Hyundai has won the team competition in the WRC (the highest level in rallying) two years in a row and is therefore considered the best factory team in the world.

Now they have signed 19-year-old Oliver Solberg on a two-year contract.

– This is a dream come true. “That’s what we’re always working towards, so getting the factory contract and having the right plan in place was huge,” Solberg told NRK.

WRC2 in the first half

In doing so, he is one step closer to his goal of becoming world rally champion, as his father Petter did in 2003, as the first Norwegian to reach the top level.

However, initially the plan was to drive WRC2, a class below WRC. NRK knows that he will be able to test WRC cars as early as 2021 in smaller races, and that in 2022 he will be able to test himself at the top level if everything goes according to plan.

The 19-year-old himself is mostly focused on taking one step at a time.

– All plans for the next two years have not yet been made, but from January there will be at least a complete program with WRC2. “But a big part of the reason why I joined Hyundai is because I believe it will help me in the future to achieve my dream of driving the WRC,” said Solberg.

– How many fingers does your father have in this?

– You could probably say it all, says Solberg with a laugh.

– Mom and dad helped me a lot. They managed everything from conversations and contracts, because I was too young to do that. So they’re a big part of this, he continued.

– It’s about building experience

Dad Petter Solberg was clearly proud when NRK spoke to him about his son’s new contract.

– Signing a factory contract at 19 was huge. He beat me there. “He had three good chances that we considered, but this was certainly the best,” said Petter Solberg.

The rally talents have run very well in WRC3 this season, but under more private management. Now he is a full-fledged professional under the auspices of a major factory team.

Petter Solberg would like to predict whether his son will follow in his footsteps as world champion one day, but it is clear that such a contract opens up many more opportunities.

– It looks very good, but in the end rallying is about driving enough cars and building experience. “We have to remember that the youngest world champion is 27 years old, so he still has a lot of years left,” said Petter.

Driving with the Swedish flag

Atle Gulbrandsen is a Viasat commentator and manager of the Norwegian national team. He was not surprised that Solberg had signed a factory contract at the age of 19.

– This is obviously huge, but not unexpected. We have seen Oliver’s talent over the years, and with the results he is producing at such a young age, it is expected that he will be picked up by one of the big manufacturers, said Gulbrandsen.

Unfortunately for Gulbrandsen and the rest of the Norwegian public, Solberg now drives under the Swedish flag. The national team manager hopes to do something about it in the future.

– We certainly want him in the Norwegian national team, because he drives with a Norwegian flag on his car. We have spoken to Oliver and told him what we can offer. But we want him to make that choice himself, Gulbrandsen said.

If things are not halted by the coronavirus, Oliver Solberg hopes to make his debut for his new team in Monte Carlo in January.