Oliver Solberg at the start of the Estonian Rally with the Toyota Yaris Rally1

The secret had been well kept. At the end of the rally of the Acropolis, after having spoken about his splendid victory in WRC2, Oliver Solberg had declared regarding the possibility of having the chance to drive a Rally1: " I have no idea. I don't know if it will happen. It's the journalists who announce things. For our part, we remain focused on our championship. We'll see. »

It's the dream moment we've been working towards… Me and Elliott will be driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 at Rally Estonia!
Big, big thanks to @TGR_WRC for giving us the support and trust to be back at the top level of the WRC again. We can't wait to start!🐺👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/UeMgXoDvnu

— Oliver Solberg 🍩 (@OliverSolberg01) July 3, 2025

The decision was apparently made during the Greek round or immediately after, and Oliver was informed on Monday. He is now guaranteed a race in the premier class at the Estonian event.

Given the calendar, this round appeared to be one of the rare opportunities to give the WRC2 leader a chance. Indeed, the addition of Sébastien Ogier in the Toyota squad in Finland prevented Solberg from participating in Rally1, which was ideally the initial plan. For the remaining trips, they were either too far (Paraguay, Chile, Japan, Saudi Arabia) or unfavorable for discovering a car (Central Europe).

Having participated in this event four times, he will not be heading into the unknown. He will even have the chance to have already competed in it with a Rally4 in 1 where he finished 2022th.^e after a puncture, a power steering problem and several spins. The Swedish hopeful will not have to discover the terrain, but he will have to learn to tame the world champion. It has been two and a half years since Oliver Solberg was ousted from the program that had been set up at Hyundai around young people. Aiming for WRC2 for the 3^e year in a row, Oliver chose at the start of the season to leave Skoda to join the Printsport team, which runs Toyota Yaris Rally2s and which won the title in 2024 with Sami Pajari. By making this move, he hoped to get closer to Toyota Gazoo Racing and his tactic is starting to work.

For his return to this category, the Torsby driver will likely insist he has no specific goals, but he won't need to set any, since they already exist. Oliver will inevitably be compared to Sami Pajari and perhaps even Takamoto Katsuta. Before taking to the lineup, he will have had two days of testing to familiarize himself with the car.

This participation is excellent news for the WRC, and Toyota's commitment to young drivers is noteworthy. Prospects like Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin can say that with the changes underway in the WRC, opportunities to join the elite should emerge in the next two seasons.

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