Oliver Solberg begins leading fog-induced Monte Carlo Rally

swedish pilot Oliver Solberg (Toyota) finished in 1st place Monte Carlo Rally first daythe opening round of the 54th World Rally Championship (WRC), which runs from Thursday to Sunday this week.

The last of the three specials scheduled for this Thursday had to be canceled due to poor visibility and heavy fog with only seven drivers taking part.

Before the red flag came out, the Belgian player Thierry Neuville He has already expressed the need to suspend the route, saying: “In these circumstances any race in the world would have been canceled. It’s extremely dangerous and it doesn’t make sense.”

Three Toyota cars successfully escaped from the trap. At first Oliver Solberg. The son of 2003 world champion Petter Solberg is competing in his first full season in WRC after racing part-time for Hyundai in 2022. He finished the day with a time of 43 minutes 10.3 seconds, 44 seconds ahead of second place.

He surprised by setting the second best time from the first stage (16:11.3), but was especially notable in the second stage (16:47.3), where he beat his teammate by more than 30 seconds. Elfyn Evans (17:18.4).

Evans was exactly second at the end of the three stages with a time of 43:54.5. The British athlete set the best time in the first race (16:05.7) and held on despite worsening running conditions.

3rd place went to a French athlete Sebastian OgierHe is also a Toyota driver and holds a world title. In the second special of the day (17 minutes 56.5 seconds), he was more than a minute behind the leader, but in the third he recovered and beat his teammates’ time, finishing with a cumulative time of 44 minutes 18.9 seconds.

Pilots who fail to complete the third stage will receive a nominal time assigned by the organization based on their remaining records.

The Monte Carlo Rally will see drivers covering a total of over 339 kilometers across 17 stages. The case will continue until this Friday, January 23rd, with dual disputes for three sections of Gap West. Four stages remain, including the Monaco Super Special, on Saturday the 24th, and a further four stages remain on Sunday the 25th.