Solberg: Title or not, I’m proud of our season

The 23-year-old Swede sits at the top of the table after three wins, two second places and his fourth from Rally Chile. Having completed his allocated number of rounds, Solberg will sit out FORUM8 Rally Japan and watch his only title rival Sami Pajari’s progress on the season finale.

First or second place in WRC2 for Pajari would be enough for the Finn to take the title.

Solberg said: “It’s tough to sit and watch Japan happen, but what can we do?

“I’m really proud of what we have achieved together – it’s been such a strong season for us and I believe we deserve the title. Okay, now we have to wait to Japan to find out if it comes for us, but we have done all we could and that’s all we can say.

“The team has all worked so well together this season – it’s this kind of team work, that makes it possible for us to win the stages we have won and, of course, three WRC2 rounds. We’re the only crew to have won a stage on every event started and we’ve won 42% of them!

“This is where our season ends, there’s no Japan for us. I’m a little bit sad for that, I love Japan and the passion that country has for our sport. I would love to be driving there and sharing that event, but, like I said, I can only be happy for what we achieved as a team this season. Thanks again to everybody for all the support.”