• Oliver planning six-round sim series with very (very, very) special prizes

• Popularity of The Solberg RACE prompts longer programme of events

• DirtFish delighted to be joining the 18-year-old star in the World Cup

• SolbergSurprizes coming through the season

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The Solberg RACE was big. But the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish is going to be even bigger.
 
Six times bigger, in fact.
 
There will be many special prizes awarded for each race, but the overall prize? The prize is, in the words of Petter… well, it’s a proper one. Win the Solberg World Cup and it’s time to pack your bags and fly to Seattle, where Oliver will join you for a DirtFish driving lesson in one of the school’s fully prepared rally cars. All expenses? Paid. And what’s better than an expenses-paid trip for one? That’s right, an expenses-paid trip for two.
 
Fancy that? Then read on. 
 
Oliver was so pleased with the turnout of almost 4,500 drivers for his first DiRT Rally 2.0-based simulator gaming race that he’s putting together a championship which will run over the next two months. Unsurprisingly, it’s called the Solberg World Cup.
 
As with most things that are great in the world of rallying, the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish starts in the French Alps, in the winter. From there, the 18-year-old has selected a further five rounds which run through some of the more familiar territory for him. 
 
Oliver said: “The response from The Solberg RACE was unbelievable and more than I could have expected. That was fantastic. I’ve got to be honest, when I was doing that event, I was thinking a little bit about a championship.
 
“These days are quite strange for all of us, so the chance to think about something other than what’s going on in the world is good right now. That’s the plan. I want to make people think about the next round of the championship, how they’re going to prepare, set the car up and do their recce. This could really give us all something to talk about.”
 
“For the calendar, I had a look through the locations on DiRT Rally 2.0 and I wanted to take the events which are most like the ones I have done already.”
 
Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish
Round 1: Monte Carlo, Monaco (April 13-19)
Round 2: Värmland, Sweden (April 20-May 3)
Round 3: Argolis, Greece (May 4-10)
Round 4: New England, USA (May 11-24)
Round 5: Jämsä, Finland (May 25-31)
Round 6 Powys, Wales (June 1-14)
 
“I like those events,” said Solberg. “Like I said, I wanted events similar to the ones I have competed on. Greece is like Mexico and Finland is like Latvia.”
 
Latvia is, of course, somewhere Oliver feels very much at home. He re-wrote the history of the governing body of world motorsport in Tartu when he became the youngest ever winner of a round of the FIA European Rally Championship at Rally Liepāja, aged 17. 
 
“We will of course use the R5 cars for the championship,” he said. “I really miss my own beauty, the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 and the beast that is the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo.”
 
Oliver should have the edge in Maine, having won 10 of the 15 New England stages when he actually competed on those roads for the first time last season. 
 
The point structure in the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish will reward the top 500* classified drivers from each round. The SWC positions will be generated within the DiRT Rally 2.0 SWC club. In addition to those points, we will also offer bonus points (fastest takes 50 pts, 2nd 40pts, 3rd 30pts, 4th 20pts, 5th 10pts) on the final stage. 
 
Oliver’s Facebook page and here on his website is where to find all official terms and conditions, SWC points, previews and event reports.
 
Oliver explained the prize structure, adding: “The biggest prize is coming for the winner in the championship, but the top-three finishers in every rally will get cool stuff and we’ll be distributing some Solberg Surprizes to randomly selected finishers further down the order. 
 
“But Trevor knows more about the main prize…”
 
Trevor is Trevor Wert, DirtFish marketing director at the Seattle-based rallyschool and media firm. 
 
Trevor: “Let me start off by saying, it’s fantastic to be working with Oliver and his folks Petter and Pernilla this year. An association with Oliver is something we’ve been working towards through the winter and into this season.
 
“The Solbergs have so much enthusiasm for – and dedication to – everything they’re involved in and the Solberg World Cup is just another example of that. What Oliver did to get close to 4,500 people involved in The Solberg RACE last month was truly extraordinary.
 
“To help bring more attention to the World Cup, we will provide previews and reviews for each of the six rounds on DirtFish.com, along with some more cool, exclusive content. On top of that, we’re going to have a couple of teams from DirtFish Rally School competing in the championship. 
 
“The next couple of months are going to be a blast in the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish. 
 
“We couldn’t think of a better way to still bring rallying to the fans while we’re all going through this difficult time together.”
 
Yeah, but what about the prize?
 
“Right! Can’t forget about that. Especially when it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to come join us here at DirtFish. We’ll fly you out to Seattle, cover your transfers and the hotel. But here’s the best bit: you get to go to dinner with Oliver Solberg… and then have him teach you how to drive one of the DirtFish rally cars the next day. We’ll even send you home kitted out in some cool DirtFish kit.

 

“Along with Oliver and his folks, we’re aware that some of the gamers jumping in for the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish might be a bit younger – which is why we’re offering two tickets. If the winner is a junior, they can be accompanied. But, if it’s won by somebody a bit older, the second ticket gives you the chance to share what’s going to be a special, special memory.
 
“Trust me, the winner of the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish will not forget this trip in a hurry.”
 
As well as the once-in-a-lifetime first prize, as Oliver said, there will be t-shirts and caps for the top three on each event as well as Solberg Surprizes (see what we did there…) distributed randomly throughout the list of finishers on every event.
 
Even better (but not quite done yet, so we can’t give you all the details), we are working with our hugely valued partners and sponsors to get them involved and give them a slice of the Solberg World Cup action. We’ll be in touch once we’ve got those details sorted. 

More details for the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish will be available from Oliver and DirtFish’s social channels (@OliverSolberg01 and @dirtfishrally) from Monday April 13. In terms of kit, you’ll need a PlayStation 4, Xbox One or gaming PC (where the game is available on Steam, Oculus and the Microsoft Store) and a copy of DiRT Rally 2.0 (with the extra locations downloaded). For the DiRT lowdown, head here.

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To join The Solberg World Cup and have the Events appear in DiRT Rally 2.0, please visit the following: https://dirtrally2.com/clubs/club/253326

 

In DiRT Rally 2.0, head to the Freeplay tab on the main menu, and select Racenet Clubs to take part. If you're one of the 4,000+ players that took part in The Solberg RACE, you are automatically entered.
 
*The scoring positions are a percentage of the overall field of finishers, with roughly the top 10% taking points via Codemasters’ own club-based scoring system.