One phone call, two days of testing, and a dream come true: Oliver Solberg shines at Rally Estonia 2025, wins his first WRC race, and sets a milestone for Toyota
Oliver Solberg celebrated his first overall victory in the World Rally Championship (WRC) at Rally Estonia 2025, not only making an emotional comeback in the Rally1 category, but also securing Toyota’s 100th victory in WRC history. The 23-year-old Swede is now the third youngest winner of a WRC race after Kalle Rovanperä and Jari-Matti Latvala.
Solberg, who received a surprise call from Toyota just two weeks before the rally, replaced Sebastien Ogier in the GR Yaris Rally1 at short notice. Together with co-driver Elliott Edmondson, he dominated the gravel rally with nine stage wins out of a total of 20 – more than two years after his last Rally1 appearance for Hyundai.
“After all these years, all the trying and dreaming – we did it,” said Solberg, moved to tears and overwhelmed at the finish line.
Triumph 20 years after his father Petter’s last victory
Solberg took the lead on Friday’s second special stage and never relinquished it until the finish on Sunday. Despite only two days of testing with the Toyota in Finland, he delivered a flawless and mature performance. In the end, he prevailed with a 25.2-second lead over local hero Ott Tänak in the Hyundai. His teammate and reigning world champion Thierry Neuville secured third place, 48.3 seconds behind. To the results
Tänak struggled with the setup of his i20 N Rally1 for much of the race and made a rare mistake on Saturday when he lost time braking in the ninth stage. Solberg, on the other hand, extended his lead to over 21 seconds with four more stage wins. He showed no nerves on Sunday either, despite never having driven the GR Yaris in the rain before. He won two more stages and also took the Super Sunday classification.
Who knew this little boy’s dream would one day come true ❤️@OliverSolberg01 @Petter_Solberg WRC pic.twitter.com/LyPyqnYpCw
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) July 20, 2025
Twenty years after his father Petter Solberg’s last WRC victory in Great Britain and 28 years after Kenneth Eriksson’s last overall victory for Sweden in New Zealand, Oliver Solberg has now reached the top step of the podium himself. Co-driver Edmondson joins the history books as the 16th British co-driver to win a WRC overall victory.
Tänak takes the lead in the World Championship
In the battle for second place, Tänak put on a thrilling show for the fans in his home country. On Saturday, he and Neuville swapped positions six times. On Sunday, he finally prevailed against his teammate, who was set back by a controversial 10-second penalty for a false start on SS18. Neuville described the decision as “super unfair.” As Solberg was not registered for the manufacturers’ championship, Hyundai scored a one-two victory there with Tänak and Neuville.
With his second place, Tänak (162 points) took the lead in the drivers’ standings, one point ahead of Elfyn Evans (Toyota, 161 points), who finished sixth after another poor performance and a deficit of over 1:43 minutes. The Welshman overtook his teammate Takamoto Katsuta on Sunday, who retired with technical problems.
Apart from Solberg’s brilliant performance, the weekend was disappointing for Toyota. Kalle Rovanperä, who had previously won three times in a row in Estonia, once again failed to find his rhythm with the new Hankook tires and finished only fourth. At least he was able to limit the damage with victory on the Power Stage.
Next gravel spectacle in Finland
Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) fought his way up to fifth place after a tough start. Toyota youngster Sami Pajari struggled with brake problems on Friday and finished seventh. Martins Sesks delivered the best result for M-Sport Ford in eighth place. Josh McErlean and Gregoire Munster completed the top 10.
In the WRC2 category, Robert Virves (Skoda) celebrated his first victory despite health problems, ahead of Georg Linnamäe (Toyota), also from Estonia, much to the delight of the crowd in Tartu.
The 2025 World Rally Championship continues in two weeks (July 31 to August 3) with the next fast gravel rally in Finland.