Oliver Solberg and his British co-driver Elliott Edmondson have been crowned WRC2 Champions after securing their fifth category victory from seven scoring rounds in what has been a triumphant season.

Having already won in Sweden, Portugal, Greece, and Paraguay, the pair sealed the title with another dominant performance in Chile. Ironically, it was a puncture at the same event 12 months ago that cost them the 2024 WRC2 Championship by just three points.

Since then, Solberg and Edmondson switched from a Skoda to the Printsport-run Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – the very car that had denied them last year’s crown when driven by Sami Pajari.

The move to Toyota has paid double dividends, too. In July, they received a late call-up to join the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team in Estonia – and, sensationally, they went on to win the WRC event outright.

“This is the best year we could possibly have imagined,” admitted Edmondson after celebrating in Chile. “This was our goal at the start of the year, and to achieve it is massive for us. We’ve had so many great moments this year, including the win in Estonia, but this is the icing on the cake.”

Now 31, Edmondson has been immersed in rallying from an early age, beginning competition at just 15. He started in road rallies and endurance events before moving into stage rallying in 2010.

He made his WRC debut at Wales Rally GB in 2013 and, in the same year, was selected for the Motorsport UK Academy, where he trained under legendary co-driver Nicky Grist – himself a British WRC-winning co-driver.

Adding to the history, it was 22 years ago that Oliver’s father, Petter Solberg, teamed up with another of Britain’s finest co-drivers, Phil Mills, to win the World Rally Championship in a Subaru Impreza WRC.