Oliver Solberg has confirmed Rally Chile BioBio will be his final round of the 2023 WRC2 season.
What Changed?
Oliver Solberg did say at the beginning of the season he would compete in all European rounds of the championship. However seeing as Chile will be his final event of the season, that means he won’t be going to the Central European Rally, but why? There are multiple possibilities on why this is, but the most likely is budgeting. Solberg has been extremely lucky this season to be able to run every round so far. Even if he wasn’t scoring points. This is something WRC2 drivers rarely do, but Solberg wanted to gain valuable experience. Solberg was meant to skip Safari Rally Kenya, but his friend Daniel Chwist supplied him with a car. This probably took most of Solberg’s budget that was meant for the Central European Rally. Whatever the reason may be as to why this has changed, or if it has changed is unknown at this point.
Not His Final Event
Oliver Solberg’s WRC2 campaign may be over, but he will still compete in some rallies. Solberg has already confirmed he will be competing in the Roger Albert Clark Rally in the UK from 23rd to November 27th. Solberg will drive his family’s Ford Escort MK2. Joining Solberg will be former American Rally Champion Barry McKenna and former European Rally Champion Chris Ingram. Likely, Solberg will also compete in some other events before the year’s end, although nothing is confirmed.
What If…
There is a small possibility Solberg could get the budget to run the Central European Rally, however, it doesn’t seem like Solberg is searching for the money to do this. It seems like Solberg is fine with his final event being Rally Chile BioBio. As Solberg likely feels he has nothing left to prove, he’s been the fastest driver in WRC2 this season and has probably earned a Rally1 drive next season.
What’s Next For Solberg?
Seeing as Rally silly season hasn’t started yet it’s hard to say. Solberg has probably earned a Rally1 drive, as previously mentioned, but it’s unknown if there’ll be an open spot. There’ll be an article on Speed Trap Magazine looking deeper into this topic sometime after Rally Chile BioBio has come to an end.