The then teenager made the magnanimous gesture to forgo €100,000 – his prize for winning the 2020 FIA Junior ERC1 Championship – to enable Oscar Solberg, then 25, to contest the European championship in 2021 in a Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta Rally3 run by M-Sport Poland.
With Oliver Solberg’s training mission in the ERC complete and with his step up to the FIA World Rally Championship with Hyundai proving an instant success, the younger Solberg made the decision not to take up his prize drive for the 2021 ERC season – which began in the June of that year – instead transferring the incentive to Oscar Solberg, whose father Henning was a podium finisher at the top of the sport.
Because the support from then ERC promoter Eurosport Events was allocated for an ERC campaign, Oliver Solberg’s father, Petter, made a request for the prize to be transferred to his nephew, which was approved by Eurosport Events and governing body, the FIA.
Oscar Solberg said he was “shocked” when confirmation came through that he would compete in the ERC in 2021 having resigned himself to a season in the Norwegian championship aboard an ageing Volvo 242.
“I’m a little bit shocked actually,” said Solberg, who tackled eight WRC events earlier in his career. “I was just focusing on the Norwegian championship in an old Volvo when I got the news. This is very big for me and without this from Oliver I would not be here, so I am very grateful.”
Prior to embarking on his ERC campaign, Oscar Solberg’s career to date had been full of promise but short on funds, which led to his planned 2020 FIA Junior WRC campaign being curtailed after one event. His younger cousin had high hopes for him.
“I had a great year in the ERC,” Oliver Solberg said at the time. “Every event is so different so it was a great opportunity for me to learn and we managed to take the Junior ERC title. Because you learn a lot and the drivers are top level it’s a great step for the WRC. And my cousin is really fast so watch out.”
Oscar Solberg added: “Me and him love rallying a lot, he has been driving a little bit more than me but when we were kids we played video games and were driving quad bikes, and I think he thinks I’m quite good. When we are driving video games, we are exactly the same on every split. I don’t think I’m the fastest, but we’ll see what we can do.”
The prize package Oscar Solberg was gifted was used to contest three ERC events in 2021. He finished second in the Rally3-based Junior ERC category on Rally Liepāja and Barum Czech Rally Zlín with Dale Furniss co-driving.
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