Oliver Solberg says he is learning the hard way after another costly mistake at Rally Japan, with the young Toyota driver conceding he must sharpen his judgement in the trickiest corners if he is to convert blistering speed into a sustained WRC title challenge.
Solberg crashed out of the lead fight on stage 10 of the season's seventh round, sliding wide onto the dirt on the approach to a tight left-hander and striking a telegraph pole, which broke his car's right-rear suspension. It was his third high-profile crash on asphalt this season, following incidents in Croatia and the Canary Islands.
The Swede recovered to bank the full haul of Sunday points despite the setback, but he was honest about where the deficit lies.
"I need to work more and I need to get a better understanding of what more I need to slow down in these tricky places, together with the information that you get from your gravel crew, [route] note crew," Solberg said.
Solberg sits third in the championship, 49 points adrift of runaway leader and Rally Japan winner Elfyn Evans, after a campaign that began with victory in Monte Carlo but has since yielded just one podium in six events.
"It's a tough one. It's difficult to give advice because we all are different," Ogier said. "The speed is definitely not the question. He has shown great, great speed so far."
The Frenchman warned, however, that ambition can be a double-edged sword for a driver still finding his feet at the front.
"Be careful that you don't overdo it and at some point… there is also some stories with drivers who just burn their wings, wanting too much too early," Ogier said.
His prescription was clear: build on the speed that is already there, and the consistency will follow.
"The most important is to have the speed. He has it, and that's easier to find the consistency than to find the speed," Ogier said.
Rally Japan capped a dominant weekend for Toyota, the marque locking out the top four with Evans leading home Ogier. For Solberg, the challenge now is to channel that team strength into his own results, starting with a run of gravel rallies where his potential — and his patience — will be tested anew.
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