Solberg looking forward to returning to Rally Estonia after first WRC win
15th July 2026Toyota’s Oliver Solberg has said he is looking forward to returning to Rally Estonia, despite a struggling run of form in recent events in the World Rally Championship.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Last time out in Estonia, Solberg returned to the top class of rally racing with Toyota in a one-off appearance amongst his championship-winning WRC2 campaign.
The young Swede shocked the sport as he originally had no intentions of winning, but as the weekend progressed, that maiden victory, in his first attempt with Toyota, finally came to fruition.
By the end of the event, Solberg had taken victory over Hyundai’s Ott Tänak by 25 seconds, with Hyundai’s then-defending world champion, Thierry Neuville, rounding out the podium.
Speaking ahead of Estonia, Solberg reflected on his recent rallies, whilst looking forward to the upcoming event. He said:
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Rally Estonia. It’s a very special place to me after we took our first win there last year.
“It’s a really cool rally that I’ve always enjoyed: with the high speeds, massive jumps and excited rally fans, it’s a lot of fun. We haven’t had the easiest run of rallies recently, but now I’m going back to a rally where I have experience with this car, and I just want to try my best and see what we can do.”
Across the season, Solberg has enjoyed a handful of highs but more lows as he returns to the pinnacle of rally racing.
Solberg entered 2026 on a high, winning his second consecutive Rally1 event after Estonia, in Monte Carlo, and claimed an early lead in the WRC drivers championship. However, his footing at the top began to slip as he made a costly mistake in his home event, Rally Sweden, running off the road.
He managed to recover to fourth overall, behind eventual rally winner and teammate, Elfyn Evans, who now resides at the top of the championship.
Following that, the Swede has continued to have troubled events, with crashes in Croatia, Gran Canaria, Japan, and more recently, Greece, after he beached his car at a left-hander at the end of Friday’s stages.
As such, Solberg will enter Estonia with a more favourable road position, down in fifth in the drivers’ standings – last of the Toyotas, having been jumped by both defending nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier and Sami Pajari.
Rally Estonia will get underway on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Read more WRC here:
- 2026 Rally Estonia: Full WRC stage guide and times
- Rally Estonia: latest weather forecast ahead of WRC event
- Entry List: All Rally1 contenders for Rally Estonia
- Elfyn Evans disappointed with Acropolis Rally Greece result
- Sebastien Ogier wins Acropolis Rally Greece as Neuville suffers puncture
- Neuville remains leader of Acropolis Rally Greece as the fight tightens
- Neuville takes overnight lead of Rally Greece as other punished
- Ogier takes overnight lead after sole Rally Greece stage
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
