Solberg clinched his second consecutive victory in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, Sweden’s ERC rally. Driving a Skoda, Solberg was in a class of his own, securing 12 out of 17 stage wins.
New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon offered strong competition and stayed close, but at no point was he able to truly threaten Solberg’s lead. Ultimately, Paddon had to settle for third place after a puncture cost him significant time in the final stage.
Solberg struggled with his car’s settings on Friday but found better pace as the rally progressed.
“The feeling is just incredible. I had a lot of pressure for this race because I just wanted to win. I had a different car than last time. Today, I got a good feeling in the car, although yesterday was the complete opposite. Today, the car might have suited the road type better,” Solberg said after the rally.
“I just couldn’t get a feel for the car yesterday, and the feeling was actually quite terrible. We made changes to the car during the evening service, and things went much better right away. Of course, there were still surprises because the grip was very low in places,” Solberg continued.
In the end, Solberg’s winning margin was recorded as 38 seconds ahead of Mikko Heikkilä. On the gravel roads of Värmland, the gaps in each special stage were minimal. For this reason, Solberg felt the victory was special.
“The competition in the ERC is extremely tight. Even now, we saw that every stage was fought over by tenths of a second. Especially on Friday, it felt like the level here is tougher than in WRC2. This was just crazy, but also fantastic,” Solberg summed up.
“Fortunately, I managed to build a bit of a gap on Saturday morning, so the pressure eased a bit. It’s always great to win at home.”
