Oliver Solberg is a double BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia winner after he outpaced his rivals in a high-speed battle for FIA European Rally Championship glory last weekend.
The 22-year-old from Sweden began the second day of ERC action with a narrow 3.3sec lead over Hayden Paddon.
But while Paddon admitted to “pulling the commitment down” due to having “no feeling or grip” during the morning loop, Solberg went on a charge.
Driving a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 on Pirelli tyres, Solberg was fastest on all four stages this morning to reach midday service in Karlstad leading by 13.7sec.
And the FIA WRC2 Championship frontrunner continued to push during the afternoon, adding another four stage wins to his tally – including the event-closing Power Stage – to come out on top by 38.0sec after Paddon was slowed by tyre damage on the deciding test and dropped to third.
For defending ERC champion Paddon, third place marked his first podium finish of the season. And with Mathieu Franceschi crashing out on the Power Stage, Paddon is now equal on 56 points with the Frenchman at the top of the title table.
“Oliver has been doing a very good job and we didn’t have any answer,” said Paddon, who was on course for a Pirelli one-two in his BRC Racing Team-entered Hyundai i20 N Rally2 until his Power Stage woe.
“It’s frustrating [the result] is probably a bit more than we expected because the others are getting faster and we’re probably a bit more limited with our package.”
There’s more gravel action ERC-style to come next month with Delfi Rally Estonia hosting the fourth event of the season from 5 – 7 July.
Final Classification:
1. O Solberg / E Edmondson SWE Škoda Fabia RS 1hr 32min 40.8sec
2. M Heikkilä / K Temonen FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +38s
3. H Paddon / J Kennard NZL Hyundai i20 N Rally2 +51s
4. F Larsen / L Lundgren NOR Volkswagen Polo GTI +1min 28.7s
5. M Østberg / P Barth NOR Citroën C3 Rally2 +1min 33.8s