Oliver Solberg claimed back-to-back Bauhaus Rally of Scandinavia victories after scorching his way through the 17 stages – winning 12 of them – on the third round of the FIA European Rally Championship after seeing off the attentions of the defending ERC Champion Hayden Paddon who ended the first day 3.3 seconds behind the 22-year-old Swede.
Solberg set about winning every stage on Saturday, opening the gap to the chasing New Zealander to 21.4 seconds with one stage to go; Paddon wasn’t comfortable with his Hyundai’s handling in the morning loop and in the final stage, emerged with wheel damage
Mikko Heikkila snatched second on the final stage, demoting the New Zealander to the bottom step of the podium.
The ERC Championship leader Mathieu Franceschi rolled his Skoda out of fourth place in the final stage.
Final Classification:
1. O Solberg / E Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS 1hr 32min 40.8sec
2. M Heikkilä / K Temonen Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +38s
3. H Paddon / J Kennard Hyundai i20 N Rally2 +51s
4. F Larsen / L Lundgren Volkswagen Polo GTI +1min 28.7s
5. M Østberg / P Barth Citroën C3 Rally2 +1min 33.8s
6. M Sesks / R Francis Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +1min 41.7s
