Between them, they won Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship nine times and nobody has had more success in the woods up and down the UK than Sébastien Ogier and Petter Solberg.
So, what do they think of Monday’s announcement of Rally Scotland?
Frenchman Ogier has won Britain’s world championship counter a record five times – one more than Solberg and Hannu Mikkola. While all his wins came in Wales – as did Solberg’s – the reigning world champion is happy to see the UK back and back in the fall… just not far enough back in the fall for his liking.
“It’s good news,” the Toyota driver told DirtFish. “I always had a good time there and I hope it should be – but probably not now from what I know – the last one of the season. It was always the perfect last run.”
With a 10-year agreement in place, Rally Saudi Arabia looks to have locked-out the WRC’s final round until 2034. While the Jeddah-based event provided a thriller of a finale last year, Ogier felt the level of road sweeping on a hot gravel rally of that nature wasn’t in keeping with what the season finale should be.
He was a firm fan of Rally GB to close the season out.
“You want an event where the guy fighting for a championship does not have not a disadvantage opening the road,” he said, “and in Rally GB that was most of the time the case.
“Maybe it’s even a little advantage, but that’s deserved if you arrive at the last round of the championship as a leader – it means you have done a great job over the season. And still the driver second in a [championship] battle has a chance to fight and that’s the main thing. As an event itself it was beautiful to drive too and, of course, the UK has a really big fan base too, so that’s a great good news.”
Solberg won his world title with Briton Phil Mills alongside in 2003.
“It’s about time, isn’t it,” Solberg told DirtFish. “Motorsport in Great Britain, it’s huge. So much of world motorsport is based around there and I think it’s very important to get it back. All the fans there will be super-excited to get the atmosphere as we remember from early days. I mean, it was incredible. I can’t wait. It’s fantastic news.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing co-driver Elliott Edmondson – who sits alongside Petter’s son Oliver – told DirtFish it was the “best news of my week when I found out”.
He added: “It has been a long time coming and I cannot wait. It’s up in Scotland which is something new but Scotland has been a big part of my career – I did the Scottish championship for a few years and I’ve actually won the rally [Grampian] that is based in that area.
“I know the stages a little bit, it’s fantastic news. And [from doing the Roger Albert Clark Rally in 2023] it’s clear nobody’s forgotten the Solberg name in the UK so it’s going to be a special event for everyone.”
The Aberdeen-based Rally Scotland has agreed a three-year deal with the FIA and WRC Promoter, starting from next season.
