CHAPTER 419 Ft. Pernilla Solberg

August 26, 2026 · 2 h 17 min

Show notes

Jase Macalpine sits down with Pernilla Solberg for Chapter 419 of the Gypsy Tales Podcast to tell the story behind one of rally's most influential families. Pernilla never wanted to be the best female driver. She wanted to be the best driver, period. When one competitor told her that if she ever beat him, he'd put his helmet on the shelf, that's exactly what she did.

Pernilla raced against the boys in Sweden throughout the late '90s, met Petter Solberg at Rally GB in 1998, and retired at 28 to raise their son Oliver, now a WRC driver in his own right. Today, she runs the Solberg motorsport operation, serves as President of the FIA World Rally Commission, and holds board seats across five family car companies.

In this chapter, Pernilla gets into what it takes to run a rally team, why a Rally1 car can now cost $1.5 million with few buyers lining up, how modern PR is stripping motorsport of its biggest personalities, and why a new WRC owner could be days away from being announced. Plus, the sim racer who beat everyone with a Logitech taped to his kitchen table, the Norwegian Prime Minister who wrote Petter a letter about his swearing, and why Pernilla believes YouTube, not TV, has become the biggest engine in motorsport.

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00:00:00 Intro
00:03:37 Growing Up Around Swedish Motorsport
00:09:35 The Lando Norris Ice Session
00:11:32 Starting Rally At 16 With Her Dad
00:14:47 SOTA Fuel Ad
00:15:26 The First Race In A Volvo 240
00:19:45 The Guy Who Put His Helmet On The Shelf
00:24:24 The Sim Racer Who Won With A Logitech
00:28:36 Stepping Up To A Mitsubishi Evo 3
00:32:05 Meeting Petter At Rally GB 1998
00:37:07 Retiring At 28 To Have Oliver
00:41:36 Getting Oliver Into Cross Karts
00:52:54 The Call That Subaru Was Leaving
00:57:13 AG1 Ad
00:59:00 Starting A Rally Team In Five Weeks
01:07:21 The Muzzling Of Modern Motorsport
01:16:29 Petter Told Off By The Norwegian Prime Minister
01:22:53 Rally 1 Cars Now Cost $1.5 Million
01:33:57 YouTube Is The World's Biggest TV Channel
01:36:19 Brunt Workwear Ad
01:37:52 If Championships Went All-In On YouTube
01:44:34 Women In Motorsport
01:53:56 Can Oliver Be A World Champion
01:57:48 Favorite Rallies On The Calendar
02:03:35 Building A Rally Car From Scratch
02:13:07 The Vision For WRC