Oliver completed a unique challenge combining rally and rallycross over a single weekend, tasting success in both! Although the Lõuna-Eesti Ralli didn't go exactly to plan on the Friday night, he returned on Saturday to win a clean sweep of stages, before co-driver Veronica drove to Finland allowing Oliver to seal a podium at Kouvola. 

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Lõuna-Eesti Ralli

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Oliver didn't enjoy the perfect start on Friday night at the Lõuna-Eesti Ralli... getting stuck slightly off line on SS1 and unable to continue, very frustrating after such a small accident. It was a very odd evening overall as all the top 3 drivers crashed at the start of the rally! The car was fine though so the team got everything ready again to allow Oliver and Veronica to head out on Saturday to go for stage wins and gain more experience.

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And that's exactly what they did - 7 stage wins out of 7 the result of some really impressive driving. Oliver said, "It was a fantastic Saturday, really happy with the speed - we were top 5 fastest overall and 10s ahead of the next fastest R2 at times, and after our bad luck yesterday it's great to get more experience and show good speed!"

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RallyX Nordic, Kouvola

 

Veronica drove Oliver over to Finland on Saturday night to allow Oliver to compete at Round 5 of the RallyX Nordic Championship. The event didn't go as perfectly as others have in the 2018 season, but after recovering from a poor start in the final Oliver managed to seal second place and gain valuable points for the championship. With Bryntesson's poor weekend it also means Oliver now leads the championship, with a three-way battle for the title coming up in Tierp on 6/7 October.

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“It was a strong weekend and the speed was certainly there,” Oliver revealed. “I initially fell behind “Csucsu” but I managed to get back through and almost catch Oliver (Eriksson) before the car suffered a technical problem that slowed me down. Once again it was a tough competition between myself, Thomas and Oliver but second place in the final was a good result and we secured some crucial points.”

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With 12 points covering the top three and a maximum haul of 30 points still up for grabs, Solberg anticipates the title will come to the final corner of the final lap.

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“It will be a great fight of course. Oliver and Thomas are very fast, it will be a great for fans. It is so tight in the championship, I just need to focus, compete at my maximum and get the points I need to get the title. I have seen some images of the new venue at Tierp and it looks good. It has gravel, which I love because you can attack. I think it is going to be a great addition to the calendar.”

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Standings after Round 5:

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1 Oliver Solberg 122

2 Oliver Eriksson 116

3 Thomas Bryntesson 110

4 Peter Hedström 86

5 Ola Frøshaug 84

 

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2018 RallyX Nordic Calendar

  

May 5/6                Höljes, Sweden (Result: 4th)

June 2/3               Arvika, Sweden (Win)

June 23/24           Grenland, Norway (Win)

August 11/12        Nysum, Denmark (5th)

August 25/26        Kouvola, Finland (2nd)

October 6/7          Tierp, Sweden