The WRC2 challenger feels nobody can match Solberg and the GR Yaris Rally2 on pace alone just now
Photography by Škoda & Red Bull
Words by Mark Paulson
Gus Greensmith has called on Škoda to act quickly as it attempts to claw back its pace to the class-leading Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Greensmith finished third in WRC2 on the recent Rally Portugal. His Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 was more than a minute behind Oliver Solberg’s winning Toyota, and was beaten to second by the Citroën C3 Rally3 of Yohan Rossel.
Škoda recently introduced a ‘Packet 25’ update for the Fabia RS Rally2 which Greensmith benefited from in Portugal – other than the dampers for “personal preference” – but Solberg and the GR Yaris Rally2 was still the package to beat.
“I don’t think Oliver particularly tried apart from on Friday afternoon,” Greensmith told DirtFish.
“So it shows you how easy it is for him in the Yaris at the moment. And the Yaris, if you look at the top 10, consumes most of the places.
The Yaris and the Swede driving it are a concern for Greensmith
“There’s definitely some improvement that we need to do because realistically, on performance alone, no-one’s there at the moment to fight with Oliver. So there’s going to have to be changes, going to have to be improvements.
“Škoda have had the best car for a very long time so I’m sure they can do it again. But for sure, whatever we’re going to do, or Škoda are going to do, it needs to be done quick.”
Multiple incarnations of Škoda’s Fabia had claimed the World Rally Championship’s second-tier title for eight out of nine years from 2015 to 2023. Sami Pajari took the new Yaris to a debut crown last year, beating Škoda-mounted Solberg who promptly switched to the Japanese brand for 2025.
Solberg dominated on his first outing in Sweden, winning 11 of 18 stages. He then led WRC2 on the Safari Rally – an event Greensmith went on to win – before getting stuck in fesh-fesh dust and salvaging fifth position after restarting the event.
The Swede won more than half the stages in Portugal, including nine of 11 on the opening day, en route to another dominant win.
Asked if the Toyota’s performance advantage meant that he had to reassess his strategy, perhaps playing to the Škoda’s reliability, Greensmith responded: “I think it’s got to be as flat-out as we can go but also on rallies like this there are sections where you need to take care.
“The best example was the second pass of Cabeceiras de Basto, where it was really rough, really rutted at the end and I had a really good push. And the Toyota was still three seconds quicker over the last half of the stage!
“I was like, I don’t know… There’s going to have to be some thinking. I like to think I’m a clever boy some of the time. I’ve got a bit of time off now, so I’ll do a bit of forward planning.”
While frustrated at his car’s pace deficit, and a bad tire strategy call on the final day in Portugal that he reckons cost him a shot at second place, Greensmith is pleased with the opening part of his 2025 campaign.
“It’s the best start we’ve had in WRC2 since we came back,” he said, “which is positive, although I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t have second [in Portugal].
“A couple of poor tire choices, especially today, taking two spares on such slow, cambered, rutted roads. It was a bad, bad decision and Yohan had made a good step as well in his setup. The battle was gone pretty much after the first corner. I felt that the car was not doing what I wanted it to.
“We lost far too much in performance with it being so slow, and the more cambered the roads the more it affects the balance. In a fight where you’re fighting for tenths it was the wrong thing to do.
The Škoda's reliability has impressed Greensmith
“But apart from that, it’s been good. A good haul of points, a good weekend. A very, very long weekend, and the car, in all fairness, there’s not been a single issue with it. And it’s been very, very rough and it’s been very, very long.”
Greensmith is 15 points better off than at this stage in 2024, when he crashed out from the lead of WRC2 on Rally Portugal. He now skips the next event in Sardinia but will resume his title challenge on Acropolis Rally Greece at the end of June.
“This time last year… well, [one year and] one day ago I was leading the rally; this time I definitely wasn’t but I also didn’t stick it up a bank!
“We got much better points and I think we have a better calendar that’s more suited to us this year.”
Words:Mark Paulson
Tags: Gus Greensmith, Oliver Solberg, Rally Portugal, Rally Portugal 2025, Skoda, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, Toyota, WRC 2025, WRC2
Publish Date May 28, 2025 DirtFish
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