Senior Toyota figures have cautioned it’s ‘too early’ to be talking up Oliver Solberg as a contender for the World Rally Championship title.
Solberg has started just two rallies in a GR Yaris Rally1 but won them both; starring in a one-off drive last year before topping 2026’s season-opener in Monte Carlo.
That means the Swede leads the championship (by four points over team-mate Elfyn Evans) into his home round of the series; next week’s Rally Sweden.
Toyota deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen believes “all the team drivers are always championship challengers”, but said a “rally by rally” approach would be best for judging Solberg.
“He’s so strong in Sweden, he’s in the home area, but let’s do rally by rally,” Kankkunen told DirtFish.
“You never know [what can happen]. He starts first car on the road in Sweden, and if it’s snowing that’s very difficult.
Solberg could face the worst of the conditions next week
“I started first with Lancia in ’87, I won ’86,” the four-time world champion recalled. “And I was two and a half minutes behind after the first leg in Sweden being first car on the road. But I managed to get to third. So I have some experience myself anyway.”
Toyota engineering manager Kévin Struyf thinks Solberg has more to prove against his more established competition before he can be talked about as a potential world champion.
“I think it’s too early,” Struyf told DirtFish. “He needs to stay calm but obviously he will become more and more a potential competitor to win the championship [if he keeps this up].”
Struyf knows Solberg faces a difficult run of rallies ahead.
He added: “Sweden could be a nightmare to open the road in some conditions, especially second pass, unfortunately, as you know. Kenya, it’s another one. There is a lot of Tarmac, which was maybe not his strongest, but after this weekend [in Monte Carlo], maybe that changed!
“It will be difficult. He needs to stay calm, but if he continues to have the same approach, I think he can be on the competition for sure.”
