Swedish student Robin Jonsson has described his prize DirtFish drive for winning the Solberg World Cup as a ‘dream come true’.
The 20-year-old won four of the six rounds in the DiRT Rally 2.0-based gaming series, which ended on Sunday with close to 17,000 participants. Oliver Solberg will now teach Jonsson the real thing in an expenses-paid trip to the DirtFish Rally School in Seattle.
Jonsson, a longtime Solberg fan, said: “This is insane! Winner of the Solberg World Cup! I can’t believe that I’ll get the opportunity to drive a real rally car with Oliver Solberg at DirtFish, it’s a dream come true. Big thanks to DirtFish, the Solberg family and their partners for making this possible!”
Solberg, who finished an impressive 35th out of 16,706 entries despite retiring from last week’s Volkswagen Motorsport Rally Powys when his internet connection broke on the penultimate stage, admitted he was looking forward to meeting Jonsson and sharing a car with him at DirtFish Rally School in Seattle.
“Robin has been fast, so fast,” the 18-year-old said of the winner of his Esports competition. “All the way through the Solberg World Cup he has been there and that’s taking some real pressure – honestly, it’s very impressive. And cool that he’s Swedish!
“I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of fun in at DirtFish. It’s a fantastic place to go and learn to drive a car. I’m looking forward to meeting Robin and doing some driving together soon.”
Jonsson can be sure of a warm welcome from DirtFish CEO Justin Simpson.
“Solberg World Cup in association with DirtFish has been an awesome competition,” said Simpson, “the response was better than expected with nearly 17,000 gamers all pushing for the win. I was very impressed with the level of competition. To win the Solberg World Cup required the preparation, talent and the will of a true champion.
“A huge congratulations to Robin for his victory. There’s no doubt, he’s in for an absolute blast driving one of our Subaru rally cars here at DirtFish alongside Oliver. I am sure this will be a trip that he will never forget!”
As well as that dream trip, Jonsson also takes home a unique prize from Volkswagen Motorsport, in the shape of the German manufacturer’s victory trophy from 2014 Rally GB.
Volkswagen Motorsport director Sven Smeets said: “Congratulations to Robin Jonsson for winning the Volkswagen Motorsport Rally Powys. With his remarkable performance he clearly deserves the championship title. I would also like to thank almost 17,000 racers for taking part in the Solberg World Cup and for making make this virtual rally championship such a great experience.”
