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Maiden world title on the line for Solberg in Chile
One World Rally Championship title could be sewn up this weekend in Chile with Oliver Solberg closing in on the WRC2 crown.
In Solberg’s mind the aim is quite simple. A WRC2 class victory after successfully completing Chile’s 16 gravel stages will secure a maiden world title for the 23-year-old Swede and his British co-driver Elliott Edmondson.
The Printsport Toyota driver heads into his final points scoring event of the campaign with an 11-point lead over his nearest rival PH Sport Citroen driver Yohan Rossel, who is also set for his last points scoring round of the year.
“If I win, I win,” Solberg smiled looking ahead to what could be another pivotal weekend in his fledgling motorsport career two months after scoring a maiden outright WRC rally win in Estonia.
“It’s like that. If I win the race, then the WRC2 title is mine. There are some different calculations for some of my rivals, but this is the main one and this is what we focus on.
“For me, it’s the same as always: I drive my own race and do my own thing. Nothing changes from that side. Okay, maybe we don’t go completely flat out all of the time, let’s maybe come one step down from the speed we were showing in Paraguay.”
WRC
Solberg set up this opportunity for glory in Chile after pulling off a stunning fightback to claim a fourth WRC2 win of the season in Paraguay two weeks ago. The son of 2003 world rally champion Petter Solberg suffered a puncture that left him 1m13s off the lead. However, Solberg went on to set the fastest times in 15 of the 19 stages to complete a stunning comeback to beat Rossel to victory by 22.5s.
In a bizarre twist, this weekend will be the second consecutive year Solberg faces the prospect of sewing up the WRC2 crown in Chile. Last year a puncture cost him the opportunity that ultimately left Solberg with a fourth-place finish, which wasn’t enough to clinch the title.
“That [Paraguay] was a lot of fun,” added Solberg.“ But it would be nice if Chile was a little bit more straightforward.
“We have been in this position (to win for the title) last year and it didn’t quite go our way – let’s hope we can turn that around next week. I love Chile, the rally is a really nice one; the roads are great and the people, the fans are fantastic.”
Solberg’s title quest begins on Friday with the opening stage scheduled to begin at 1215 BST.
Watch WRC on DAZN
The 2025 World Rally Championship is available through DAZN on its own dedicated app channel, Rally TV. It is available either as a dedicated Rally TV subscription, or as part of your existing DAZN subscription for a small add-on fee.
DAZN is the home of Rally TV worldwide, excluding Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Rally TV also broadcasts every rally from the FIA European Rally Championship.
Watch every WRC and ERC rally this year on DAZN's 24-hour dedicated Rally TV channel. For more information on prices, subscriptions and more, click here.
