WRC
‘I have no regrets’: Solberg looks forward after Sardinia heartbreak
Oliver Solberg admits the pain of missing out on the FIA World Rally Championship title will take time to process - but insists he has no regrets after taking the fight to the very end in Sardinia.
Solberg came to Italy facing the biggest challenge of the three title contenders, 21 points behind championship leader Elfyn Evans.
By Sunday afternoon, that deficit had disappeared.
The 25-year-old had put himself in position to complete an extraordinary comeback, leading Rally Italia Sardegna and carrying his title hopes all the way to the final Wolf Power Stage.
Ultimately, it ended just short.
Solberg was pushing for the time he needed when he went off close to the end of the final stage. Evans was crowned world champion, while Solberg still emerged from the weekend as rally winner and championship runner-up.
Less than an hour afterwards, the disappointment was understandably still raw.
“I tried my very best right to the end and that’s all I can say,” he reflected. “It hurts a lot, but I don’t have any regrets.
“If I hadn’t tried hard enough and had just lost the time, I would probably struggle with it even more. But at least I tried, and somehow I got the chance to fight for it, which in the end is incredible.
“I’m a little bit proud as well, but it hurts a lot. This was my whole dream and I thought I actually could do it, so it’s a strange feeling.”
There is plenty, however, for Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson to take from their first full Rally1 campaign.
Having stepped up as reigning WRC2 champions, they began the year by winning Rallye Monte-Carlo and were back on the top step in Chile during a late-season surge which transformed them into genuine title contenders.
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From Greece onwards, Solberg outscored both Evans and Sami Pajari, collecting 106 points across the run to Sardinia.
“To actually be there at the end with a chance is incredible,” Solberg said.
“It just hurts a lot. I struggle talking about it. I’ve talked about it so much now that I just struggle to talk about it.
“But at least it’s been a great year in the end. I’ve learned a lot and I have no regrets. I just need to look forward to the future, take the positives and hopefully have many years ahead to try again.”
For father Petter, himself a WRC champion in 2003, watching those final kilometres brought a mixture of pride and pain.
“When the father is crying at the same time, it’s not so easy,” he admitted.
“I was crying with happiness earlier as well, because he finished the rally, he won the rally and he finished second in the World Championship.
This was my whole dream and I thought I actually could do it, so it’s a strange feeling.
“The title was probably further away than people expected coming into the rally – but not for him.
“He was sure he was going to fight for the World Championship this weekend. His motivation is so high, he believes so much and he loves rallying so much.”
Petter also offered some perspective on what Oliver has achieved.
After a difficult first spell in Rally1 machinery earlier in his career, Solberg rebuilt through WRC2, won that championship in 2025 and earned his return to the top level after taking a stunning maiden WRC victory in Estonia that same year.
One year later, he has finished runner-up in the world championship.
“You have to learn from it,” Petter said. “But you also have to understand that if you already have the speed, and you keep gaining more and more experience, then you can start thinking about strategy and everything else.
“It can all come together very well for the future.
“Rallying is a complex sport, so it takes a little bit of time. But like I told him, his speed has been amazing.”
For now, though, looking at the bigger picture may have to wait.
“He has to be proud of himself as well,” Petter added.
“But Oliver is always thinking about more.
“Now we have to cry a little bit more and be disappointed a little bit more, and maybe tomorrow he’ll look back at what he has actually done this weekend.”
