Solberg out of WRC Rally Sardinia on medical grounds

The WRC2 title contender had been set to tackle the 16-stage gravel rally, although the Swede was not registered to score championship points. 

Solberg is understood to be suffering from an allergic reaction which has required him to seek medical attention. 

“Oliver is taking medication after suffering what is believed to have been an allergic reaction and following advice the decision has been taken to withdraw the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 from round six of the World Rally Championship,” read a statement from Solberg’s PR team. 

Solberg heads to Sardinia sitting second in the WRC2 standings, 10 points behind Citroen driver Yohan Rossel, who is scoring points this weekend. 

The news arrives just hours after Solberg confirmed plans to defend his Royal Rally of Scandinavia title next month.

This event will see Oliver compete against his 2003 World Rally Championship-winning father Petter Solberg. 

This week’s Rally Sardinia will offer a first look at the World Rally Championship’s new sprint rally concept as the series aims to shake up its event formats for the future.

Under this new format, the rally will begin with a shakedown [Ittiri, 2.08km] held on Friday morning at 0801 local time. Crews will then start the competitive stages on Friday beginning the leg [77.82km] at 1433 local. Friday’s action will see competitors tackle a loop of two stages [Osilo-Tergu, 25.65km – Sedini-Castelsardo, 13.2km] twice, before heading back to host city Alghero for an end-of-day service.

Saturday will feature a more traditional leg comprising eight stages, totalling 149 kilometres, but they will run in a slightly different format. Similar to Friday afternoon, a pair of stages will be completed twice to make up the loop. Commencing at 0741 local, the first pass through Tempio Pausania [12.03km] and Tula 22.61km will be punctuated by a 25-minute regroup before the second run.

Instead of returning to the Alghero service park, the crews will undertake a 15-minute tyre fitting zone before heading to the afternoon stages. Once again, the field will complete two passes through a pair of stages namely [Monte Lerno – Monti di Ala, 25.33km and Coiluna – Loelle, 14.53km]. The day will conclude with…