broadcasts the events of the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship comprehensively: Listen live from Ralliradio from start to finish and watch the highlight clips fresh from ‘s highly popular rally coverage.
JYVÄSKYLÄ.
Petter Solberg chatting in a cheerful tone around a certain car during the Saturday evening service. The car belongs to Solberg’s son by Oliver Solberg.
And why wouldn’t the Norwegian legend rejoice. For the first time, Oliver Solberg has been able to drive through two days in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship and also go to the final day.
To top it all off, Solberg has been the best R5 car on the route and is sixth overall.
There has been an interesting Finland-Sweden match between the R5 cars, as Solberg represents his mother’s home country. Sami Pajari had 12 seconds left when going to Saturday’s evening service and is the second R5 car. He also struggled with them for a long time Jari Huttunen, but he had to interrupt.
– I’m a little surprised by Oliver’s departure. There have been a lot of spots here that he hasn’t driven. Pajari has driven well. Huttunen did a fantastic job, but I have been surprised. Oliver has done steady work, Petter Solberg describes.
Before and during the race, there was time to wonder why Oliver Solberg did not compete for WRC2 points this year on the gravel roads of Central Finland. The WRC2 points system works so that drivers collect points in the seven races they enter. The six best races count towards the points.
Oliver Solberg has had enough drama before in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship. Last year, Solberg drove a Hyundai rally1 car in Finland, but crashed out immediately at the first forest special stage of the competition in Laukaa. Two years ago, Solberg made it through the first day, but at the start of the second day he ended up on the bench.
According to Petter Solberg, the younger Solberg won’t collect points in Finland this year precisely because he has little experience on the race track behind him.
– The main thing for young people is to drive. It doesn’t matter if he collects points or not, Petter Solberg describes his 21-year-old son’s situation.
This year, Oliver Solberg’s season has not gone quite as well. He has had various difficulties in Estonia, Kenya and Sardinia. According to the father, it was bad luck. Petter Solberg assures that his son has enough speed.
Oliver Solberg’s last years have been colorful. At the end of last year, he received his starting passes from Hyundai’s number one team.
After that, Solberg uploaded a harsh text about Hyundai’s operations and accused the team of politicking. At that time, he said that Hyundai had considered him the only young challenger to Kalle Rovanperä. However, the opposite happened.
Oliver Solberg then signed a contract with private team Toksport and now drives Skoda’s R5 car.
The 2003 rally world champion Petter Solberg states that he is not involved in building his son’s career.
– Oliver does his own thing. It is true that there are not that many driving positions in the main class. But he can ride this as long as he wants. Oliver loves rallying. That is the most important thing, father Solberg formulates.
A few years ago, Oliver Solberg and Kalle Rovanperä were compared to each other a lot. The two are almost the same age group. Rovanperä was born in 2000, Solberg in 2001.
Both have a father who drove in the World Rally Championship. Over the past year, Solberg’s career has been on a downward spiral, while Rovanperä has become the next Nordic World Rally Champion since Petter Solberg.
– There should be no panic. We’ll see what happens in the future, Peter Solberg describes his son’s career prospects.
He has closely followed the events of this year’s World Rally Championship in Jyväskylä. The race started on a pretty crazy Friday. Among the winning favorites, Rovanperä, Esapekka Lappi and Ott Tänak had to interrupt. The car left Rovanpera on its roof and Lappi hit a tree in slippery conditions. A stone on the driving line damaged Tänak’s engine so that the race was abandoned.
– Unbelievable! I am so sorry for Kalle, Esapeka and Otti. What can I say…, Solberg was like many other followers of the rally.
Rovanperä is currently one of the six world champions who has never won the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship. This six also includes Petter Solberg. The Norwegian was at his best in Central Finland in his championship year, second.
– This was Kalle’s home race and Toyota’s big leader Akio Toyoda on the spot. That never feels good, Solberg painted.
Rovanperä started their home race with a solid World Championship points lead. Despite Sunday’s final results, Rovanperä still leads the World Series with 25 points, i.e. the number of points obtained from one win. So the difference is noticeable.
Solberg has no doubts at all when asked about Rovanperä’s championship chances.
– Will definitely win. Kalle is an incredible driver. We are all impressed with what he has done. Kalle has a good team around him. They take care of him. I think that kind of good feeling is important for a young driver, says Solberg.