The 24-year-old Swede Oliver Solberg has secured victory in the Monte Carlo rally, the first for a Swedish driver since 1971. With co-driver Elliott Edmondson, he celebrated with family after a demanding season opener. Legend Stig Blomqvist hails the feat as completely incredible.
Oliver Solberg, 24 years old and living in Mitandersfors in Arvika municipality, won the Monte Carlo rally in the World Rally Championship. It is the first Swedish victory in the rally since Ove Andersson won in 1971, following previous wins by Erik Carlsson in 1962 and 1963, and Björn Waldegård in 1969 and 1970. Solberg, who is doing his first full season in the top class WRC1 with Toyota, was seen as a favorite ahead of the opener.
After the 17th stage, where he set the second-best time, victory was secured. Britain's Elfyn Evans finished second, 51.8 seconds behind, while reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier came third, over two minutes back. Solberg and Edmondson climbed onto the car's roof to celebrate their joy.
"It is so emotional, it has been so demanding and stressful," Solberg said to TV4 Play. "I can hardly understand what has happened. It became another emotional day... It is the hardest rally I have done in my entire life." The celebration was interrupted by family: first father Petter Solberg, a former rally world champion, then girlfriend Chloe and mother Pernilla.
Stig Blomqvist, a rally legend from Örebro, praised Solberg: "Completely incredible," he told Radiosporten. Blomqvist himself never won Monte Carlo despite his career. Ogier, who watched the finish with Petter Solberg, commended: "He has done better than anyone expected." Second-place Evans added: "It is his first real rally. He has worked hard for this and is of course deserving of the win."
Solberg debuted in WRC2 in 2019, won the title in 2025, and took his first WRC1 win in Estonia last year. The next rally is in Sweden in February.
