{"id":46620,"date":"2026-01-25T16:30:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T15:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/?p=46620"},"modified":"2026-01-25T22:31:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T21:31:41","slug":"oliver-solberg-claims-historic-victory-at-rallye-monte-carlo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/oliver-solberg-claims-historic-victory-at-rallye-monte-carlo\/","title":{"rendered":"Oliver Solberg Claims Historic Victory at Rallye Monte-Carlo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Competing in his first full WRC season with Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT<\/span>, Solberg seized control from the very first stages on Thursday evening. Together with co-driver Elliott Edmondson<\/span>, the pair built a commanding 44-second lead on the opening day, and from there nothing could stop them.<\/p>\n

With six stage wins<\/span>, Solberg and Edmondson clinched victory in the 94th edition of Rallye Monte-Carlo – a historic triumph that puts them at the top of the FIA World Rally Championship<\/span> ahead of round two, which takes place in Umeå at Rally Sweden<\/span> on 12–15 February.<\/p>\n

“I don’t fully understand it yet,<\/em>” Solberg said at the finish.<\/p>\n

“It’s an emotional day. This was the most difficult rally I’ve ever done in my life. It’s my first Tarmac rally in this car – and here we are as winners. I want to give a huge thank you to Toyota for their trust in me. The teamwork has been absolutely fantastic.”<\/em><\/p>\n

This is Solberg’s second WRC victory<\/span>, following his sensational win on debut in Toyota’s Rally1 car at Rally Estonia last year. He now joins a distinguished group of Swedish winners of the event, widely regarded as one of the toughest rallies in the world.<\/p>\n

Previous Swedish winners include<\/p>\n

• <\/span>Erik “Carlsson on the Roof” Carlsson (Saab 96 – 1962 & 1963)<\/span><\/p>\n

• Björn Waldegård<\/span> (Porsche 911 – 1969 & 1970)<\/p>\n

• <\/span>Ove “The Pope” Andersson (Alpine A110 – 1971)<\/span><\/p>\n

— the last of them 55 years ago.<\/p>\n

Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson now lead the FIA WRC<\/span> by four points over teammate Elfyn Evans<\/span> heading into their home round, Rally Sweden, in just under three weeks.<\/p>\n

The victory once again underlines Sweden’s strong position on the international rally scene.<\/p>\n

“A win in Monte-Carlo is one of the most prestigious achievements in rallying,”<\/em> says Anna Nordkvist<\/span>, CEO of Rally Sweden and the Swedish ASN:s commercial company.<\/p>\n

“Oliver’s victory means a great deal for Rally Sweden and Swedish motorsport, and it shows that Sweden continues to be a strong nation internationally. Monte-Carlo is considered one of the sport’s great classics and attracts the world’s best drivers every year. A Swedish victory there is of huge significance at home as well.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“This is a real statement for Swedish rallying,”<\/em> Nordkvist continues.<\/p>\n

“The result shows that we have an environment capable of developing drivers at the very highest level and continuing to deliver international success. When a Swedish driver wins Monte-Carlo, it strengthens the sport’s position in Sweden.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In modern times, the rally has largely been dominated by the French pair Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb, who together share 18 victories<\/span>. The last Nordic driver to win was Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen<\/span> in 2010, when the event was held outside the WRC.<\/p>\n

Focus now shifts to Sweden, Västerbotten and Umeå, where the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship will take place on 12–15 February<\/span> through Rally Sweden. Solberg, who has won the event three years in a row in WRC2, will now meet the home crowd as the World Championship leader<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Secure your tickets for Rally Sweden today at www.rallysweden.com<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Competing in his first full WRC season with Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Solberg seized control from the very first stages on Thursday evening. Together with co-driver Elliott Edmondson, the pair built a commanding 44-second lead on the opening day, and from there nothing could stop them. With six stage wins, Solberg and Edmondson clinched victory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123687,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123687"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46620"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46622,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46620\/revisions\/46622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rallysweden.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}