Oliver Solberg is ready to take on Rally Mexico stages in his Volkswagen Polo GTi R5, and event where his father delivered a famous victory.
Now that it is Oliver’s turn to drive Rally Mexico, he has listened carefully to the advice his father has told him, this will be a new challenge for the young Norwegian driver.
“Like Monte Carlo at the start of the season, Mexico is unique in terms of the challenge, in Monte we have the snow and ice and the surface changing all the time. In Mexico, we have these high-altitude roads which really affects the power from the engine and then we have the stages themselves which are so full of rocks and danger.” Oliver said.
“My dad has been telling me about a slightly different style of driving. When you can lose as much as 25 per cent of the power because we’re driving higher than 2000 metres, then you need to be much more precise in the corners; if you get into trouble in the corner you can’t be so sure to have the power to pull you through.
“The way the road changes is also a big thing. The second run through some of the stages can be quite rough – we have to watch out for the big, big rocks. We go to Mexico to look for experience and I absolutely want to make it through all three days, that’s the main priority.“
“This is such a different rally for me, I haven’t done anything like this before, Aaron [Johnston, co-driver] and I need to make really good pacenotes and then just totally focus on them in the rally. If we can stay away from the trouble then we have seen in the past that you can make a good result. But, like I said, Mexico is about the experience and to build for the future.” Oliver continued.
“I went to Mexico a lot of years ago with my parents, when dad was driving, but I don’t remember so much from then. I keep seeing these pictures of me sitting on dad’s lap in the Subaru – they’re really nice, but I think I’m a bit young to remember so much.
“The one thing they (the senior Solbergs) talk about a lot is the atmosphere. We all saw this on the TV: the first stage in Guanajuato, the ones that goes through the tunnels. I can’t wait for this one, it’s going to be so cool and to see all those passionate fans and the spectators out there, they definitely help make this one of the best and most memorable events of the season.” Oliver added.
