Young rally talent Oliver Solberg has already driven his first WRC round behind the wheel of a FABIA Rally2 evo. He entered Rally Sweden with the support of ŠKODA Motorsport. The works team provided, among other things, the technical preparation of the car and support of experienced engineers and mechanics right there, at the rally venue. This is a part of ŠKODA Motorsport’s strategy for this year. It aims to provide extensive support to the customer teams and help young, talented drivers.
Before Rally Sweden, Solberg came to Czech Republic to get to know the car he’s never sat in before and find a setup that would suit him. Together with the engineers and technicians of ŠKODA Motorsport, they honed every detail. “To work with ŠKODA Motorsport was my dream – it’s a top-notch works team. We work hard to succeed,” Oliver Solberg stated.
The young Swede was pleased with the first hot kilometres: “For me, a good car is one that’s easy to drive, handles obediently and has a great safety margin. Then you can be fast anytime, anywhere. And FABIA really is a fantastic car with a huge potential.” A nice touch was the presence of the famous Petter Solberg, the 2003 WRC champion, who accompanied his son.
Watch the video from the first testing before the Rally Sweden:
Last year, Solberg junior achieved several huge successes. He won three rounds of North American rally championship with a Subaru WRX STI and in European championship, he became the youngest driver ever to win at Rally Liepāja. He will continue to use his Polo GTI Rally2 in selected rounds of WRC – he took it to Rally Monte Carlo and he will enter the upcoming Mexican rally with it. The possible return behind the wheel of ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo is planned by Oliver Solberg and ŠKODA Motorsport works team for Rally de Portugal.
