Sat 18 Jan 2025

ERC 2024 rally recap: When Solberg was super-fast in Scandinavia

With the countdown to the FIA European Rally Championship season-opening 42nd Rally Sierra Morena - Córdoba Patrimonio de la Humanidad under way, FIAERC.com its continuing to look back on who won each ERC rally and how during the 2024 title chase.

Back on gravel following the all-asphalt Rally Islas Canarias, BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia last June marked round three of the 2024 season and more home success on the event’s high-speed gravel stages.  


The winners: History repeated itself on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia when Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson triumphed, albeit in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 rather than the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 they drove to victory in 2023.  


The then 22-year-old Solberg began day two of the event with a narrow 3.3sec lead over Hayden Paddon, the defending ERC champion. But while Paddon admitted to “pulling the commitment down” due to having “no feeling or grip” during the morning loop, Solberg went on a charge.   


He was fastest on all four stages on the final morning to reach midday service in Karlstad leading by 13.7sec in his Pirelli-equipped entry. And the Swede continued to push in the afternoon, adding another four stage wins to his tally – including the event-closing Power Stage – to come out on top by 38.0sec after Paddon was slowed by tyre damage on the deciding test and dropped to third.

How did it feel? “Yesterday I wasn’t happy but today the feeling is better, the car suits better today’s roads and I found good confidence,” said Solberg. “The car slides a lot on these roads but today’s roads are wider and you have more margin so the speed was good and like this you have to be happy. But there are such small gaps. Yesterday for me the level here was much higher than WRC2. It was so close in the times, it was crazy, fantastic.”  


Turning point: There wasn’t a turning point as such but there were moments when Paddon had Solberg rattled. Leading the pack following his fastest time through the mixed-surface BAUHAUS super special stage on the opening evening, Paddon maintained his advantage through SS2 only for Solberg to move ahead on SS3. Back-to-back stage wins for Paddon then trimmed that gap to 1.4sec at the midday service halt in Karlstad before Solberg responded with the SS6 best time to lead by 2.6sec. But with Solberg experiencing the worst of the localised rain on SS7, Paddon headed to the repeat of the Colins stage – complete with the iconic Colin’s Crest jump – 1.3sec off the lead. While Paddon leapt a rally-best 44 metres, Solberg was 1.1sec quicker, which gave him a margin of 2.4sec starting the day-closing Gårdsjö test. But beating Paddon’s time by a slender 0.9sec through the 12.09-kilometre run ensured Solberg topped the order by 3.3sec heading into the final day.

Comeback man: After the frustration of retiring from the lead of the V-Híd Rally Hungary season opener, Michelin-shod Mikko Heikkilä’s second-place finish was richly deserved.      


Shining through: Swedish prospect Mille Johansson took his second victory on the bounce in FIA ERC4 and FIA Junior ERC after overnight leader Patrik Hallberg (below) crashed out with wheel damage this morning. Isak Reiersen, a 20-year-old car mechanic from Karlstad and the Junior ERC winner on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia in 2023, impressed in seventh overall.   


Meanwhile, Filip Kohn made it two wins from two FIA ERC3 starts and also bagged Fiesta Rally3 Trophy honours following a rally-long battle with ERC newcomer Tristan Charpentier, in only his second season of rallying after switching from circuit racing.

Early setback: On his first international rally start since 2019, 2003 world champion Petter Solberg (below) completed SSS1 with smoke and flames coming from underneath the same Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 his son Oliver used to win the event in 2023. The flames were quickly extinguished and the Norwegian hero was able to drive back to overnight parc fermé following a short delay – and with the 10th fastest time. He eventually finished 15th.  


Table topper: With Mathieu Franceschi crashing out on the Power Stage and Paddon bagging his first podium of the season, the pair left Sweden equal on 56 points.  


What’s next? Visit FIAERC.com tomorrow (Sunday) for the Delfi Rally Estonia recap.

Sweden
Starts: Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 8:00:00 AM
Spain
Starts: Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 7:00:00 AM
Turkey
Starts: Sunday, November 10, 2024 at 8:30:00 AM