At only 12 years old, the young Norwegian is continuing to impress. First non-Finnish driver in the overall championship standings behind the formidable quartet of Uitto/Halonen/Ylilammi/Turpeinen, Olliver has shown a flawless consistency in qualifying by collecting no less than four Top 6 finishes in the intermediate classification in as many events contested this season.
After Nysum, where he failed to reach the final twice, Olliver proved what he was capable of in Tierp by achieving two consecutive Top 6 finishes in the last round of the championship.
A step up in performance that is not likely to surprise the Norwegian.
“Last year, we didn’t have the car that could really allow us to fight at the front. We lacked a little bit of power, but this year it’s starting to get better and better,” Olliver explained.
“I’m getting better and better at understanding how to use the CrossCar and I feel like I can push even harder this year. The engine is responding and that’s something I can feel on the straights. We’re trying to be in the lead pack, but my first goal this year is to win my qualifying heats while trying to finish as high as possible in the overall championship standings.”
A challenge that he did not fail to solve. Indeed, since the start of RallyX season, Olliver Tveiten Sollie is the only driver in the Junior category to have been able to steal a qualifying round win from the Finnish horde led by the irresistible Mikael Uitto.
After winning the title last year, Mikael Uitto has already set the bar very high with two victories to his credit. As proof, Uitto did not make the slightest gift to his opponents by winning the intermediate classification three times while signing 8 successes in the qualifying rounds out of the 12 competed since Nysum.
This is enough to encourage the Juniors to organize themselves to slow down Mikael Uitto’s headlong rush.
“If we find ourselves in a round where we are up against him, we try to organize ourselves with Lauri Halonen to define a race strategy that can slow down Mikael, but for the moment we have to admit that he is much too fast,” Olliver said with amusement.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to challenge him in the next stages of the championship, but the characteristics of the tracks in Nysum and Tierp have given him the upper hand. In general, the Finnish drivers are a bit too fast for me. In Tierp, I got closer to their level of performance but it’s not that easy. The good thing is that my speed is good. I just need to keep up the momentum.”
Beyond this 2023 season, Olliver Tveitten Sollie’s long-term goals are clear.
“My dream is to be able to drive with Toyota in the World Rally Championship one day. I love Rallycross but my real goal is to win a world title in WRC. My father drove for many years in this sport, so rallying is part of our family DNA.
If Rallye is the Norwegian’s number one goal, only one man could be in a position to have an influence on Olliver Sollie’s trajectory.
“Last year, Mattias Ekstrom promised to let me test his Audi S1 Supercar. This could have been done in 2022 but I was still too small in height for the car to be adapted to my size. Even if I dream of WRC, as soon as I am tall enough, I definitely plan to try this car”.
