As part of TGR’s commitment to provide a path for young talent to reach rallying’s top level, Solberg was handed the opportunity to step up for the high-speed gravel event in Estonia after his strong results driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car in the WRC2 category, where he currently leads the championship. It would be his first start in the highest category since 2022 and his 13th in total.

After two days of testing in Finland last week to familiarise himself with the GR YARIS Rally1, the 23-year-old Swedish driver and his British co-driver Elliott Edmondson instantly looked at home in the car in the first fast forest stage on Friday morning where they scored their maiden career stage win to claim the rally lead.

After two further stage wins through the rest of Friday, Solberg took a lead of 12.4 seconds into Saturday when, despite any road position advantage over the WRC’s top drivers now being reduced, he won four more tests and extended his advantage to 21.1s over local hero Ott Tänak (Hyundai).

On Sunday, rather than be overawed by the occasion or the arrival of rain on the stages, Solberg took two more stage wins in the first two tests – taking his tally for the weekend to nine – before a third-fastest time in the rally-ending Power Stage was enough for him and Edmondson to secure one of the most remarkable victories seen for many years by 25.2s.

Solberg’s previous best finish was fourth during a first stint driving Rally1 machinery. He joins his father Petter (the 2003 World Rally Champion with Subaru) as a winner in the WRC and is the third youngest driver to ever win a round, behind his team-mate Kalle Rovanperä and Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala.

He also becomes the 16th driver to win behind the wheel of a Toyota car, his victory bringing up a century of victories wins for the Japanese manufacturer since Walter Boyce triumphed in the inaugural season of the WRC in 1973 at the Press-on-Regardless Rally in the United States.

Rovanperä couldn’t match the form that had taken him to victory in the WRC’s last three visits to Estonia but did win the Power Stage and finished second to Solberg in the Super Sunday classification, to scoreing valuable extra points alongside fourth position overall with co-driver Jonne Halttunen.

Once more tasked with running first on the road and sweeping the loose gravel stages on Friday, Elfyn Evans also had a strong final day with co-driver Scott Martin, gaining sixth overall and finishing fourth on Super Sunday and fifth in the Power Stage to leave just one point behind the championship lead. TGR-WRT continues to lead the manufacturers’ standings by 52 points.

Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston had been running ahead of Evans until the penultimate stage but ultimately had to retire before the final test due to a mechanical issue. Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen finished seventh in their TGR-WRT2 entry, building their feeling and pace on fast roads after an early mechanical issue was resolved on Friday lunchtime.

In Solberg’s absence from the WRC2 category this weekend, two more GR Yaris Rally2 drivers finished on the class podium, with Estonian driver Georg Linnamäe (RedGrey) securing second on home soil and Finland’s Roope Korhonen (Rautio Motorsport) taking third.

Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman)
“Oliver, Elliott, congratulations on your victory!
It was three years ago in Belgium when I met Oliver in a Hyundai driving racesuit at the podium. When he got out of the i20, he spotted the legend, Juha Kankkunen. Determined to take a photo with the legend, he handed me his mobile phone and asked me to take the photo. I bent down and took a picture of him and Juha. Afterward, his father said “thank you” to me, but I think I only got a shy smile from him... There is still a video of that moment, which I will post on my official Instagram. I took today’s victory by Oliver as a ‘thank you’ for three years ago. If he wins next time while I’m on site, I will rush over to him, so I hope he will take a photo with me and if Juha is there, I will ask him to take the photo!

I’ve heard from the team that Juha has been giving Oliver various pieces of advice as it was his first time to compete with the GR YARIS Rally1. I am very grateful to Juha. I believe they will take another nice photo together, this time with Oliver in a TOYOTA GAZOO Racing overalls.

The next rally is our home rally. We will put on the best performance for the people of Jyväskylä who always support us. I’m counting on everyone in the team!”

Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“This has been such an unbelievable weekend from Oliver. I think I felt more nervous watching him than he was behind the wheel. It was such a very clean drive against some really experienced drivers. Anyone would feel a bit of pressure when such drivers are pushing hard behind you, but he handled it so very well. It’s been a pleasure for us to give him this opportunity and to see him take it so well, and for this to be the 100th win for Toyota too. It was also good that Kalle could win the Power Stage today, and now we will concentrate on Rally Finland and keep working to be strong there on our home rally.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s been a tough weekend. Of course, our road position did hamper us a bit on Friday but I also think we didn’t have the speed to challenge like we wanted to. We tried our best today and scored a few extra points but we can’t be too satisfied at the end of the weekend. I’m looking forward to Rally Finland like always and we’ll keep working together with the team to find a bit more speed there.”

Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“We kept pushing this weekend and trying everything we can, and at least we could take full points from the Power Stage. Overall though it’s clear that I don’t currently have the pace we want on gravel with this year’s package. There are no excuses and we will keep working on it with the team, keep pushing and trying to find something more for Rally Finland, which we will look forward to like every year.”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“We have been managing something on the car since yesterday and unfortunately today it got worse, so the decision was taken to retire before the Power Stage. Performance-wise we were not so far away here but it was enough in this kind of very fast event that we couldn’t challenge at the front. We will keep working to make another step forward for Rally Finland which is important for myself and the team.”

Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“It’s been a tricky rally. Our chances for a good result went with the issue on the first forest stage on Friday, but at least the team could solve the problem and after that I’ve been able to enjoy it and have some good times. The start position was tricky for the last two days so it was more about learning and trying to take all the experience, which is still the main target this year. The feeling was quite good and I’m looking forward to going again at Rally Finland.”

Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)
“It’s been the most amazing weekend. I’m feeling so overwhelmingly happy, after so many years of dreaming and working for this moment. I want to say a big thank you to Toyota for giving me this opportunity and the chance to prove myself and have fun driving this amazing car. Thank you to the test team who helped me get so comfortable. I also never thought I’d get to celebrate on a podium with Juha, who has been a hero of mine since I was a kid and one I’ve been looking up to together with my father. Now this weekend he has been supporting me so well, keeping me calm and telling me what to do. I’ve never had such a good time in my life, so thank you.”

PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY ESTONIA
1 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h36m35.1s
2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)                                      +25.2s
3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)                          +48.3s
4 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)          +55.6s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)                        +1m33.0s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)                     +1m43.4s
7 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)              +2m55.6s
8 Mārtiņš Sesks/Renārs Francis (Ford Puma Rally1)                                   +3m36.0s
9 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)                                       +5m29.8s
10 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1)                                 +5m57.5s ...
Retired Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)
(Results as of 12:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 8:
1 Ott Tänak                 162 points
2 Elfyn Evans             161
3 Sébastien Ogier     141
4 Kalle Rovanperä    138
5 Thierry Neuville         114
6 Adrien Fourmaux         71
7 Takamoto Katsuta   63
8 Oliver Solberg          52
9 Sami Pajari               38
10 Grégoire Munster      19 ...

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 8:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 399 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team              347
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team                        111
4 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2                      68

What's next?
Rally Finland (July 31-August 3) is the fastest rally on the calendar, run over smooth gravel roads containing many jumps. It’s also a home rally for TGR-WRT, which has its headquarters close to the service park in Jyväskylä.