Making his debut in Toyota’s Rally1 car, Solberg left practically everyone stunned. The Swedish driver set the fastest time on the opening stage – the first stage win of his career. A few hours later, he added a second stage win, and in the afternoon, a third.
Solberg’s performance across the day’s six forest stages was stellar: he finished in the top two on each one. On the evening’s city stage, he placed eighth, but that couldn’t even be called a blemish.
By the end of Friday, Solberg was leading the fast gravel rally by 12.4 seconds over Hyundai’s Ott Tänak. The young driver was clearly emotional when he arrived at the service park in Tartu.
“I have had every single emotion today. When I was on my way back, I was thinking a lot. Then halfway through the road section, I was like, wow! And right after that, I felt emotional again. I was thinking, what’s actually going on? It’s just incredible,” Solberg told RallyJournal.com.
Even Solberg admitted he hadn’t expected such a stellar performance.
“I don’t have a lot of experience in the car. The other guys – I don’t know how many times they’ve driven this car, and on these roads as well. So yeah, I’m speechless.”
Solberg’s main goal is to get through the rally cleanly and extract as much experience as possible from this opportunity behind the wheel of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. But based on his Friday pace, it’s clear he isn’t holding back too much.
“For sure I’m trying. I’ve maybe made some small mistakes, but nothing dangerous – no moments, no problems,” Solberg said.
“I’m just trying to drive in my rhythm with the experience I have at the moment, and just keep it clean. The car is working really well underneath me and gives me the confidence to drive like this, so I’m happy.”
If Solberg can maintain this pace, he has every chance of fighting for his first-ever WRC victory. But everything has to go perfectly, as he’s got big names chasing him: Tänak, Thierry Neuville and Kalle Rovanperä.
So what’s Solberg’s plan for the coming days?
“I don’t know. I really don’t know,” Solberg laughed.
“I’ll drive the same tomorrow. I don’t have enough experience yet to take another step forward – and I don’t want to either. That’s not why I’m here. I just want to get the same feeling tomorrow morning, do my best, and see how it goes.”
