Why Solberg isn't scoring WRC2 points in Croatia

This week’s Zagreb-based event will be the 21-year-old Swede’s debut on a traditional asphalt round of the FIA World Rally Championship in the latest specification Škoda. He also opted not to count January's Rallye Monte-Carlo as a points-scoring round, but did steer the car to WRC2 victory in Sweden as well as third last time out in Mexico.

“We took some good experience from Monte for the asphalt," Solberg told WRC.com, "and in some ways Croatia is quite similar in the sort of demands you make on the car: you need a car that’s going to give you confidence and speed when the grip level can be changing all of the time.

“Croatia’s not a rally I have so much experience of, so we decided to take this one for the experience.

“I’m really looking forward to the event and being back in the car, the break feels quite long since Mexico. Of course, the rally will not be the same without Craig [Breen]. It’s going to be a strange feeling in the service park, this guy was really something special for all of us.”

While he’s not chasing points in Croatia, Solberg leads the WRC2 standings by 15 points over Yohan Rossel going into the event – and has posted the fastest Rally2 time on more than half of the stages run this season.