• Solberg World Cup moves into its penultimate round

• Swede Jonsson’s second series win strengthens his lead at the top of the table

• Oliver and Petter still at the sharp end of a 16,000-strong field

• SWC round five Castrol Rally Jämsä is up and running

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New England is famous for its stunning fall colours and America’s north-east didn’t disappoint last week, with the action in the fourth round of the Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish matching the beautiful backdrop.
 
Oliver Solberg fell in love with New England rallying when he drove there last year and carried his stunning real-time speed into the DiRT Rally 2.0-based competition last week. The 18-year-old led the event early on in his Volkswagen Polo R5, but slipped just outside the top 10, finishing 11th by the time OMP Racing New England Rally closed on Sunday night.
 
“Those are some of my favourite roads,” said the Monster Energy-backed teenager. “They flow so nicely and you can really have a lot of fun in them. It was nice to be leading for a while, but I knew some of the other guys would come past – they are so fast! 
 
“I’ve got to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed not to make the top 10 on this one. In the practice things went really well and I actually own some of the records for some of these stages, but I had some small issues in the rally. Now I have to focus more to Finland and Castrol Rally Jämsä. If we thought OMP Racing New England Rally was fast then the next round’s going to get even quicker.
 
“I want to say congratulations to Robin Jonsson on his second win of the Solberg World Cup. His speed was super-impressive in America. But as well as that, I want to thank everybody who has joined us on this amazing championship – to have so many amazing gamers and enthusiasts with us is really cool.
 
“For the title, it’s so exciting to see who’s doing what, the competition is so close at the top of the championship. It’s fantastic! And now just two rounds left.”
 
Petter was running well in OMP Racing New England Rally when he was forced into retirement after colliding with a rock and damaging his Monster Energy-backed Volkswagen Polo R5 beyond repair.
 
The 2003 World Rally Champion is determined to be back flying high at Castrol Rally Jämsä – with the Kakaristo stage especially interesting for Petter.
 
“I like that road,” he smiled. “I remember that one quite well…”
 
Petter famously set the record for the Ouninpohja stage in Finland at the 2004 event. If you want to see what it looks like in real-time, take a look here.
 
Castrol Rally Jämsä will test a field of 16,000 competitors to the limit of their abilities on some of the fastest stages in the DiRT Rally 2.0 game. With the weather typically changeable, the Finnish roads are going to be just as much of a challenge as ever. 
 
The penultimate Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish runs until Sunday May 31.