End of adventure for Solberg at Hyundai

As expected, Oliver Solberg and Hyundai will not continue to collaborate during the 2023 season.

Published on 06/10/2022 à 10:15

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Oliver Solberg will not continue at Hyundai next season. ©DPPI/N. Katikis

Il ne manquait plus que l’officialisation et c’est désormais officiel. Oliver Solberg ne représentera pas Hyundai en championnat du monde des Rallyes WRC from the 2023 season. At the end of the contract, the Swede was notified that he would not be extended in the ranks of the team based in Alzenau (Germany) at the end of the current campaign.

« Hyundai Motorsport and Oliver Solberg have announced that the contract between the two parties will not be renewed when it naturally expires at the end of 2022, » can we read in the official press release.

Season already over for Solberg

According to Hyundai's staff, the decision not to renew Oliver Solberg's contract was taken after the " difficult season » experienced by the team both internally and on the roads of the various rallies. At the start of 8 rallies with the i20 Rally1 in 2022, the year of his big debut in the premier category, the son of Petter Solberg obtained a 4^e place as the best result during the Rally of Ypres last August. Most recently he finished 5^e in New Zealand for what was his final WRC appearance of the year as Dani Sordo will take over for Spain and Japan.

« I'm obviously disappointed with the situation, but I have to respect the team's decision and their new plan to move forward with three cars and only experienced drivers., recognizes the main person concerned. It was very kind of them to be open with me during this process. I know it wasn't an easy decision for them to make since the plan changed. I remain grateful for this first opportunity in the WRC. We knew this season would be a learning season, which we did a lot, and it will undoubtedly be a valuable experience for me in the next stage of my career."

Cette décision n’est en effet pas anodine. Voulant relancer la machine après une année 2022 très loin du niveau de Toyota, Hyundai a confirmé ses envies d’aligner un trio d’équipages « experienced » for the next season. Thus, Andreas Mikkelsen could make his return to the WRC where he would recover 3^e i20 de l’équipe en 2023. Pour Oliver Solberg, la seule solution restante est M-Sport puisque chez Toyota les équipages ne devraient pas bouger. Reste à voir désormais si la structure de Malcolm Wilson sera prête à l’accueillir en dépit de ses maigres résultats en 2022 ?

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