How different would things be if Oliver Solberg was returning to Rally1 this week in a Hyundai, not a Toyota?
The Sweden had the chacne, but chose a GR Yaris Rally1 instead.
Solberg joined the Toyota family in 2025, driving a Printsport-run Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to the WRC2 title. He also took victory in a one-off drive with the Rally1 machine at Rally Estonia.
The 24-year-old was announced as a Toyota driver the day after Rally Japan, but it transpires Hyundai had tried to lure him back behind the wheel of an i20 N Rally1.
Hyundai has opted for experience over youth in 2026 – selecting Dani Sordo, Esapekka Lappi and Hayden Paddon to share the third car alongside Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux.
Technical director François-Xavier Demaison explained that was the only practical strategy considering 2026 is the final year of the Rally1 regulations but, unprompted, admitted Solberg would’ve been a different case.
Solberg drove for Hyundai in 2022, but was let go after Rally New Zealand
“We thought a lot about it [our driver choice], but going for the last year with this Rally1 car and introducing a new driver who will have to discover the team, discover the tires, discover this type of cars, it would have been crazy,” Demaison told DirtFish.
“This young driver, they need time in the car, and time on all types of surfaces. You can’t just say, ‘Ah, yeah, you will drive on our permanent base, and you’ll be ready for everything’. That’s not true. So that’s why the let’s say EP and Dani choice was an obvious one for us, because we would not be able to give…
“If we could have got Oliver, for sure, it would have been a different story,” Demaison revealed. “But he was a Toyota driver, so we tried, but we did not succeed.
“Hayden did a very good job with Rally2. He knows the team, he knows cars with more power – he drove the 17-spec car – so we think that he deserves another chance.”
Solberg drove for Hyundai’s works team in 2022, sharing the third car with Sordo. But he was let go two rounds before the end of the year; the team citing the need to move away from young drivers and instead prioritise experience.
Hyundai became interested in him again because Ott Tänak has left the WRC; the Estonian confirmed he’d be walking away from the WRC just hours after the conclusion of Rally Japan.
Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley added: “We approached everybody. We had a discussion with Oliver like we had a discussion with a number of drivers.
“The team’s aim in 2026 is to try to be as successful as we possibly can and that, I think, also dictates the direction that you can travel quite a lot because the Rally1 cars, there aren’t so many drivers with experience in Rally1.”
DirtFish put these comments to Solberg on the eve of the WRC season, who confirmed he did receive a call.
“You can see what my answer was…” he said. “The plan was Toyota, the future was Toyota and that was my dream, that was the goal. So that’s what I stuck to.
“I feel calm, I feel happy,” he added, “I’m living a bit on cloud nine. It’s a dream come true still. For sure I am a little bit nervous but that’s good, I think you have to be.”
