Oliver Solberg says returning to the scene of his spectacular maiden World Rally Championship win in Estonia has come at the right time as he looks to recover from a run of costly mistakes.
Twelve months ago Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson stunned the rally world by claiming a fairytale first WRC win in what was their first drive behind the wheel of a factory Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car.
The victory helped elevate Solberg into a full-time seat with Toyota for this year with the Swede going on to take an impressive win in his second start in Monte Carlo in January.
However, barring a return to the podium in Portugal, Solberg has endured a difficult run of mistakes and misfortune and has dropped to fifth in the championship standings, 59 points behind team-mate and points leader Elfyn Evans.
Solberg finished fourth in Sweden before a mechanical issue took him out of the victory fight in Kenya, before suffering crashes in Croatia, the Canary Islands, Japan and last time out in Greece, the latter the 24-year-old labelled a “total disaster”.
Returning to a happy hunting ground of Estonia this week is seen as an opportunity to reignite his title bid with the event followed by Rally Finland’s similar fast gravel stages.
“I think it's come at a good time. I think after Portugal, it was good to be back on the podium and on gravel. I’ve been showing good results in speed,” Solberg told Motorsport.com.
“Greece was probably my biggest disappointment this year so far. I think on tarmac I've been very proud of the speed, but small details [have been costly]. Greece was a total disaster for me. It's easy to say that it came at the wrong time, but I mean that's just how it is. And maybe hopefully this one comes at the right time and I get back that good feeling and get back into the groove.
“I've been trying to really understand all the little details. I don't feel it is big mistakes I'm making. But it is small details and I know I have said it for a few rallies but at this level, it's hard to just find them overnight, and it comes with experience as well.
“I think if we can really do some good, consistent results in the next two rallies [Estonia and Finland], we are hopefully back in the game a little bit for the rest of the season, and I think that will be very important."
Solberg was fourth fastest in Friday morning’s shakedown before a new event format sees crews tackle six stages this afternoon and evening.
When asked if he had the same feeling in the car as he did last year, he added: “I think it's a bit me and a bit the car. I don't think exactly the same feeling as last year. But I will try my best to find it.”
Ogier relishing new challenge as title push grows
All five Toyota crews are expected to be locked in a fight for victory in Estonia given the GR Yaris has proved to be strong on fast gravel rallies.
Interestingly, the most experienced of the crews in reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier, now hunting for a record 10th world title, is the least experienced at this event given his last outing in Estonia was back in 2021.
“It is unusual for me to say that I start the rally with less experience than the others and it hasn’t happened for 15 years maybe, but that is a fact here. At the same time I’m not looking for any excuses and it is still a target to be competitive," said Ogier, who sits third in the championship standings.
"We know it is going to be a bit more challenging this weekend knowing 90% of the stage were run last year at full speed. There will be a lot of new pacenotes that are not fully confirmed. We worked a bit more than usual on the videos to try to reduce the lack of experience.
“I like challenges in general. I have mentioned before that I enjoy result the most when they come after tough competition and I guess fighting at the front here would be a great result for us. The main target is to be in front of Elfyn and Takamoto [Katsuta - second in the championship] with the championship in mind. But overall I don’t know what is possible, and if we can fight for a podium that would be great.”
Neuville: Risks will be required but potential is there
In the Hyundai camp 2024 world champion Thierry Neuville is confident that an impressive upturn in recent form can continue in Estonia, but it won’t be straightforward.
The Belgian has climbed to sixth in the championship after taking a win and second in his last two gravel rally starts in Portugal and Greece.
While he admits his i20 N Rally1 package is better suited to rough gravel rallies, he has been encouraged by the pace shown in pre-event testing.
“They [Toyota] will be pretty tough to beat but the last two gravel rallies were very good for us and we know that on rough gravel we are faster but still I think we have an opportunity to make something great this weekend,” Neuville told Motorsport.com. “We might need to take a little bit more risk than the Toyota drivers and have a little bit more perfection in the driving to be as fast as them.”
