I guess Oliver will be interesting for WRC2 Pro teams (If it continues) in 2020.
Who will snap him first in your opinion?
Printable View
I guess Oliver will be interesting for WRC2 Pro teams (If it continues) in 2020.
Who will snap him first in your opinion?
He doesnīt go same place where Kalle goes ...
well, there isnt room for everybody in Toyota.
What teams? How many are there? (I mean factory ones). M-Sport are money making. Citroen doesn't want any extra costs just free marketing. Hyundai lost interest doing it. Toyota can't have it since they have not made a car yet. Only Skoda remains and also they are not sure if they will stay in WRC2 Pro.
Hopefully no more Pro series.
Solberg Clan is currently mostly using VAG products. Subaru as they use in the US, have no model apart from BRZ (GT86) that can be used for Rally, even that one has some limitations.
If VAG has plans for Rally, once it turns Hybrid/Electric, they should sign Oliver now.
If not, I would say that Ford should sign him, thinking future WRC drive.
The Hyundai R5 also need to be evolved to be a winner, they could also be in the market for a two step program for Oliver.
My bet as of today would be VAG as number 1, and Ford as number 2 in low odds!
I can totally see him doing 5-8 WRC rounds in Polo paid mostly with sponsor+own money. Too early for anyone to sign him imo, at least before Wales.
In terms of "factory" WRC2/R5 drives the only one that makes sense is Skoda. C3 is still a bit of a mess, Fiesta unproven and seemingly lacking and I20 outpaced+fragile. Or said in other words, anything but a Fabia Evo is a clear downgrade from his private Polo
I think he is very happy with the Polo, and Petter still has a good relationship with VW, so might be a possibility for a R5 WRC2 campaign.
But as things have started for the new Fiesta, MSport might want to sign Oliver already now!
If Skoda continue they will need someone to replace Kalle. I don’t know who else they would go for, Gryazin maybe.
Oliver Solberg won Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, a round of American Rally Association National Championship. Solberg, who is a Subaru USA driver, was 55 seconds faster than the famous Brithish driver David Higgins. Third was Barry McKenna from Ireland and fourth Piotr Fetela from Poland. The first American driver was down in the 5th position :)
Final results of 43. WASTE MANAGEMENT SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL PERFORMANCE RALLY:
1. Oliver Solberg/Aaron Johnston (N/GB) Subaru WRX STI 2:10.38,9
2. David Higgins/Craig Drew (GB) Subaru WRX STI +55,4
3. Barry McKenna/Andy Hayes (IRL) Ford Fiesta S2000 Turbo +13.00,8
4. Piotr Fetela/Dominik Jóźwiak (PL) Ford Fiesta Proto +17.25,9
5. Cameron Steely/Preston Osborn (USA) Subaru Impreza WRX STI +21.31,2
6. Seamus Burke/Martin Brady (IRL) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +23.57,6
7. Martin Donnelly/Andrew Browne (IRL) Ford Fiesta R5 +26.32,3
8. Nathan Usher/Marianna Usher (USA) Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon +33.35,0
9. Michael Hooper/Claudia Barbera (USA/I) Lexus IS 350 +35.28,4
10. Jonathan Kramer/Jason Smith (USA) Subaru Impreza +35.53,9
American Rally Association National Championship standings:
1. Higgins 114 ,
2. Fetela 84 ,
McKenna 84,
4. Solberg 75,
5. Steely 71,
6. Pastrana 31,
7. Seehorn 26,
8. Burke 23,
9. Miller 20,
Wallingford 20.
A bunch of photos and video can be found at https://twitter.com/oliversolberg01
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EEcsqMmXoAAwgqH.jpg:small
There's one factory team and to compete against that you need a lot of money and personal interest. Luckily there are several British, Irish and Polish millionaires slumming in the US that also love to drive or sponsor rally.
74 entries isn't too bad, either. I only hope I can spare time for the last rally at the end of October. Lake Superior starts to get snow around then.
Lokks like roads and rallies are very good, but rally is not a typical US sport where you can see everything sitting in one place. But with the right names, right cars (R2, R4 and R5 + open class) in addition the right PR it sure has potential.
Itīs not only PR. Thatīs a minor part.
If you didnīt get it; this is an important part of Olivers education. I woudnīt be surpriced if he smashes all WRC2 Pros and WRC2 guys in Wales. I think even not Kalle had this massive experience before taking part in WRC circus...
"Born2Drive" - a documentary movie about Oliver Solberg is going to have its European premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival in Poland.
Details at:
https://wff.pl/en/film/born2drive-35
Oliver 18y today.
Letīs if he will do all remaining WRC2019 events.
Passed the driver's exam today
Any news on Oliver in the silly season for 2020?
Not news, but rumours that he got a 3-year deal with skoda.
Some news next week i presume.
Sent fra min SM-G950F via Tapatalk
I thought Skoda was puling out completely?
Well, he owns a Polo. Seems like a private team is the way to go for him.
Besides, Petter said that he won't invest anymore in Oliver's career. The 200 000 euro Polo was his last investment. So why should he turn to Škoda, even if they continue as a manufacturer?
Starting fine, logistics, repairing & regular costs (fuel, tyres), accomodations. Do you think that this investment about 200 000 Polo cover all that for a season in WRC2 or WRC3. No it doesn't. It's just the car itself.
Of course I know that. I didn't think that 200 000 covers his season. I'm not stupid. If a JWRC season costs 150 000 + testing/travelling etc then a R5 season is considerably more expensive.
But wouldn't moving to koda make his Polo redundant? That's why I also think being a privateer makes more sense.
Fair point.
Do they have 1 or 2 Polo R5 ?
Oliver did drive Wales with their "old" Polo (chassis #1) and Petter was driving brand new one.
Who owns that car ? (ewrc doesnīt have that chassis)
He'll definitely be driving for the SKODA Motorsport team next year.
Whether the car is being run by the official Mlada Boleslav team or a satellite team, I don't know.
But his contract is with SKODA and the funding is coming from SKODA.
Is it too soon to be talking about a move to Rally1/WRC for 2021...? The main reason to stay in Rally2/WRC2 would be to get experience on the rallies he's missed this year. But given his ability, would it make sense to look at purchasing an M-Sport drive in 2021 with sponsorship money? To me it would seem like an opportunity to step up to the top category with the minimal possible expectation. Nobody expects the car to be a winner, he could probably beat Greensmith almost straight off the bat, and given how variable the performances of Lappi and Suninen can be, he may compare favourably to them.
Alternatively, what is Solberg's path? Another year in just a Rally2 wouldn't be a waste, but it's going to remain a competitive category and it'll become increasingly important over time to stay ahead of the competition. Unless Toyota replace Ogier with him in 2022, I'm not sure that Solberg can avoid buying a drive eventually with M-Sport either way.
While this is for another thread and I've said it before, if I were Malcolm, I'd be trying anything I could to tap into the Monster Energy oil field...
Yep, another WRC2/ERC season will only help but Sniper question about what team will give Oliver the first WRC1 program (even if partial) is quite interesting and probably it wont take too long to be answered.
https://www.fia.com/news/wrc-o-tanak...e-didnt-expectQuote:
Q: Here we've seen this very quick upward trajectory from you in terms of performance. You’re achieving so much success immediately. Sometimes it takes drivers a few years to get that success that you’ve already had in your career so early on. Oliver, I have to ask you, where are you seeing yourself next year already?
OS: It’s hard to say. I have only won one rally so far. I still have to work a lot. Every rally is so different and I need to get experience from every rally. In Mexico, I retired already in the first stage with a broken sump. That’s what I love, I’m always learning something new every day. It’s all about the experience. Next year, I’m not really sure what will happen, I’ll drive probably R5 again and just learn as much as possible again every race. Now I have the pace-notes from Mexico. Always coming to new places all the time and then I will have experience for the next year. Then you have a new set of pace-notes and you know a little bit more what you’re doing. It’s all about the experience and gaining speed all the time.
To me I think it would be surprising if Oliver is NOT in a RC1 car next year. He can gain experience in such a car as well. As long as teambosses think itīs worth to get him a seat.
As a teamboss I already should have done the call today, if not for months ago...
At this rate, OS and Kalle are going to have some epic fights for WRC titles further down the line.
This kids rise could make things even harder for the likes of Mikkelsen/ Paddon/ Latvala etc to get back in the WRC (unless they pay for a seat). Ostberg is already getting soundly beaten by him, and must be resigned to the fact his days of getting a WRC drive are done for.
Team bosses have to be looking to sign him up now or getting a long term agreement in place - even if he continues with the R5 for next season (which is absolutely the best plan). But some tests / one or two starts in a WRC car shouldn't be ruled out for 2021. It would be terrible management if Malcolm/Tommi and Adamo aren't already on the phone.