The Toyota driver stands out in the WRC circuit and now reveals the approach behind his successes.
Ahead of today’s WRC stages, it’s standard for drivers to study hours of onboard video to learn every meter of the special stages.
But one of the WRC‘s most in-form drivers does the opposite ahead of Rally Islas Canarias.
Swedish-Norwegian Toyota driver Oliver Solberg deliberately opts out of extensive video studies before races – even though competitors are deeply focused in front of their screens until the last minute.
During Rally Sweden, for example, both Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta could be seen studying onboard clips from the special stages during the lunch break.
Meanwhile, Solberg walked around talking to people in Toyota’s hospitality.
“We have chosen to concentrate on the pace notes and trust that if they are good, that’s enough. Oliver gets more energy from walking around and talking to people than from watching videos,” says co-driver Elliott Edmondson.
Compares himself to rally legend
All drivers and co-drivers receive video recordings of the special stages several weeks before the races. The material is then used intensively to memorize the characteristics of the roads, braking points, and details.
But Solberg believes he doesn’t need the same amount of preparation in front of a screen.
“For me, it’s enough to see the stage a couple of times; then I get a pretty good idea of what it looks like.”
“I also have a pretty good memory and know when it opens up or when it gets a bit more technical.”
Solberg also draws parallels to rally icon Walter Röhrl, who was known for his photographic memory.
“I’m a bit more like Röhrl there. I remember the stage quite well, and I don’t want to sit and watch videos right before the start.”
The method has yielded results in the WRC
The method seems to work.
After four rounds, Solberg is third in the WRC standings behind Katsuta and Evans.
During the WRC rally in Croatia, he also won ten out of twelve special stages after the restart on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Evans suffered an off-road excursion after a misunderstanding in the pace notes.
“We have chosen this way of working with the pace notes, and when we think they are good, we trust them; then video is not needed,” says Edmondson.
Next stop: Canary Islands
The next round of the WRC awaits as Rally Islas Canarias takes place from April 23–26. Toyota driver Oliver Solberg arrives at the event third in the WRC standings after a strong start to the season.
WRC standings after four rounds:
- Takamoto Katsuta – 81 points
- Elfyn Evans – 74 points
- Oliver Solberg – 68 points
- Sami Pajari – 52 points
- Adrien Fourmaux – 49 points
- Sébastien Ogier – 26 points
