Solberg is expected to be among the WRC2 title favourites after inking a deal with Skoda Motorsport for 2024, having finished sixth in the championship last year driving the Fabia RS Rally2 car for the Toksport squad.
The son of 2003 world rally champion Petter Solberg was thought to be among the options under consideration by M-Sport, as the British squad looked to re-shape its driver line-up, but in the end M-Sport promoted Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster from its own Rally2 squad.
Fomer Hyundai WRC driver Solberg admitted making a decision on his 2024 plans was difficult but the opportunity to sign with a manufacturer was too good to turn down.
“The dream was to do Rally1, of course, but after what happened last time [with Hyundai], I wanted to make sure that is was proper and its quality and I know that I can do well,” Solberg told Autosport.
“But I felt that Skoda came in with such a good offer and belief in us that we can do well. I am still so young so I don’t want to rush anything that is halfway, so I wanted to do Rally2 with the Skoda team and do a lot of rounds.
“It was a very hard decision, but in the end what Skoda came to us with is the absolute best option.
“Obviously, the Toyota [GR Yaris Rally2] is very attractive now but I wanted to build on something I have already built. The Toyota is new, we don’t know if it will be fast and we don’t know about the reliability.
“I wanted to stick with what I have and I got a fantastic offer that I couldn’t say no to. It is a dream scenario with Skoda.”
Source: Autosport