 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2020) |
 Solberg at the Rally of New Zealand 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Norwegian |
| Born | (1973-01-08)8 January 1973 (age 52) Askim, Norway |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1998–2019 |
| Co-driver | Runar PedersenOla FløeneCato Menkerud Göran Bergsten Ilka Minor Stéphane PrévotEmil Axelsson |
| Teams | Bozian Racing,Ford,OMV Peugeot Norway,Stobart Ford,Munchi's Ford,Adapta Motorsport |
| Rallies | 133 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 6 |
| Stage wins | 33 |
| Total points | 288 |
| First rally | 1998 Swedish Rally |
| Last rally | 2019 Rally Turkey |
| FIA ERX Supercar Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | Eklund Motorsport |
| Car number | 73 |
| Former teams | LD Motorsports Ford Team RS Sweden Henning Solberg Motorsport |
| Starts | 12 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Best finish | 2nd in2014 |
| FIA World Rallycross Championship | |
| Years active | 2014–2015 |
| Former teams | Olsbergs MSE CircleX Monster Energy World RX Eklund Motorsport |
| Starts | 14 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Best finish | 10th in2014 |
Henning Solberg (born 8 January 1973) is aNorwegianrally andrallycross driver. Together with his co-driver Ilka Minor, he currently competes in theWorld Rally Championship (WRC) with cars ofM-Sport.
Solberg is the older brother of the2003 FIA World Rally ChampionPetter Solberg and through hisSwedish spouse Maud the stepfather of Swedish rally driverPontus Tidemand.
Henning Solberg was born inAskim, but grew up inSpydeberg. Like his younger brother Petter, Henning started his career as a driver inbilcross (Norwegian low-budgetrallycross similar to Swedishfolkrace and Finnishjokamiehenluokka) and rallycross events, and switched completely to rallying in the mid-1990s. Between 1999 and 2003, he became the Norwegian Rally Champion for five years in a row.
After several events as a privateer in the WRC, Solberg got a contract withBozian Racing for the2004 season. At his first event with thePeugeot 206 WRC, the 2004Swedish Rally, Solberg took his first WRC points by driving to sixth place. This remained his best result and only points-finish of the season.
For the2005 season, Solberg was signed by theBP Ford World Rally Team, Ford's factory WRC team. He competed in seven rounds alongside Ford's main driversToni Gardemeister andRoman Kresta. His best result came at theCyprus Rally, where he beat team-mates Gardemeister and Kresta to the fourth place. With nine points, Solberg finished 14th in the drivers' world championship.
In2006, Solberg partneredManfred Stohl at the OMV Peugeot Norway W.R.T., and drove thePeugeot 307 WRC in 12 of the 16 WRC rounds plus the non-WRC eventRally Norway. He achieved his first ever podium finish coming in third in theRally of Turkey. With six other points-scoring positions to his name, he finished eighth in the drivers' standings. Solberg also appeared in an edition of the BBC showTop Gear, where he rallied aMitsubishi Lancer Evolution in a downhill snow track in a race against the Norwegian bobsleigh team atLillehammer. TheLillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track is 1365 meters long with 16 turns and an 8.5% average grade and Solberg's route was equally challenging. With Top Gear presenterJames May as his "co-driver," Solberg made it 1:02:24 in the Evo while the bobsled (with presenterRichard Hammond in it) beat Solberg with a time of 59:68.
For2007, Solberg was given a full-time drive with theStobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team. He achieved his second podium finish in the World Rally Championship by driving hisFord Focus RS WRC 06 to third place at his home event, the2007 Rally Norway, when the rally was part of the WRC calendar for the first time. He later took his career third podium finish at the2007 Rally Japan, and finished sixth in the drivers' championship, ahead ofSubaru'sChris Atkinson and his young team-mateJari-Matti Latvala.
Solberg retained his place at the Stobart team for the2008 season. InSweden he was on course for a podium finish before a puncture and a crash on the second day put him out of the points. ForMéxico Solberg was nominated to score points for theMunchi's team. He achieved a fifth-place finish despite suffering two punctures.[1] In the series' first-everJordan Rally, he recorded his best result of the season by finishing fourth. After five more points-scoring finishes were followed by five rallies with no points, Solberg finished eighth overall in the drivers' standings. At the 2008 Mountain Rally Norway, the first round in the 2008 Norwegian Rally Championship, Henning took first in his class driving aFord Fiesta ST N3.[2]
In2009, Solberg had his career-best start to the season. He drove his Focus RS WRC 08 to fourth place both in the season-openingRally Ireland and the followingRally Norway. After a road accident ended his chances inCyprus, he finished fifth inPortugal and took his career fourth podium place inArgentina, behind theCitroën duoSébastien Loeb andDani Sordo. He achieved another podium inPoland.
In2010 Solberg was drivingFord Focus RS WRC 08 at first 6 events but at2010 Rally Bulgaria he drove aFord Fiesta S2000. At2010 Rally Finland,2010 Rallye Deutschland and2010 Rally Japan he droveFord Focus RS WRC 08 again. At last two rallies he droveFord Fiesta S2000. Hisco-driver isIlka Minor, but during her injury was his co-driver Stéphane Prévot. Every time Solberg participated in WRC with a S2000 car he scored points and beat a few WRC drivers.
Henning Solberg competed for the privateerGo Fast Energy World Rally Team along withMatthew Wilson in the first half of the 2012 season. In Monte Carlo, due to various issues, he finished outside the top ten. Henning could retaliate on the next round in Sweden, finishing in 7th place. After that, the whole Go Fast team disappeared as a whole.
Solberg made his return to the WRC on the2013 World Rally Championship's second round,Rally Sweden, after a one-year hiatus. His co-driver was Emil Axelsson, and usedM-Sport'sFiesta RS WRC. The car sported a full white design without any sponsors, although they later put up "Can you watch this space?" stickers to cover the space on the sides and the hood. The pairing finished 8th, after a 4m20s time penalty. Solberg stated in a stage-end interview that he's working to find funds for a programme, but nothing is certain yet.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | M-Sport | Ford Fiesta R5 | MON | SWE | MEX | ARG | POR | ITA | POL | FIN 4 | GER | CHN C | FRA | ESP | GBR | AUS | 28th | 12 |
| 2018 | Toksport World Rally Team | Škoda Fabia R5 | MON | SWE | MEX | FRA | ARG | POR | ITA | FIN | GER | TUR | GBR | ESP 6 | AUS | 35th | 8 | |
| 2019 | Toksport World Rally Team | Škoda Fabia R5 | MON | SWE 7 | MEX | FRA | ARG | CHL | POR 3 | ITA | FIN 5 | GER | TUR 4 | GBR WD | ESP | AUS C | 9th | 43 |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ERX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Henning Solberg | Nissan Sunny GTI-R | AUT | POR | FRA | IRE | GBR | SWE | FIN | BEL | NED | NOR 10 | GER | 28th | 7 | |
| 1995 | Henning Solberg | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | AUT 2 | POR NC | FRA NC | SWE 8 | GBR 12 | IRE 6 | BEL (NC) | NED | NOR 13 | FIN 11 | CZE | GER | 12th | 52 |
*Division 1 was rebranded as Division 2 in 1997.
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ERX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Ford Team RS Sweden | Ford Fiesta | GBR | POR | FRA | HUN | AUT | SWE 4 | BEL | GER | POL | CZE 5 | 15th | 30 |
| 2010 | Henning Solberg | Ford Fiesta | POR | FRA | GBR | HUN | SWE 15 | FIN | BEL | GER | POL | CZE | 36th | 2 |
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ERX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Henning Solberg Motorsport | Citroën C4 | GBR | POR | FRA | NOR 7 | SWE | BEL | NED | AUT | POL | CZE | 22nd | 10 |
| 2013 | Henning Solberg Motorsport | Saab 9-3 | GBR 15 | POR | HUN | FIN | NOR 18 | SWE 4 | FRA 12 | AUT | GER | 15th | 28 | |
| 2014 | Eklund Motorsport | Saab 9-3 | GBR 5 | NOR 4 | BEL 7 | 2nd | 56 | |||||||
| LD Motorsports | Citroën DS3 | GER 10 | ITA 3 | |||||||||||
| 2017 | Eklund Motorsport | Volkswagen Beetle | BAR 6 | NOR 12 | SWE 14 | FRA | LAT | 14th | 23 | |||||
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WRX | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Eklund Motorsport | Saab 9-3 | POR | GBR 9 | NOR 5 | FIN | SWE 13 | BEL 15 | 10th | 70 | |||||||
| Monster Energy World RX | Citroën DS3 | CAN 11 | FRA 24 | GER 15 | ITA 9 | TUR 5 | ARG 15 | ||||||||||
| 2015 | CircleX | Ford Focus | POR | HOC | BEL | GBR | GER | SWE 33 | CAN | 25th | 12 | ||||||
| Olsbergs MSE | Ford Fiesta ST | NOR 13 | FRA | ||||||||||||||
| Eklund Motorsport | Volkswagen Beetle | BAR 14 | TUR | ITA 15 | ARG | ||||||||||||
