Oliver Solberg surprised everyone with a FIA WRC win in Rally Estonia, ahead of Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville.
Friday –
Oliver Solberg announced his return to the FIA World Rally Championship’s headline category in eye-catching fashion on Friday, storming to a lead of 12.4sec at Delfi Rally Estonia. Driving a GR Yaris Rally1 on what is currently a one-off outing for Toyota Gazoo Racing, Swedish youngster Solberg stunned the field by romping to three fastest times on lightning-fast gravel roads in southern Estonia and led for the first full day’s entirety.
The 23-year-old, who is co-driven by Britain’s Elliott Edmondson, collected his first-ever WRC stage win on the first test through Peipsiääre before backing it up on the repeated pass to reach the mid-leg service halt 8.5sec clear of 2019 WRC champion Ott Tänak. Set-up changes between loops helped Solberg unlock more traction in the afternoon, allowing him to extend his margin over home hero Tänak – who had earlier taken two stage wins of his own.
Tänak – victorious last time out in Greece – was roared on by thousands of fans but couldn’t quite find the flow needed to trouble Solberg’s pace. Thierry Neuville was third, just 1.8sec behind team-mate Tänak. The Belgian led after Thursday night’s super special but admitted he was still “fighting” with his Hyundai i20 N Rally1’s balance and grip throughout the day. Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, a three-time winner in Estonia, found himself 5.9sec back from Neuville in fourth.
Adrien Fourmaux endured a muted morning on his first high-speed gravel rally in Hyundai colours, but bounced back to win Kambja 2 after set-up tweaks improved his car’s stability. He ended the leg fifth overall, two-tenths of a second ahead of Takamoto Katsuta – who lost time in the morning with an overshoot and intercom issues. Elfyn Evans, first on the road as championship leader, struggled for traction and languished in eighth – ahead of Toyota colleague Sami Pajari, whose morning was hampered by intermittent power loss.
Mārtiņš Sesks and Josh McErlean rounded out the top 10 in M-Sport Ford Pumas, split by 18.6sec. Grégoire Munster was 11th after a difficult day that included brake issues, a tyre deflation and an overshoot.
Saturday –
Oliver Solberg stands on the brink of a landmark FIA World Rally Championship triumph after extending his advantage during Saturday’s blisteringly fast penultimate leg at Delfi Rally Estonia. The 23-year-old Swede, making a one-off appearance in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 alongside his regular WRC2 campaign, will carry a 21-second lead into Sunday’s three-stage finale. Victory would see him join an exclusive group of drivers to win on debut with a new team at rallying’s top level.
Solberg has led since Friday morning and added a further four stage wins on Saturday, calmly increasing his margin from 12.4sec over the course of 125 competitive kilometres. Overnight changes to the set-up of his GR Yaris gave him renewed confidence and he duly posted fastest times on three of the morning’s four tests. In the afternoon, his approach shifted to risk management on stages around Otepää and Kanepi – backing off slightly but losing minimal ground to the chasing pack.
Lining up behind Solberg are no fewer than three world champions, led by 2019 title-winner Ott Tänak. The local favourite, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1, is locked in a fierce duel with team-mate Thierry Neuville for the runner-up spot. The pair traded positions six times throughout the day, with Tänak ending just 4.0sec ahead of the Belgian. Tänak’s advantage could have been greater, but a costly stall after clipping a chicane bale on the opening stage saw him shed around seven seconds.
Kalle Rovanperä, three-time Delfi Rally Estonia winner and WRC champion in 2022 and 2023, ended the day in fourth. Despite pushing as hard as he felt comfortable, the Finn admitted he was struggling to match the leaders’ pace. Rovanperä did manage to edge further ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, who climbed to fifth after overhauling Takamoto Katsuta early on Saturday. Fourmaux ended 8.6sec ahead of the Japanese driver, who in the afternoon reported “something weird with the car”.
Katsuta now holds sixth, just 13.6sec clear of his championship-leading team-mate Elfyn Evans – the Welshman rounding out a steady day in seventh. Sami Pajari continued to hold a solitary eighth place in his Toyota, comfortably clear of the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1s of Mārtinš Sesks and Josh McErlean, who completed the top 10.
Sunday –
Oliver Solberg followed in the footsteps of his world champion father Petter, claiming a stunning maiden FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) victory at Delfi Rally Estonia on Sunday. The 23-year-old Swede stunned the WRC elite with a commanding display across the high-speed gravel roads of southern Estonia, sealing his breakthrough win on debut in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 – nearly 20 years after Petter’s final WRC success in 2005.
Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were drafted in for the one-off outing just weeks before the rally and had only two days of testing under their belts. Remarkably, it marked their first Rally1 start since Repco Rally New Zealand in 2022 – but they wasted no time in making an impression, storming into the lead with their first-ever stage win on Friday’s opener stage and remaining unchallenged throughout the weekend.
That momentum carried through into Super Sunday, with Solberg setting the pace on two of the day’s three tests in damp and slippery conditions. Unfazed by the change in grip, he calmly extended his advantage to take the win – Toyota’s 100th in the WRC – by 25.2sec over local hero and 2019 world champion Ott Tänak.
Tänak, the pre-event favourite, struggled to get the best out of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on sections where grip was inconsistent. A stall on Saturday morning cost him around seven seconds, but the immediate threat behind eased on Sunday when team-mate Thierry Neuville, who started the day just 4.0sec adrift, incurred a 10-second penalty for a false start on SS18 and ultimately finished 23.1sec behind Tänak in third.
Despite missing out on the win, Tänak’s result was enough to overhaul Elfyn Evans and move into the lead of the drivers’ championship by a single point. Evans, who placed sixth, will at least benefit from not running first on the road on day one of the upcoming Secto Rally Finland. Kalle Rovanperä showed improved pace in the damper conditions but was unable to mount a podium challenge. The two-time world champion and three-time Rally Estonia winner had to settle for fourth in another Toyota, finishing 7.3sec adrift of Neuville.
Adrien Fourmaux’s hopes of contending for top Super Sunday and Wolf Power Stage points were dashed when his Hyundai nosedived after a jump, damaging the front aero. The Frenchman ended the rally in fifth, ahead of Evans. Takamoto Katsuta had slipped behind Evans to eighth earlier in the day and was forced to retire his Toyota before the Power Stage due to a technical issue. After grappling with intermittent power loss on Friday, Sami Pajari brought his Toyota home in seventh overall. The top 10 was rounded out by M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 youngsters Mārtinš Sesks, Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster.
Result: https://www.wrc.com/en/events/wrc-delfi-rally-estonia-2025/wrc-delfi-rally-estonia-results-2025
[The story is as per press release]
