Oliver and Petter. Solberg and Solberg. Father and son. The Norwegian dynasty that has done and will be able to do great things in rallies won the Race of Champions Nations Cup this afternoon by beating the US selection made up of NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson and IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
The Solbergs won 3 of the 4 matches against the Americans in the final which was held in Sweden, one of Oliver’s two mother lands. For Petter, World Rally Champion 2003. this is the second victory after the one obtained with the Nordic team in 2014.
Just Petter beat Johnson in the first challenge also thanks to mechanical problems that slowed down the latter. Oliver, on the other hand, beat Herta in the second heat.
The third challenge saw Johnson prevail against Oliver Solberg in the challenge on a rear-wheel drive Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, but the overall victory of the Norwegian team was a mistake made by Colton Herta in the last heat.
“The motivation to participate and try to win this demonstration came when I saw Sébastien Loeb win the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Which made me think it can’t be that hard,” said Solberg – jokingly – at the end of the challenge.
“I was ready to take part in this competition and doing it with Oliver was a great dream.”
The Swedish team had already beaten the Norwegian team in the quarter-finals, only to beat the defending champions in the semifinals, namely Mattias Ekstrom and Timmy Hansen.
The Americans, on the other hand, immediately eliminated the Germany of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher. In the Semifinal, the Americans beat the team formed by the 2-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen and Emma Kimilainen, W Series driver.
The Race of Champions will continue tomorrow, to decree the winner of the 2022 edition.
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