The Toksport Skoda driver had dominated the second tier WRC class in Portugal having built up a 35.4s lead over team-mate Gus Greensmith at the end of Saturday.
However, Solberg attracted the attention of the FIA stewards for a piece of exhibition driving, where the son of 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg, elected to perform "doughnuts" following his run at the side by side Lousada super special, in front of a bumper crowd.
Stewards slapped Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson with a one-minute penalty for breaching Article 12.21 of the supplementary regulations in conjunction with Article. 34.1.3 of the 2023 FIA WRC sporting regulations.
As a result of the penalty, Greensmith will lead the WRC2 class by 24.6s from Solberg, who has been demoted from sixth to seventh overall and is now second in class.
“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,” read the stewards report.
“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.
Source: Autosport