Standing in the lobby of the Tokachi Gardens Hotel, something was very clearly going on. The noise had shifted through the gears from discreet appreciation to a full-on bruhaha.
As much, that is, as Japan does bruhaha. Japanese people are known for being beautifully reserved, but such diffidence clearly goes out of the window when Petter Solberg enters the room.
The memory is from 2004 and Japan’s first ever World Rally Championship round. Courtesy of his local employer, Solberg had already visited the country a good few times and he had a sense of what might be coming. But this was even taking him by surprise. It’s fair to assume, nobody had previously considered a fully liveried Subaru Impreza WRC04 as sensible headgear.
From the moment the WRC landed in Japan, Solberg has always been adored. Twenty-one years on and nothing has changed – apart from the distraction of Oliver Solberg.
Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda has seen this, lived it and loved it.
“We want Oliver to be known to be the Toyota driver,” said Toyoda. “We know his father has a very strong Subaru image, [now] I hope he will be working with the team to be known as the Toyota driver!
“I already recognized Oliver’s ability from last year and this year he’s already making things really exciting. I was really happy to be at the first race of the year [in Monte Carlo] and to able to witness this rally. The competition is going to be very interesting this year between the veterans like Sébastien [Ogier] and Elfyn [Evans] and with Oliver competing very strongly – that only makes it more exciting.”
Every now and then, that excitement might have to be managed? There have been times when you’ve genuinely had to question Toyota’s commitment to true competition. It’s admirable, occasionally to the point of disbelief. Nobody likes team orders, but sometimes, just sometimes wouldn’t it make more sense for one driver to step aside and for the more common good?
Toyoda sees no conflict and no question, just the purity of the race.
“We are a drivers-first team,” he said. “We want to create a condition so the drivers are able to compete under equal conditions – we are trying to create no specific team orders for the drivers. We want true competition between the drivers, where anybody can win – that’s something exciting to watch.”
And with a 100% record – two wins from two starts aboard a factory GR Yaris Rally1 – it’s almost impossible not to imagine Solberg being fully engaged in a season-long scrap. And even harder to think a nation won’t fall in love with Toyota’s driver, Japan’s all-action hero: Solberg 2.0.
