Oliver Solberg will contest next month’s FIA World Rally Championship-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo (23 - 26 January) in a Volkswagen Polo R5.

The 18-year-old son of 2003 world champion Petter is driving the same car he used to make his WRC debut in Britain in October.

“It’s really exciting to be going to Monte-Carlo,” said Solberg. “The plan for this rally is all about the experience. I know from my father’s stories, this is one of the hardest rallies in the world – when the weather is against you it can be definitely the toughest.

“I want to learn. I didn’t do so much driving with the Tarmac-spec car, so this is a chance for me to understand more from that side.”

Solberg will do a two-day test in the French Alps early next month in preparation for his maiden outing on the event. Beyond the season opener, Solberg says his plans remain fluid, despite continued speculation linking him to a Skoda Fabia R5 evo.

He added: “I don’t know yet what is exactly happening. We’re talking to some teams and Skoda’s one of those teams. Hopefully everything should be more clear and we will know more after Monte-Carlo.”

Rally Sweden, which runs close to his home in Mitandersfors, is predictably high on Solberg’s agenda.

“I grew up watching my dad competing on that event close to my home,” he said. “Of course I want to do it!

“Last year was tough, remember I won Sarma Rally in Latvia and a lot of the guys were going from there straight to Sweden. I was desperate to do that. Sweden would be a big priority for me – the roads are going so close to my home and to our team in Torbsy.

“I want to be driving the R5 car in WRC 2 or WRC 3 next season and that’s the dream for me. I want to do as many rounds of the championship as possible, maybe some of the long-haul rallies could be difficult, we have to see,” he added.

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