Oliver Solberg penalised for drifting in the Monaco GP corner – but why was he the only one punished?

Oliver Solberg made a blunder at the end of Monte-Carlo.
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Competing in his first rally with Toyota’s Rally2 car, Solberg was handed a five-minute time penalty by the event organisers after the rally.

The reason for the penalty was that Solberg engaged in what could be described as drifting mode at Monaco’s famous Fairmont hairpin and was penalised for his “exhibition driving.” The incident occurred as Solberg was en route from the awards ceremony to parc fermé.

Solberg had finished sixth in the Rally2 category and 13th overall. Despite the penalty, he had managed to recover well from an off-road incident on Thursday evening.

The penalty has no major impact, as Monte Carlo was not one of his registered events in WRC2.

You can watch the video of Solberg’s offence below.

Solberg wasn’t the only driver sliding his car at the spot made famous by the Monaco GP. However, he was the only one penalised with a time penalty at the end of the rally.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFTIaHGN2UD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Last time, Solberg wasn’t as lucky. In 2023, he performed doughnuts at the end of a super special stage in Rally Portugal and received a one-minute time penalty. That penalty truly stung, as it cost Solberg the WRC2 victory to Gus Greensmith.

Oliver Solberg is one of the favourites for the WRC2 championship title this season. The Swede was also in contention for the title last year until the very end, but the championship was won by Sami Pajari, who has moved to the Rally1 class with Toyota this season.

The Rally Monte-Carlo victory was claimed by Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier for the tenth time in his career.

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