Solberg spent the past few years competing in WRC2 with Skoda’s Rally2 car, but for this season, he switched to Toyota’s Rally2 machinery. At the same time, he also joined the Finnish-based team Printsport.
For Solberg, a key factor in this move was gaining a direct link to Toyota’s WRC team. Last year, Sami Pajari was in a similar position as a Printsport driver, and during the season, he got his first opportunities to compete in the top class with Toyota’s Rally1 car.
This year, Pajari secured a full-time seat with Toyota’s WRC squad.
Solberg had a fantastic start to his WRC2 campaign, winning his home event in Sweden. He has already demonstrated that he has adapted well to Toyota’s car.
Toyota may well follow the same approach as last year with Pajari. In other words, Solberg could get a chance to drive Toyota’s Rally1 car later this season.
“It’s not entirely out of the question,” Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala told RallyJournal.com.
“Of course, we will first see how this year goes and how well he performs.”
Solberg has previous experience competing in WRC’s top class. However, at the end of 2022, he was dropped from Hyundai’s factory team and has since been competing in WRC2.
“He has already driven a Rally1 car before, so in that sense, he has some experience – not with our car, of course, but he has been in the WRC category. If you look at it from that perspective, there is potential,” Latvala explained.
A logical opportunity for Toyota’s extra Rally1 car could be at Rally Finland, as Toyota’s headquarters is based in Jyväskylä. Last year, Pajari made his Rally1 debut at the Finnish WRC round.
However, Latvala is not yet making any promises about Solberg’s debut in Toyota’s Rally1 car.
“We will see how his year goes. If the results are good, I believe it could be possible,” Latvala said.
Solberg’s next WRC2 outing will be at Safari Rally Kenya, taking place on 20–23 March.
