Solberg disqualified from Sweden

Solberg, who won the event last year, was thrown out after he was judged not to have taken the start of SS18 within the maximum allowed 20 seconds.

Solberg dropped eight minutes in SS18 after the engine stalled at the start and a problem with the starter motor meant he had trouble getting going again.

Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills got out of the car to push the car into the stage and get the car into a place where they could work on it and continue, but stewards judged that it was still a contravene of the rules.

Solberg was only 19th at the end after an incredible catalogue of disasters in the event.

The Norwegian's rear driveshaft failed during the opening stage, forcing him to drive the first two stages in two-wheel drive, losing him nearly three minutes.

Then, on a road section, the car got stuck in neutral and Solberg and Mills had to get out and work under the car to manually wedge the transmission into first gear.

By the time they had got the car back to service he was thirteen minutes late, meaning a further 2 minutes and 10 seconds of time penalties.

A new gearbox was fitted only for it to suffer an intermittent problem a day later, when Solberg chose to drive SS11 in just fourth gear.

In SS13 he lost two and a half minutes after he hit a steel post concealed in a snow bank and damaged the front-right steering arm.

This morning he spun in SS16 and stalled his engine before the eight-minute delay at the start of SS18, which led to his exclusion.

"I can't remember anything like this," Solberg said. "I think I did one or maybe two stages without any problems.

"The car stopped on the start-line because of the clutch system, and an alternator wire went off, so I couldn't start the car again."