WRC Finland 2026: Oliver Solberg Loses Victory Chance After Saarikas Rain

Oliver Solberg admitted his hopes of fighting for victory at WRC Finland 2026 were severely damaged after extreme rain on Saarikas cost him almost a minute and dropped him out of direct contention with Sebastien Ogier.

Before the setback, Solberg had been only 9.6 seconds away from the overall lead. A thunderstorm and torrential rain then struck the second pass through Saarikas, fogging his windscreen while water poured into the cockpit through the roof vent. After the stage, his deficit had increased to almost a minute.

“It kind of messed up my whole kind of good day, to be honest. This morning was a little bit difficult, but still we were there and this afternoon we changed things with the car and we were much more comfortable and can really fight,” Solberg said.

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Solberg described the conditions on Saarikas as extreme. He said the rain began as he entered the stage, while opening and closing the roof vent became a compromise between allowing water into the cockpit and preventing the windscreen from misting up.

“It was absolutely crazy. I spoke to the guys behind us and they had some rain, but many of them said that when I started the stage, the heavens just opened. You don’t lose a minute through driving. When you can’t see anything, you can’t see anything,” he said.

Solberg recovered some of the lost ground over the final two stages of Friday and ended the day fourth overall, 41.3 seconds behind Ogier. With dry conditions expected on Saturday, a victory challenge appears considerably more difficult, but he trails third-placed Sami Pajari by only 14.6 seconds.

“We lost our chance to fight Seb, but that’s how it goes. At least we managed to gain a bit of time back. Now we just have to do the best we can. We’re not that far away from the podium, so we’ll give it everything,” Solberg said, shifting his focus from victory to the podium fight at WRC Finland 2026.