ERC
Fans to have their say as ERC Greatest Graduate quarter-final stage begins
The quarter-final stage of the ERC Greatest Graduate competition has begun as fans of the FIA European Rally Championship get the chance to pick the first semi-finalist.
Since the ERC was restructured in 2004 into the hugely successful format recognisable today, an endless stream of drivers have built experience competing at European level either at the start of or during their rise to the sport’s highest echelon, the FIA World Rally Championship.
Throughout November, FIAERC.com is highlighting 16 drivers – selected by the ERC’s media team – who have done just that. And it’s calling on fans of the championship to help decide the best of the best graduates through an online, which culminates in the grand finale on Friday 28 November.
Employing bracketology, voting is available through the ERC’s social media channels with a minimum 24-hour window to vote for each pairing. The winner will be announced on Saturday 29 November.
Solberg v Breen: Rising star takes on lost hero
Oliver Solberg: Claimed victory on Rally Liepāja, his ERC debut and his first international rally in May 2019, becoming the ERC’s youngest event winner in the process aged 17 years, eight months and three days. He was second in the final ERC standings in 2020 after finishing third on Rally di Roma Capitale and making it back-to-back Rally Liepāja victories. Solberg also won the Rally2-based Junior ERC title in 2020, beating Grégoire Munster to top spot, but gifted the €100,000 prize to his cousin, Oscar, having already signed for Hyundai Motorsport for a WRC campaign in 2021. The son of 2003 world champion Petter Solberg heroically won Delfi Rally Estonia outright back in July before clinching the WRC2 title on Rally Chile Bio Bío in September.
Craig Breen: After making his ERC debut in 2013, Breen claimed five wins and 15 podiums from 36 ERC starts. His performances in 2015, when he finished runner-up in the standings after a run of three straight victories, put him on course for a factory-supported Citroën WRC drive in 2016. It took him just four events to bank his breakthrough podium – on Rally Finland – such was his ability. Breen made his final ERC appearance on Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto in March 2023, shortly after he finished second on Rally Sweden following a fine drive. He saved his best to last in the ERC by winning the Power Stage.
The ERC Greatest Graduate quarter-finals continue on Monday (17 November) and a reminder to vote between Breen and Solberg through the ERC social media channels.
