Solberg. It's a name inextricably linked with motorsport, and so it comes as no surprise that the youngest family member is already making a splash in the motorsport world at such a young age.

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Oliver Solberg started his life at top speed, literally! Born 3 months early in 2001, he was attending WRC events with Petter and Pernilla by 2003, and was driving regularly before turning 6 years old. You might think that having parents who both have motorsport in their blood might mean a career behind the wheel was inevitable, but that wasn't the case. Oliver chose his own way and was never pushed one way or the other, but after trying out soccer, hockey and karting, he finally decided he wanted to drive on dirt...

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What followed was several years racing in crosskarts - very fast, very light buggies with close racing on circuits including the legendary Holjes. The first race win didn't take long, winning in Flisa at 8 years of age. By 2012 he had won the Norwegian Championship, and then after a step up to a higher class he claimed consecutive championship wins in 2014, 2015 and 2016. He needed a new challenge.

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That new challenge was rallying - a sport synonymous with the Solberg name. At only 15 years old, the Latvian Rally Championship was one of the few places he could compete in 2017, and with such great roads and organisation it was the perfect place to learn without too much pressure. With 2 wins and several top performances in his Peugeot 208 R2, it certainly was a good start to life on the rally stages. 

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As if rallying wasn't enough, Oliver also tried out rallycross in 2017, bringing his father's old 600bhp DS3 Supercar to RallyX Nordic. After a podium on his debut, 2 wins and some incredible performances he ended 2nd in the championship. Not bad for a 15 year old.

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And in 2018, Oliver went one step better, becoming the 2018 RallyX Nordic Champion with 3 wins, sealing the title in the final race of the season at Tierp Arena.

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Oliver also competed in his second season of the Latvian Rally Championship in 2018, gaining more experience in the Peugeot 208 R2 and steadily improving his pace - despite some bad luck he ultimately finished 2nd in both the LRC3 and U28 categories behind European champion Martin Sesks.

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In 2019 Oliver stepped into R5 machinery, driving a VW Polo GTI R5 in the Latvian/Estonian/Baltic Rally Championship, and took to the increased power immediately - racking up 5 straight class wins on his way to the Championship title.

 

He also followed in his father's footsteps to join Subaru Motorsports USA, rallying the latest Impreza STI dressed in the historic blue and gold livery in the American Rally Championship. And even this challenge wasn't too much for Oliver as he claimed victory on only his second outing at the legendary Olympus Rally, and a total of 3 in 6 races in 2019.

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After making his WRC event debut at the 2019 Wales Rally GB, Oliver stepped up into a full WRC campaign in 2020 - driving his own VW Polo R5, and also a partial campaign with SKODA Motorsport. When the COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on real-world rallying, Oliver instead led the way in the virtual world, setting up the successful Solberg World Cup.

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As rallying slowly returned, Oliver got back up to speed quickly: winning Rally Sweden Lockdown, and then heading into the FIA ERC and scoring a podium on his full tarmac debut before winning Rally Liepaja for the second year running. When the WRC restarted, Oliver came back with a bang and scored his first WRC class win with a dominant drive to WRC3 victory (and fastest of all R5 cars) at Rally Estonia. He followed it up with stellar performances in the FIA ERC, taking home the 2020 FIA ERC1 Junior Championship title!

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Then the teenage dream came true, and Oliver signed a 2-year factory deal with Hyundai Motorsport, tackling a full WRC2 campaign in 2021! He then made his top-level WRC debut in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC at Arctic Rally Finland, finishing 7th overall and setting incredible pace with several top 4 stage times, cementing his reputation as a future star of the WRC. Oliver ended the 2021 season by recording his best ever result - 5th place at Rally Monza - on the current generation of WRC cars' final ever event.

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2022 saw Oliver join Hyundai Motorsport as the official third driver on selected events throughout the season as the sport entered a new hybrid-powered era. After a tough season with car and team structure issues, Oliver and Hyundai parted ways - with a 4th place in Ypres and 5th at Rally New Zealand being Oliver's best results of the year.

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In 2023 Oliver returned to WRC2 with the Toksport team, and won on his first points-scoring start at Rally Sweden. He showed rally-winning pace across every event, winning almost half the overall stages and only let down by mechanical issues at key times throughout the season.