Oliver Solberg to make competitive R5 debut
Oliver Solberg will compete on his first event in a Volkswagen Polo R5 when he tackles this weekend’s Rally Aluksne.
The 17-year-old is no stranger to the Latvian snow event, having finished second in class for the last two years. But driving the same car his father Petter used to contest October’s Rally Catalunya is a big step for Solberg Jr.
He said: “The Volkswagen is actually much easier to drive than the [Peugeot] 208 R2 I was using before and I already feel quite comfortable with the driving. Aluksne’s a nice rally. It’s fast but also narrow and tricky. I have no real goal going into the event as it’s my first event in this car, so we’ll push at around 95 per cent and try to take experience and get to the finish.”
Solberg Sr joined his son for a pre-event test in Anttila, Sweden and couldn’t make the Polo any quicker than Oliver had managed. “Having my father around has been really helpful in terms of setting the car up initially,” said Solberg Jr. “But I was in control of the set-up changes and when dad got back in the car at the end of the test he had no improvements to make – which was really encouraging.
“This is the start of a new challenge this year and, of course, it’s going to be a very exciting season with the focus moving to rallying for me.”
The 10-stage Rally Aluksne starts with two six-mile stages on Friday evening, before the balance of the 60 competitive miles comes on Saturday.