› Toksport WRT’s Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson finish their last points scoring event of the season fourth in WRC2.
› Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) reach the third position of the category at the FIA World Rally Championship’s eleventh round.
› Five Škoda crews finish inside the WRC2 top 10
Concepción (CHL), 29 September 2024 – With fourth WRC2 position at Rally Chile Bio Bío, Oliver Solberg keeps his title chances alive. The 23-year-old Swede tops the WRC2 standings, but cannot score at the two remaining FIA World Rally Championship events.
Coming to Chile as the WRC2 overall leader, Oliver Solberg had the dubious honour of starting first after the RC1 competitors. “These cars have a wider track than my Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. So, I struggle to find a good line,” Solberg explained. He did everything he could to minimise the damage. After Friday’s six stages, Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson held second position in WRC2. Their Toksport WRT teammates Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson followed two places further down.
According to their intermediate ranking after the first leg, Solberg/Edmondson were given the second WRC2 starting position for Saturday's stage. The 23-year-old Swede immediately found more confidence. After three stages, Solberg/Edmondson returned to the service park as WRC2 leaders. But on the second stage of the afternoon loop, the Swedish-British duo was hit by bad luck: A slow puncture necessitated a tyre change, costing the Škoda crew more than one and a half minutes.
The 140 stage kilometres of Saturday brought better fortune for Gus Greensmith and co-driver Jonas Andersson. Powering their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 through extremely rough stages and also a lot of fog, they climbed from fourth to third position in WRC2. Solberg/Edmondson followed in fourth. Sharing a RaceSeven run Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak held fifth position of the category.
During the final leg’s four stages, Oliver Solberg pulled out all stops. He posted four fastest WRC2 times and made up more than 40 seconds over Sunday’s 54.80 stage kilometres. Solberg significantly reduced the gap to Toksport WRT teammate Gus Greensmith, but in the end had to settle for fourth place. "We will never give up," said the Swede. "But it is very bitter at the moment. It was such a good year and that's all I can think about.”
Yohan Rossel, one of two rivals for Solberg for the WRC2 title, won the category. Solberg still leads with twelve points over Rossel. But while the Škoda driver from Sweden has already racked up the maximum of seven points scoring events, his French competitor has one rally left to overhaul Solberg. Third-placed Sami Pajari, who did not compete Rally Chile in WRC2, as well still has chances to win the title.
Positions three to seven in WRC2 at Rally Chile Bio Bío were taken by Škoda crews. Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak finished fifth overall and second in the WRC2 Challenger classification. Sixth position in WRC2 went to the fastest South Americans, Fabrizio Zaldivar from Paraguay and Argentinean co-driver Marcelo der Ohannesian, who competes with an Italian license. Jorge Fontena Martínez from Chile and co-driver Alberto Alvarez Nicholson brought their Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 home in seventh place in WRC2.
From gravel to tarmac: The remaining two events of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship will feature asphalt stages. Next up is the Central European Rally (17-20 October 2024), which runs through the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.
Number of the rally: 10.5
After losing almost two minutes in stage 11 “Lota”, Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson literally stormed through the following test “Maria las Cruces”. The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 crew finished the 28.31 kilometre stage a whopping 10.5 seconds faster than any other WRC2 competitor. “This was the first time I’ve ‘tried’ all weekend. I hit every rock possible but got no puncture,” a frustrated Solberg said.
Rally Chile Bio Bío, 26-29 September 2024, Result WRC2
1 Yohan Rossel/Florian Barral (FRA/FRA), Citroën C3 Rally2, 3:07;31.2 hours
2 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov, Citroën C3 Rally2, +17.3 seconds
3 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (GBR/SWE), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +20.7 seconds
4 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (SWE/GBR), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +26.1 seconds
5 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (POL/POL), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +3:26.6 minutes
6 Fabrizio Zaldivar/Marcelo Der Ohannesian (PRY/ITA), Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, +5:03,3 minutes
Standings WRC2/Drivers (after 11 of 13 rallies)
1 Oliver Solberg (SWE), Škoda, 123 points (from 7 rallies)
2 Yohan Rossel (FRA), Citroën, 111 points (from 6 rallies)
3 Sami Pajari (FIN), Toyota, 108 Points (from 6 rallies)
MediaBox
