ARA
30 Apr 2019
Credit: Lars Gange/Subaru Motorsports USA
Oliver Solberg claimed his maiden American Rally Association victory in only his second start at the Olympus Rally last weekend.
The Subaru driver, who is son of 2003 World Rally and 2014-15 World Rallycross champion Petter Solberg, beat team mate David Higgins by 25.9 seconds after a closely-fought battle over the two-day event.
Prior to the event Solberg’s regular co-driver Aaron Johnston had travel issues so Denis Giraudet, who claimed five WRC victories navigating for Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol in the 1990s and early 2000s stepped in.
Solberg won six of the opening eight stages of the event, while Higgins was close behind until a brake issue forced him to slow on the penultimate stage of the first day. The problem cost him 27 seconds, although he was able to maintain second behind Solberg.
Higgins fought back on the second day after suffering brake problems – Credit: Lars Gange/Subaru Motorsports USA
On Sunday Higgins hit the ground running, winning the first three stages of the day to cut the 41-second deficit to just 14 seconds. Needing to fight back, Solberg won the final stage of the rally to claim overall victory.
Higgins’ defeat means that he has now gone six events without a victory (not including the 2019 season opener which Subaru skipped), the longest winless run for the the nine-time champion in the US since 2002.
Behind the factory Subaru pair, privateer Ford driver Piotr Fetela took third place to extend his championship lead. Seamus Burke finished fourth, with Cameron Steely rounding out the top five.
Barry McKenna, who won the 100 Acre Wood Rally last time out, was fastest in the opening stage of the rally, but retired on the second stage after a big crash. He was checked over by medical crews but was uninjured after the incident.
Solberg’s win was his third in four start across the US and Latvian championships this year – Credit: Lars Gange/Subaru Motorsports USA
1. #70 Oliver Solberg/Aaron Johnston – Subaru WRX STI (O4WD) – 125:35.9
2. #75 David Higgins/Craig Drew – Subaru WRX STI (O4WD) – 126:01.9
3. #94 Piotr Fetela/Dominik Jozwiak – Ford Fiesta Proto (O4WD) – 139:09.1
4. #25 Seamus Burke/Martin Brady – Ford Fiesta R5 (O4WD) – 140:34.1
5. #824 Cameron Steely/Preston Osborn – Subaru WRX STI (L4WD) – 144:13.4
