Oliver Solberg

**dimviii** · 8th February 2021, 17:00

“But I have been in the sport a long time and I tell you, this team is a good one. They’re so motivated, but at the same time really nice and relaxed – we’ve had a fantastic time here with them. And, I tell you, Oliver is talking a lot with his engineers. Maybe he takes this from his Mum…”

The only downside to Oliver’s day was not having his co-driver Aaron Johnston with him. A canceled flight grounded a very frustrated Northern Irishman – the Wolfpack WhatApp group came as some comfort.

Ott Tänak’s co-driver Martin Järveoja stepped in and helped Oliver out, doing a superb job for his first day with English notes.

But when he left for the airport, the Hyundai’s right-hand seat was taken by Mr A. Adamo. Now the pressure; the headmaster sitting alongside you.

“Not at all,” says Oliver. “He was very cool. It was fantastic to have him there. He was a little bit quiet though.”
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/insid...ally-car-test/

**mknight** · 9th February 2021, 09:13

Originally Posted by AnttiL

I heard a rumor that they were testing some non-homologated components on the car, that's why he had to retire not to get into final scrutineering.

When Hänninen tested the Yaris in Sardegna 2019, they were also running new components on the car and retired before the last stage. This is confirmed by the team/driver.

Running non-homologated components might have made sense since he was not scoring anyway. (you could argue it's a bit of cheating, but you only cheat for stagetimes)

But in that case it would made sense to retire after the stage, either due to some "issue" or just not entering the final TC in service as is common when cars rejoining in superrally got retired to not use "spare part numbers" (Hyundai with Loeb in Portugal 2019, Citroen multiple times etc.)

Definitely not to retire by driving even slightly off the road on PS even before posting a single split time. While at the same time talking about pushing and with the other drives in top of Rally2 pushing as well.

So if there is any truth in this it's a mix of two things, yes they might have planned to retire, but definitely not in that way.

**T16** · 9th February 2021, 21:45

Just watched the interview with Adamo during the Solberg test.
Super clever move by him, he’s clearly aware of the interest generated with the young chap.... a bit of a wake up to Hyundai that the WRC can be on the tongues of many a household again.
And by the way, what a lovely young man Oliver seems to be. Shame on me for thinking / assuming his position in the sport may get to his head. So far - clearly not.
When someone like this is there, it’s so easy to want them to do well.
Go on son, show them how it’s done.

**Sulland** · 10th February 2021, 15:55

Up here the flag issue of Oliver is a big thing.
Norwegians would like him to register with norwegian license, and run in norwegian colors.
The swedes are happy as is, and fights for him to continue to represent their country. He has recently become a member of the swedish national team.

Best would of course be best if we could share him.
Maybe a start would be to use his new Bell Helmet to combine the two flags i a way!

**Rallyper** · 10th February 2021, 16:55

Originally Posted by Sulland

Up here the flag issue of Oliver is a big thing.
Norwegians would like him to register with norwegian license, and run in norwegian colors.
The swedes are happy as is, and fights for him to continue to represent their country. He has recently become a member of the swedish national team.

Best would of course be best if we could share him.
Maybe a start would be to use his new Bell Helmet to combine the two flags i a way!

You have had enough stars for a while now. So please let us enjoy Oliver as a Swede. Besides, he lives in Sweden...

**Per Anders** · 10th February 2021, 17:08

Originally Posted by Rallyper

You have had enough stars for a while now. So please let us enjoy Oliver as a Swede. Besides, he lives in Sweden...

And was born i Norway 😂

Oliver is a Swede....but I like to think that he is half Swede and half Norwegian.

Regardles, I am a big fan😊

**Steve Boyd** · 11th February 2021, 02:05

This is just like the days when Ari Vatanen & Pentti Airikkala were British!

**cali** · 11th February 2021, 04:10

Really could care less if he's swede or norwegian as long as he's doing fine

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**Franky** · 11th February 2021, 09:21

Originally Posted by cali

Really could care less if he's swede or norwegian as long as he's doing fine

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But if he'd be Estonian the response would be a bit different?

It's a global world where borders are more blurred than ever in human perspective.

**cali** · 11th February 2021, 14:58

Originally Posted by Franky

But if he'd be Estonian the response would be a bit different?

It's a global world where borders are more blurred than ever in human perspective.

No it would'nt. Really don't care about nationalities, it's more to do with rallying in general. I have followed rallying long before estonians appeared on the scene and if it's still spectacular I will follow it when Tänak retires.

It's nice that we have estonian champ ofc but it doesn't create or take extra interest because of it.

I like Oliver because of his talent (same as Thierry Neuville) not because of his nationality. I'm probably the only estonian who smiles when or if Thierry wins a championship.

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