Oliver Solberg admitted Rally Estonia 2026 was, mentally, one of the most important events of his World Rally Championship career as he closed the door on a poor run of form.
Day-ending mistakes on four of the last five events put Solberg under pressure in Estonia – the event he broke back onto the Rally1 scene at with victory last year.
Throughout the event Solberg frequently mentioned that he didn’t have the same confidence to push as Toyota team-mate and rally winner Sami Pajari, but his feeling improved throughout the weekend to claim all 10 bonus points on Super Sunday.
The 24-year-old eventually finished second, 19.5 seconds behind Pajari.
“I have to say I’m actually very happy, very pleased, at peace a little bit because I think after Friday I was a bit frustrated, but that was mainly about the feeling in the car,” Solberg told DirtFish.
“But then since yesterday, much better feeling in the car and then it was just about trying to find a good feeling for myself and some stages I felt it, I could push on to do well, and some stages I didn’t feel it.
Solberg's feeling improved throughout Rally Estonia
“And then it was just about controlling that in my head to be like, ‘you know what, I’m not in the same mood as Pajari is, and it’s OK.’ I accepted it. At least I was quicker than everybody else.
“And I think to manage that throughout the weekend after a tough time was very important for me to have this consistent result on a consistent weekend.
“Today [Sunday] I stepped it up a little bit, turned up the lever a little bit just to try to get maximum points and it worked. But at least it’s very nice to have a clean weekend and back to where I feel I can be.”
Many of Solberg’s mistakes in recent rallies have been a result of a determination to always be fastest. In Estonia he learned that he doesn’t always need to be at 100%.
Asked if this could be one of the biggest events and results of his career, Solberg said: “I think mentally, maybe. You know I still feel I could have had another victory this year in Africa and all this if you count our bad luck or whatever.
“But after that it was tricky with many different scenarios happening throughout the year to accept different things that happen when it’s not perfect, you know.
“I went out on those hard tires in Croatia it wasn’t perfect, pushed too hard. Then I should have just been like ‘yeah, I was still quickest with the hard tires, but I still should have just accepted it’.
“And I think that’s what I really took away from all these tough rallies, you know, for this weekend to be like, ‘OK, when you’re not 100% comfortable, drive at 95% and get a good result’. And I think I really feel that it was a very good weekend in that sense.”
