Norwegian and Nordic Crosskart Championships. In 2017 he took his first big step into professional motorsport, entering the RallyX Nordic Championship in his father's FIA World Rallycross Championship-winning DS3. After winning two events in 2017, Oliver returned in 2018 to win the Championship with 3 overall wins - including a dramatic victory at the final race of the season in Tierp.[2]

Rally career

Oliver started his professional rally career in 2017, entering the Rally Alūksne in a Peugeot 208 R2. After two years competing in the Latvian Rally Championship in the R2 class, Oliver stepped into R5 machinery for the 2019 season - ultimately winning the Latvian Rally Championship. Oliver also drove 6 rounds of the American Rally Championship in a Subaru WRX STI, with a livery based on his father's legendary blue and gold WRC Championship-winning car.

Solberg at the 2020 Rally Sweden.

He made his ERC debut in the Rally Liepāja in 2019 and surprisingly, he won the rally.[3] He made his WRC debut at the end of the season at 2019 Wales Rally GB in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, showing stage-winning pace but ultimately retiring from the rally.[4] The same rally also marked his father's last performance in motorsports, who would finish tenth.

Oliver was promoted to the WRC-2 category in 2021 by Hyundai Motorsport.[5]

Rally victories

ERC victories
 #  Event Season Co-driver Car
1 7th Rally Liepāja 2019 Aaron Johnston Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2 8th Rally Liepāja 2020 Aaron Johnston Volkswagen Polo GTI R5

Rally record

WRC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points
2019 Oliver Solberg Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHL POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR
Ret		 ESP AUS
C		 NC 0
2020 Oliver Solberg Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 MON
25		 MEX
Ret		 EST
9		 TUR 17th 8
Škoda Fabia R5 Evo SWE
17		 ITA
18		 MNZ
7
2021 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 R5 MON
Ret		 ARC CRO POR ITA SAF EST FIN BEL CHL ESP JPN NC* 0*

* Season still in progress.

WRC-2 results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points
2019 Oliver Solberg Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHL POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR
Ret		 ESP AUS
C		 NC 0

WRC-3 results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 WDC Points
2020 Oliver Solberg Škoda Fabia R5 Evo MON SWE
5		 TUR ITA
6		 MNZ
2		 4th 61
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 MEX
Ret		 EST
1

ERC results
Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WDC Points
2019 Sports Racing Technologies Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 PRT ESP LAT
1		 POL ITA CZE CYP HUN 6th 39
2020 Oliver Solberg Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 ITA
3		 LAT
1		 PRT
23		 ESP
4		 2nd 112
Škoda Fabia R5 Evo HUN
4

* Season still in progress.

Notes
  1. He competed under a Latvian licence until the age of 19.

References
  1. "Oliver Solberg". e-wrc.com. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. "Oliver Solberg takes RallyX Nordic Title". monsterenergy.com. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  3. Evans, David (26 May 2019). "Oliver Solberg, son of Petter, wins on ERC top class debut". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  4. Evans, David (24 July 2019). "Petter and Oliver Solberg team up for WRC's Wales Rally GB". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  5. "Solberg joins Veiby in Hyundai WRC2 Squad". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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