Oliver Solberg returning to continue dad's WRC Safari dream

Over 20 years since his father, Petter Solberg made his debut in the Safari Rally in a Ford Focus, Oliver Solberg is happy to re-live his father’s tales as he looks forward to making the journey to Kenya and take part in this year's Safari Rally which will be making a return to the world circuit after 19 years. 

For Oliver competing in the 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally on June 24 to 27 will be a dream come true.

The 19-year-old wasn’t born when his father debuted in the 1999 Safari Rally aged only 24 and one of the youngest in the manufacturers’ team line-up then, finishing an incredible fifth.

In 2019 Oliver, his dad, and Kenya Motorsport Federation (KMSF) chair Phineas Kimathi, a 1999 Safari champ reunited in Monte Carlo, while and the federation head requested their presence in the Safari. 

"It is one of my dream races to do. My father has a lot of memories and stories and I have seen a lot of adventures that are there. I think it will be an amazing experience so for sure my dream is to go to the Safari Rally. He (my father) says it is one of the best places he has been. I have also heard some crazy stories but we can’t take them and I think hopefully I can go there and I can get the same experience he got 20 years ago," Oliver who is expected to drive in the WRC2 in a Hyundai R5 said in an interview with an online TV station. 

After making his debut in 1999, Petter, a 2003 world champion, returned to Kenya in 2000 with Subaru World Rally Team and registered similar results as the previous year. The 2000 Safari was held in open roads unlike the 2021 edition scheduled on closed roads.

"It will be very different now unlike in the past but still it is a great opportunity as my dad tells me of stages, fans, people everywhere, it is indeed incredible,” he added. 

Oliver and Kalle Rovenpera, 20, of Finland are listed as the youngest drivers seamlessly fitting into their fathers’ big shoes. Kalle is son of Harri Rovenpera, second in 2000 driving a Peugeot 206 WRC behind Tommi Makinen in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO.

Both are on the verge of breaking a world record of the youngest WRC champions.

“In the closest future now, it is going to be a big fight between Kalle and I. But we will see. It will be a very long way. If you try to come into the WRC and give Kalle a challenge, I will for sure fight. There also are many more young drivers coming up so, for sure, there’ll be a lot of new drivers in the WRC in the future giving everybody a huge fight," he says of his rivalry with Kalle. 

He hopes to be the champion in WRC 2 soon and in the future, a proper WRC driver with the manufacturers and try to take on the world champions.