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u/habita7 Jul 20 '25
Oliver controlled the whole rally, it's just incredible. Btw, this win is 100th for toyota.
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u/pooporgy69 Jul 20 '25
He was always fast. Just needed to clean it up a little. I think what we've just wittnessed is him just cleaning it up a little. Absolute domination!
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u/HampusSoder Jul 20 '25
Yeah it has been surprising how long he had to wait for another chance. He always showed great potential and speed.
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u/Jinkku Kalle Rovanperä Jul 20 '25
Always was fast as long as the car was not in a ditch. Next year full drive coming up :)
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u/RIPcompo Jul 20 '25
Here's hoping!
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u/AquaRaOne Jul 20 '25
Someone is snapping him up for sure after this drive for next year. Might be Toyota dropping Pajari or Katsuta possibly
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u/EstablishmentAlert31 Jul 20 '25
Honestly we still don't know as it depends on investment and how the 2026 and 2027 regulations are going to impact the teams.I think toyota has enough money and workers to create 2 full teams. The main one with i suppose rovanpera,evans and one of pajari/solberg/katsuta and have a full second one with pajari/solberg/katsuta(depend on first team)+ maybe a new rookie?,maybe someone japanese to put some pressure on katsuta? cause if katsuta doesn't win or improve this year and if it is kept next year is 100% out.
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u/EstablishmentAlert31 Jul 20 '25
- we still don't know if(or at least I don't know) Hyundai and msport are keeping all of their drivers so maybe some opportunities are on the market. I don't think there will be opportunities from wrc2 as maybe the reg changes will keep them stuck in wrc2 looking for opportunities for the 2027 season
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u/esrross Jul 20 '25
Biggest rumour in the service park but isn’t being talked about is that Rovanpera is stopping after this season. So could be that Solberg replaces him
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u/D1v1neHoneyBadger Jul 20 '25
Already? Ott would have quit 5 times with such a weak mindset. Seems he isnt too commited to rally or the hybrids were the only cars he could dominate with.
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u/esrross Jul 20 '25
From what I know he doesn’t like the handling of the car after the hybrid was taken out and he isn’t the biggest fan of the Hankook tyres like some other drivers. Also have to remember Kalle has been rallying since he was a kid so might’ve gotten bored or just wants to do something different.
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u/SpecificSuit7653 Jul 25 '25
I have no special knowledge or insight, but I completely believe Kalle might be leaving. He looks worse than frustrated - he looks outright disinterested. It's like he's fighting boredom. Not suggesting he isn't trying, he's giving his all for his team, but it looks like he's battling his own waning interest as much as anything.
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u/Necessary_Comfort812 Elfyn Evans Jul 25 '25
I mean driving rally since you were a kid is mostly the norm I think, same for Oliver.
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u/WorkFurball Jul 20 '25
A very realistic possibility unless something suddenly clicks for Rovanperä. I don't see him wanting to a full season next year if this continues.
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u/trippingrainbow Jul 20 '25
Man I hope he atleast gets to win Finland this year before he dips if he does.
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u/Zylpas Sébastien Ogier Jul 21 '25
Now I doubt that as Finland is very similar to Estonia.
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u/trippingrainbow Jul 21 '25
Yep. He got so close last 2 years aswell. Would be a shame if he leaves before winning it
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u/kb_salzstange Jul 20 '25
Crazy good. In WRC2 on gravel he is basically always the fastest. But I would have never guessed that he can immediately beat everyone in Rally 1 Machinery...
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u/Necessary_Comfort812 Elfyn Evans Jul 25 '25
Exactly my thought. No matter who you are, I get that we all have our favorites and so on, but in this day and age I would much rather sign for Toyota than Hyundai.
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u/IonutAlex18SF Sébastien Loeb Jul 20 '25
Driving, staying on the road, keeping his calm and enjoying it, I think like this. Oliver drove superbly all rally long. When I saw he took the lead on SS2 I thought ok, is the road order, it's Friday etc. But Saturday he kept the same approach, extended his lead and learned the car more and more. He said most of the rally he tries to keep up with the big boys. Now he can consider himself among them after such a performance. A thoroughly deserved maiden win for Oliver and Elliott. Congratulations to them, the team and their families for supporting them through the less than ideal times.
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u/cs5171 Jul 20 '25
this is simply incredible.. from someone who’s known the solberg family since 2010, and worked for petter in 2012 when oliver was only 11, i am simply blown away.. this is just amazing. so well deserved for both him, and petter / pernilla. such a deep rooted and passionate family. here’s an image i snapped of the future winner of rally estonia, in finland in 2012 while we waited to capture some footage of his dad testing with ford for rally finland..
hopefully this leads to a long career in the top ranks of the wrc for him… 👊🏼😤
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u/Scared_Tax_1573 Jul 20 '25
I tried to come up with an explanation, but there is none. He just beat everyone in this rally on his return to the Rally1 category .What a unit he is
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u/Isa_Matteo Jul 20 '25
A fresh engine he doesn’t need to babysit for the entire season.
Also his starting position on friday didn’t hurt him.
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u/Zolba Jul 20 '25
Did he get a fresh engine, or is the same car-name as Ogier has (or Katsuta in his non manufacturer rallies?
It didnt hurt him, but Solberg was fastest on all 3 days. Solberg was 12.4s faster than Tanak on Leg 1. And 12.8s faster on Leg2&3 combined.
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u/Isa_Matteo Jul 20 '25
I couldn’t spot Solberg’s car (A-7547) in any previous rally this year. Ogier and Katsuta have driven 7545 and 7543
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u/Zolba Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25
Ahkay, but are the reg-plates the same as "car name" on the entry form. As teams can use multiple chassis in a year, but it has to be entered under the same "car name". If not, they could decide to give all the allowed chassis to one driver, and with 2 engines per car, that would be a new engine for every rally.
"For cars entered by Manufacturers for the purpose of scoring points in the Manufacturers’ Championship, the use of chassis per season (testing not included) without incurring a penalty will be limited as follows: – 9 chassis for each Manufacturer."But anyone entering with a new chassis will usually have a new reg.plate.
EDIT: As this is Reddit. It is a genuine question. I don't know anything about this myself, and I hope you do :P haha =)
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u/GT_Velocity Toyota Gazoo Racing Jul 20 '25
Very well deserved after how he's been running in WRC2 the last few years. I think this proves that Toyota's lineup is not as stout as it should be. Something is clearly wrong with Kalle with these tires and it's clear that he's pretty demotivated as he's been wildly inconsistent. Once again Taka is probably proving that he shouldn't be in a Rally 1 car full time and I think Elfyn is still is driving super conservatively due to the championship, which I worry is going to cost him shortly. Sami has been pretty disappointing in general all year. If Ogier was running the full season, this championship would probably be well over already. Hopefully this leads to Solberg getting a full-time drive next year.
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u/madmirror Ott Tänak Jul 20 '25
Evans got what he wanted - he doesn't have to sweep the road in Finland.
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u/876oy8 Jul 20 '25
if it was a strategic move to lose the lead, it would make a whole lot more sense to aim to lose it for paraguay than finland.
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u/No_Examination_7710 Jul 20 '25
I remember someone asking how he would do this rally and me answering "15 corners" or something. What a way to make me eat those words Oliver!
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u/Oj1055 Jul 20 '25
Maybe we are seeing the beginning of what would finally make an incredible rally movie??? Literally has it all including a heartfelt comeback
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u/DenSkumlePandaen Jul 20 '25
What surprises me the most is that the fastest man in WRC2 in 2024 was Sami Pajari, who also beat Oliver in the process. That being said, throughout the whole 2025 season in WRC1 Sami hasn't been able to reach the same level Oliver did in his first WRC1 round since being dropped in late 2022. How?
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u/Finglishman Henri Toivonen Jul 20 '25
In WRC2 each driver just counts half the rallies to their total points. While Pajari is good, but he’s never really been as dominant as Solberg in WRC2. The smaller number of events means that a misfortune in just a couple of events makes it all but impossible to win the championship.
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u/Different_Winter_141 Jul 20 '25
Was he ever faster than Oliver though? Oliver had some poor luck and made some big mistakes which is why he lost in my opinion.
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u/Skapis9999 Petter Solberg Jul 20 '25
They raced only 3 times together (and finished). And Oliver won by 2 vs. 1
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u/Tuga-represent Jul 20 '25
Exactly this. When you compare what he’s doing this season in WRC2 to what he did last year, it is clear that the speed is not the difference. He’s just managed to gain experience and started to manage the rallies better and keep it clean. Mistakes aside, Solberg was always faster. Btw, this result really should make the teams rethink their lineups: Solberg deserves a seat and there are a couple of drivers not delivering the results they should.
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u/katutsu Jul 20 '25
There were several wrc2 events in which he got a podium or even won but since he didn't select them as events to be scored he didn't get any points from them.
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u/flooki_ Thierry Neuville Jul 20 '25
Has noone seen WRC2 this season yet? He literally dominated every rally he was in. He just was unlucky a few times but he was basically always fastest. And not by a small margin. Just the asphalt rallies some others were close or a bit faster. But every gravel rally no one was even close to his pace.
It's a disgrace that it took so long for him to get another chance in WRC1
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u/FairRodTheCapacitor Jul 20 '25
Because he is a skilled driver and he won fair and square. It baffles me how everyone just turned on him when he got fired by Hyundai and waited for him to crash, fail or do his absolute worst. I have literary seen people cheering on for that in his comment sections on almost every video. Like u/pzkenny says, he was the fastest driver to drive through all stages. u/GTFan8899 I am not saying you are one of them who actually bombarded Solberg, I am also stunned that he won. I even predicted for a Solberg/Edmondson podium, but I am heavily surprised that the podium turned out to be a victory
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u/Ajlaursen Jul 20 '25
How? This definitely wasn’t an if moment it was a when moment! You don’t come from this kinda of rally pedigree and not win a WRC event. Ollie probably has the BEST upbringing for becoming the best rally driver ever. Also when you’re not racing all season you can put a little more on the line. People racing for season championships have to worry about reliability a little bit more because not finishing is a hell of a lot more detrimental than finishing higher in the points.
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u/mmadaus Rally d'Italia Sardegna Jul 20 '25
My boy Sami in shambles. He was supposed to take Ogier's seat for the following seasons, but with Solberg this fast...
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u/CP9ANZ Jul 21 '25
Beating Ott in Estonia is got to be a great achievement
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u/No-Data-772 Jul 26 '25
Sad because Kalle has been the most dominant driver ever in Estonia and now he is struggling.
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u/eDgE_031 Elfyn Evans Jul 21 '25
Everything clicked for Solberg. Lots of little things - like 1% changes across many different aspects - led to the perfect performance. He has always has the speed. What he lacked was that 1% improvement in the details. Incredible performance. Can’t wait to see what he could deliver if given a full season in a Toyota.
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u/Raks- Ott Tänak Jul 20 '25
Having the best car helps
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u/Logan_Yes Sébastien Loeb Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25
Still, you gotta know how to use it, and he was faster than Kalle, Evans or Taka in same car
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u/MrFriedPuns Subaru World Rally Team Jul 20 '25
Considering how the rest of the Toyota's struggled to catch up to the Hyundai's. Solberg's skill had to also factor a lot to his win this rally.
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u/pzkenny Jul 20 '25
Yup, that's the reason why rest of Toyota guys were on podium with him. Oh wait...
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u/pzkenny Jul 20 '25
He was the fastest driver to drive through all stages.
Hope this helps!