SOLBERG JR SCOOPS NORDIC RALLYCROSS GLORY

Oliver closes on nordic championship points lead

Sixteen-year-old Oliver Solberg, son of triple FIA world champion Petter, claimed his third career rallycross victory at Arvika in Sweden last weekend and has zeroed in on the lead of the Rallyx Nordic Championship.

The Citroen DS 3 driver topped the podium after battling his way ahead in the final. The victory came one year after he became the youngest ever Supercar winner at the same venue using a Latvian licence to drive his father’s former car.

Solberg had been blighted by niggling issues in the Holjes season-opener last month, where victory was taken by reigning Nordic champion Thomas Bryntesson. Bryntesson again topped the Intermediate Classification at Arvika and led the opening lap of the final until being passed by Solberg at the start of lap two, from where the OSRX driver remained ahead until the finish. Bryntesson later dropped to fourth with a puncture.

“It’s amazing to win in Arvika again and get my title hopes back on track after all the problems we had in Holjes,” said Solberg Jr. “We had problems with the launches initially [today] but once we had fixed it, the car was brilliant and I could focus properly on racing. In the final I had a great start and even though Bryntesson got ahead of me through the first corners I felt I was faster. When he went wide into the final corner I just stuck to the inside and was able to out-drag him. After that I just had to focus, keep my lines clean and keep pushing. It’s a great feeling to win again and gives me confidence ahead of my home round in Grenland.”

Lukas Walfridson and Philip Gehrman – the latter racing an Eklund Motorsport-run Volkswagen Beetle in rallycross legend Per Eklund’s home town – completed the podium. Solberg now lies second in the standings, nine points behind leader Bryntesson. The third of six rounds takes place at Grenland in Norway later this month.