Oliver Solberg retired from the third round of the Solberg World Cup, Pirelli Rally Argolis, although says he “can’t believe” the championship now has nearly 15,000 entrants.
Solberg along with his father Petter set up the competition to help rallying fans during the coronavirus pandemic using DiRT Rally 2.0 and thousands of gamers around the world have competed in the championship so far.
After running near the front of the series, a real-life steering wheel problem forced him to retire from the event, although Solberg was still pleased with his championship position going into the OMP New England Rally which has now gone live in-game.
He said: “We are 67th from nearly 15,000, that’s not so bad. Nearly 15,000! Can you believe that? It’s so cool to know people are coming with us on this rally and this journey and it’s so competitive.”
“Pirelli Rally Argolis was a tough one. I listened to my dad, he told me the stories about keeping the car in the middle of the road, but when your wheel is not exactly right it’s not so easy. Don’t forget guys, check your steering!”
“I want to say a big thank you to everybody who competed in Greece and a big thanks to Pirelli for the support.”
He continued: “Now we go to OMP New England Rally and I’m really looking forward to it. I did this event in the Subaru [WRX STI] last year. The roads are just fantastic, it’s going to be very fun and I hope all 15,000 of us have a good time in the stages. See you there!”
His father Petter also coincidently suffered steering problems when competing in Greece in the FIA World Rally Championship and reminisced about the incident: “The steering wheel came loose on my Subaru in 2002. I could feel the wheel coming loose and I was shouting to Phil [Mills, co-driver] to get the tool to tighten the wheel or it would come off in my hands. Driving with no steering is not easy!”
The fourth round of the Solberg World Cup, the OMP New England Rally, is live now in the Solberg World Cup club on DiRT Rally 2.0, available on XBOX One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
