Rallying-Solberg shines on Friday to lead Rally Estonia
Solberg made an immediate statement by taking Friday's opening stage and never looked back as he opened a 12.4 seconds lead over Estonia's Ott Tanak.
"To be leading the rally and to have won a few stages, and to have this amazing feeling in the car - this day has been all about fun," said Solberg, who returned to the WRC's top tier for the first time since 2022.
"I don't know what to say - It's just been the best day of my life."
Solberg demonstrated competitive pace, finishing 0.2 seconds behind winner Tanak in stage three, before claiming victory in the second pass through Peipsiaare by 2.8 seconds ahead of Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera. The 23-year-old Swede narrowly missed out on winning stage five, trailing Tanak by 0.9 seconds.
"It's just so loose and (there's) no grip whatsoever. I did everything I could (but) it is as it is at the moment," Tanak said as thousands of home fans cheered him on through the Estonian forests.
The rally continues on Saturday.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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