• Oliver’s real deal big dream comes true

• 20-year-old and Dani Sordo to share a Rally1 car next season

• “I’m only just 20, so it’s a huge step so early in my career.”

• Back aboard a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in Spain next week

• From Latvian rallysprints as a 15-year-old to a factory WRC drive

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It’s been a big 12 months for Oliver Solberg. He signed for Hyundai Motorsport. He was the talk of Lapland on his World Rally Car debut. He won first time out on Rally di Alba tarmac in a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. And now this.
 
This is the real deal. The big dream. Yes, we know lots of Oliver’s dreams have come true in the last couple of years, but being confirmed as a Hyundai Motorsport driver alongside Ott Tänak, Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo is very much next level.
 
Twenty-year-old Oliver will share a Rally1 specification car – the Korean manufacturer’s state-of-the-art, new generation hybrid rally car – with Dani Sordo in 2022.
 
Oliver, who will benefit from Dani’s great experience of the WRC through next season, said: “It’s a little bit hard to describe how I am feeling now. I told you a few times that my dream had come true – it was like that when I drove in Arctic [Rally Finland], then in Alba when I was in the World Rally Car on Tarmac first time, but now this…
 
“This really is the dream. Since I can remember this sport is all I ever wanted to do. Nothing else. I am hearing people asking me questions, asking me about what’s happening next year and still I am a little bit pinching myself – it’s me they’re talking to. It’s me this is happening to!
 
“I want to say a very big thank you to Andrea [Adamo, Hyundai Motorsport Team Principal], but also to the whole team. I understand the responsibility here and I will do everything I can to deliver for this fantastic team.
 
“But I also know that rallying is so much about experience. Every kilometre you drive, you are learning and I know I have a lot of kilometres to drive. There’s no way to take a shortcut or to cut a corner in this process of learning and taking experience – I have to do this step-by-step.
 
“To take these steps sharing a car with Dani Sordo is also special for me. I have known Dani and my family has known Dani for a long time – he’s one of the best people [in the WRC] and somebody I can really learn from. But it doesn’t stop there, look at my other team-mates: two of the fastest drivers in the world with Thierry [Neuville] and Ott [Tänak].
 
“The one thing which will be new for all of us next year is the cars we will drive – with the new hybrid Rally1 era coming. So much will change in the way these cars work and are driven next season – there will be a lot of strategy coming in every stage now. 
 
“It’s sure that it’s going to take some time to adapt, for everybody – including all of the teams, this is really something new. But I love the fact that, as a sport, we are taking a big, big step for the future. To be driving a hybrid car in the first ever FIA championship to have all competitors using sustainable fuel is fantastic.  
 

“This opportunity is amazing. I want to start right now. To be moving into the next generation of this sport with a team which won the world championship for the last two years is something… like I said, I’m still pinching myself.
 
“I’m only just 20, so it’s a huge step so early in my career. But it’s one I’m ready for and it’s one I can’t wait to get going with so I can repay people’s belief in me.” 
 
Team Principal Andrea Adamo said: “We are pleased to confirm Dani and Oliver in our third car for next season, alongside Thierry and Ott. We think it’s the best compromise between experience and youth, and the ideal mix for a new era of WRC. 
 
“Not only will Dani drive a selected number of events, but he will also be working with us on events when Oliver steps in. His approach to racing and his extensive experience will be a great asset to our team when our learning curve with new regulations will be high. 
 
“We will have important continuity and mutual trust; it is also good to have new blood like Oliver, alongside the experience that our existing crews will bring. We will undoubtedly have a very strong line-up as we embark on a fresh chapter for Hyundai Motorsport.”
 
Before the end of this year, Oliver will have one more chance to drive the extraordinary current generation i20 Coupe WRC as he makes his debut on an asphalt round of the world championship at RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada Rally de España (Salou, October 14-17).