Monster Energy driver Oliver Solberg won the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally by almost two minutes after a dominant display aboard a HTB Racing-backed Volkswagen Polo R5.  
The Llandudno event included 10 stages, two of which were run on asphalt on Friday evening before the mainstay of the action tore through the world-famous North Welsh woods on Saturday.
 
Oliver’s performance was as spectacular as it was ruthlessly effective. After 10 stages and 92 kilometres, he finished the event 1m51s ahead of his nearest challenge on the final round of the 2022 British Rally Championship.
 
Emerging from the Polo at the finish, Oliver’s mile-wide smile said it all.

“I loved that,” grinned the 21-year-old. “It was so much fun. I was making some big slides and lots of Scandinavian flicks – it was fantastic to drive these stages. And fantastic to see so many spectators. I mean, a lot of people standing out in some pretty tough weather.
 
“Of course, it’s nice to win the rally, but I came here to enjoy myself and honestly I have absolutely done that. The roads were tricky. The stages were in the same forests from Rally GB in 2019, but I had only actually competed on a couple of kilometres of Brenig. The rest of it was all new.
 
“You can learn so much from rallies like this one. We had the Tarmac on Friday night, which was interesting and then we had a lot, a lot of fog on Saturday morning. That was when you knew you were really back in Wales – the fog was coming and the rain after it!
 
“These conditions are super-challenging though and when you combine this with the grip changing almost on every corner, it really means you have to be fully awake and ready for everything. It makes you sharp.

“I want to say a big thanks to my co-driver Craig [Drew] for stepping in at the last minute after Elliott [Edmondson] had his injury. Elliott and me should be back together again for the recce at Rally Japan next week.
 
“I also want to say a big thanks to Melvyn Evans and his team. We hired the Polo from Melvyn and I have to say, they were super-professional and really good guys to work with. They have the big passion, they’re proper, proper rally people!”

Oliver Solberg's office