Oliver Solberg is being happy with his win at Rally Chile considering the up-and-downs he had this season as well as with the fact that he closed his gap from his teammates on the championship.
The Swede driver was leading Rally Chile after the end of Stage 1, but Elfyn Evans managed to become the new rally leader after Stage 2 as he set the fastest time there. However, Solberg responded back and retook the lead from his teammate at the end of Friday morning as their gap was at 0,4 seconds in favor of Evans after Stage 2. After the first leg of Friday, Solberg started to increase his gap from the second Evans as his lead was at 10,1 seconds after the opening day of the rally. Although Evans started his Saturday morning in a positive way by having been quicker than Solberg on the first two stages, the last one won Stage 9 and his lead was again at 10,1 seconds over the second Evans. On Saturday afternoon, Solberg was once again faster than Evans and managed to build a safety net around his lead while Evans lost ground on Sunday when he stopped to change a wheel in Stage 15 resulting in dropping three places on the classification. Generally, Solberg stayed out of trouble last weekend apart from Stage 14 where he suffered from a rear right puncture, but he was able to win that stage. After the end of Rally Chile, Solberg remains third overall on the championship, but is now four points behind the second Sami Pajari and 21 points behind Evans.
"It was always my dream to drive for Toyota and for me to be able to play a small part for the first time in winning a manufacturers’ title feels very special", Solberg said.
"It also feels incredible to be back on the top step of the podium.
"It has been an up-and-down season for me but the team always supported and believed in me, along with Elliott who’s been doing an amazing job, and things have really been coming together well in the last few rallies.
"Today it was tricky to find the right feeling on this demanding first stage, but we were able to keep a good gap and then push on the Power Stage.
"It’s great to also come back a bit in the championship and hopefully we can carry this momentum into the final rallies".
Photo Credits: Toyota
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