Oliver Solberg says he didn’t deserve more than fourth from the WRC’s Rally Sweden, after admitting he was surprised by how difficult it was to open the road.
Solberg headed to Sweden on a high after scoring a sensational win in Monte Carlo last month, which had raised expectations ahead of a home event he previously won three times at the WRC2 level.
Having stunned the WRC service park by winning both his Rally1 outings with Toyota to date, Solberg had to open the roads in the WRC’s top tier for the first time in Sweden.
The event started well for the 24-year-old, who won Thursday’s opening stage. However, his progress was halted by an off-road excursion in stage three, which he was extremely lucky to survive. The loss of 30 seconds pushed the Toyota driver down to sixth overall.
Solberg was able to recover to fourth by the finish but struggled to find the feeling and confidence to push to the limit on the snow-covered stages. The Swede did however leave the event with 17 points to sit 13 points adrift of Rally Sweden winner and team-mate Elfyn Evans in the championship standings.
“Expectations are always high on myself. I put a lot of expectation on myself, but I think this weekend was a good learning curve to understand how it is to be first on the road,” said Solberg.
“I didn’t expect it to be that difficult or that slippery, and I think the mistake on Friday and the starting position put me on the back foot the whole weekend.
“Today was OK and I did the best I could, but the Power Stage was tricky I would say, and I did a few small mistakes.
Oliver Solberg, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
“After Friday I have to be happy as I don’t think I deserve more than P4, without the mistake I may have been P3 but that is easy to say now. It has been a good learning weekend and good points for the championship.
“I have to say it was a tricky weekend and I never really found the feeling or the rhythm. But I didn’t want to try to push too hard for the rest of the weekend either because I never had that feeling and I didn’t want to try and force it. The speed is there but it was always tricky in the afternoons with this starting position.”
When asked to explain how he has gone from being untouchable in Monte Carlo to struggling for the feeling behind the wheel in Sweden, he added: “It is the first time with the car still, and this was the rally where I had the least preparation if you compare to Estonia and Monte Carlo also.
“It was the first time being first on the road, and it was a scrappy Friday, and I didn’t get a good feeling for the rest of the weekend. I think it was a good learning curve.”
Solberg’s next challenge will be Safari Rally Kenya (12-15 March), an event which will see reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier rejoin the series.
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