Based off results alone, Paraguay could be perceived as a step backwards for Oliver Solberg.
Having scored back-to-back podiums in Estonia and Finland, the Swede finished just fifth last weekend. But as ever, the picture wasn’t that simple.
Solberg was the early leader in Paraguay before a costly engine stall, and then puncture, robbed him of four minutes and any hope of victory.
It’s been a complicated season for Solberg, whose speed has been evident throughout – winning more stages than any of his rivals so far, and taking victory at the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally.
But there have been costly mistakes, particularly during the spring months on Tarmac, that have left him 41 points behind series leader Elfyn Evans, despite his obvious pace.
“I think the first half of the season, yeah, I’m very proud of my speed,” Solberg told DirtFish.
“And I think the main problems I had was on Tarmac, you know. The rest has been podiums on gravel, to be honest. Except Greece.
Solberg's season was blighted by a string of accidents, crashing out of four events in five starts between April's Croatia Rally and Acropolis Rally Greece in June
“So, I mean, it has been a very strong first half of the season also taking away the Tarmac bits, where the speed has been incredible, but just missing the little details.
“It hasn’t been anything crazy, but just, you know, details. And I think that has steadied out through the last three rallies now, you know.”
Asked to pinpoint what’s changed and what he had to address, Solberg reiterated that he learned to accept he can’t always be fastest on every split and on every stage.
“I think it comes with experience to accept your speed is good enough, you don’t have to push every stage,” he said.
“Because you know, every rally this year so far has been pretty new. And to understand where you are against the best guys in the world, on every surface, we’ve actually been fighting against them in every race already, even on Tarmac.
“That is to understand that level and be like, ‘OK, this stage is fine, I lose three seconds to Elfyn, no problem, and then I can win next time with three [seconds]’.
“And just to have that understanding and patience. That comes with experience.”
Solberg believes his time in Rally2, where he was particularly dominant in 2025, gave him the mentality of needing to win everywhere.
I probably could have loads of podiums by now if I accepted it. But you want much more.Oliver Solberg on why he pushed hard in the first half of 2026
Winning his first two events in Toyota’s Rally1 car suggested that this mindset would work in the top class also, but that hasn’t proved to be the case.
He said he’s taken time to change that approach to now accept being more measured.
“Rally2 and Rally1 is a very different mentality,” Solberg explained.
“Rally2, I went out every time, winning every time, you know. And the first two rallies in Rally1, I won straight away. So I think I continued with that mentality to be like, ‘no problem, just keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing’.
“And then eventually you’ll be like, ‘ah, your speed’s good enough to win’. But it takes a different mentality to maybe fight for the whole championship or be happy with podiums.
“I probably could have loads of podiums by now if I accepted it. But you want much more. But I think that acceptance comes with experience throughout the season of learning different aspects of different rallies.”
