Rally Portugal: Solberg loses WRC2 lead after slapped with penalty
14th May 2023Oliver Solberg lost his WRC2 rally lead during the Vodafone Rally de Portugal after the Swedish driver broke regulations after the super special stage on Saturday night.
Solberg was slapped with a one-minute time penalty after the Swede performed doughnuts between the flying finish and the stop control line, after Saturday’s super special stage which ended the day’s running.
The stewards believed the performance to be classified as exhibition driving which is ‘strictly forbidden everywhere’ under Article 12.21 of the Supplementary Regulations.
The regulation stipulates exhibition driving is not allowed because there is no suitable place for the drivers to perform such moves.
As such, the stewards also penalised the young Swedish driver for breaking Articles 12.4.1.h and Article 12.4.2 of the FIA International Sporting Code.
Both Solberg and his co-driver, Elliot Edmondson, apologised for the incident as the duo stated they did not know the regulations in relation to the matter.
In the document, released by the WRC, the stewards said:
“The driver and co-driver stated that they did not know the regulations in relation to this matter and that they performed the “doughnuts” on the track of the Special Stage.
“Furthermore, the driver stated that SSS15 was a show special stage and for that reason he thought he had performed a good show for the spectators. They apologised for not knowing the regulations, adding that in their opinion they did
not create an unsafe situation.
“Art. 12.21 of the Supplementary Regulations of Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2023 stipulates that exhibition driving is strictly forbidden everywhere due to a lack of suitable place.
“The incident happened between the flying finish and the Stop Control of SSS15, where the driver had to follow the route indicated in the Road Book to exit from the track and to approach the Stop Control of SSS15.”
Ahead of the final day of running in Portugal – with four stages remaining – it meant the Swede trailed the British WRC2 driver, Gus Greensmith, by 24.6 seconds.
That’s all for the article; Rally Portugal: Solberg loses WRC2 lead after slapped with penalty!
What do you think of Oliver Solberg’s penalty? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
