Mon 13 Jan 2025

Toyota ties run deep for WRC2 hopeful Solberg

Oliver Solberg’s switch to Toyota power for this year’s FIA World Rally Championship brings his family’s ties to the Japanese manufacturer full circle, almost three decades after his father Petter started his career aboard a Celica.

Solberg Jr will drive a Printsport-run GR Yaris Rally2 in this season’s WRC2 series with his point-scoring program most likely to start on his home round in Sweden next month. Ahead of the Umeå-based winter rally, the 23-year-old will make his competitive debut in a Toyota at Rallye Monte-Carlo from 23 - 26 January.

Solberg said: “I’m very proud and excited to be starting a new chapter in life joining the Toyota family. Toyota is such an iconic brand in rallying and it’s always been a big dream for me to drive with them.

“After my first test, I can already see the work Toyota GAZOO Racing has put into the GR Yaris Rally2 and now I can’t wait to compete in it.”

Solberg grew up listening to stories of how his father’s second place on the 1998 Lebanon Rally, at the wheel of a Toyota Celica GT-Four, helped deliver him to the sport’s top-flight the following season and a maiden FIA world title five years later.

Having narrowly missed out on the WRC2 title last season, Solberg Jr will be hoping the switch from Škoda to Toyota will help him follow in the family footsteps to world championship glory in 2025.

Sweden
Starts: Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 8:00:00 AM
Spain
Starts: Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 7:00:00 AM
Turkey
Starts: Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 8:30:00 AM