Saturday
SS9 LARDIER ET VALENCA - FAYE 1 (51.55 km)
Sebastien Ogier stamped his authority on Rallye Monte-Carlo in Saturday’s opening speed test to stretch his lead to 20.1sec after a crushing drive through the longest special stage of this opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Opening the road in his Volkswagen Polo R, Ogier was 10.6sec faster than closest rival Kris Meeke in the 51.55km stage from Lardier et Valenca to Faye.
“With no splits I had no idea what was happening in the stage. It was very slippery, a lot more icy than I expected,” said the Frenchman.
Meeke was far from dispirited after regaining time from Ogier in the final 10km. “There was a lot of debris on the road, even snow because there are little tiny snow banks on the side. I did the best I could on the road I had. If I want to be first on the road in Monte-Carlo then I have to be world champion,” said the DS 3 driver.
Jari-Matti Latvala was third, albeit 31.3sec off Ogier’s pace, with a happier Thierry Neuville fourth. The Belgian modified the suspension settings on his Hyundai i20 to provide a better feeling on the slippery and bumpy sections.
Neuville climbed to fourth ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen, who dropped 1min 13.5sec after a bad tyre choice. The Norwegian opted for two Michelin studded tyres on roads that were essentially clear with patchy ice.
“We tried something different but I think it has dried more than we expected since the gravel crews went through. It should be better on the next one, we’ll make the best of it,” said the Norwegian.
Dani Sordo limped to the finish with a suspected broken rear suspension arm on his i20 after hitting a bank. He stopped to replace a broken wheel rim in the stage and was reported to be working on the car after the finish.
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Stage times:
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SS10 ST LEGER LES MELEZES-LA BATIE NEUVE 1 (17.13 km)
Andreas Mikkelsen used the grip offered by four studded tyres to deliver a remarkable stage victory on the snowiest roads encountered so far at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
The Norwegian was the only top driver to choose four spiked tyres on Saturday morning. They were unsuited to the opening stage when he dropped more than a minute, but were perfect for the snowy roads of the Ancelle ski slopes.
The Volkswagen Polo R driver was 2.0sec faster on the initial uphill section but used the grip to his advantage on the downhill section to win the 17.13km test by 43.9sec.
“We had the best tyre choice on this one. I pushed very hard on the downhill section, but over the two stages I’m not sure this was the best option,” said Mikkelsen.
Leader Sebastien Ogier was second fastest in his Polo R to extend his lead to 30.2sec over Kris Meeke, who conceded a further 10sec in Citroen’s DS 3.
“We slid wide and hit something on the outside of a corner,” said the Briton. “It was an incredibly difficult stage and after that I lost confidence.”
Most drivers had only two studded tyres available and struggled on the treacherous downhill section to the finish. Third fastest Jari-Matti Latvala summed it up best: “I don’t know if I have ever driven in such difficult conditions. The hairpins were very slippery and two or three times I had to use full throttle just to keep going,” said the Finn.
Dani Sordo fixed the suspension problem on his Hyundai i20 after the previous stage but a gearshift issue hindered him here. Team-mate Hayden Paddon spun three times, St?phane Lefebvre dropped 25sec with a spin and Bryan Bouffier became stuck in a hairpin and required spectator help to restart.
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Stage Times:
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SS11 LARDIER ET VALENCA - FAYE 2 (51.55 km)
Jari-Matti Latvala’s hopes of a Rallye Monte-Carlo podium took a setback when he limped to the end of the event’s longest speed test with suspension damage to the front of his Volkswagen Polo R.
Third-placed Latvala slipped into a water-filled ditch two-thirds of the way through the second pass of the marathon 51.55km test from Lardier et Valenca to Faye. He lost 1min 50sec struggling to the finish with a broken suspension arm.
Latvala, who dropped to fifth, stopped 500 metres after the finish to replace the damaged arm before continuing. He must tackle two more stages and complete the long journey south to Monaco before his Volkswagen team has any opportunity to check Latvala’s handiwork ahead of tomorrow’s final leg.
Kris Meeke was quickest by 3.4sec from Sebastien Ogier, the DS 3 driver reducing the deficit at the head of the leaderboard to 26.8sec.
“Your instinct is to try to read the road but it’s difficult here. There was a lot of black ice but in other areas it was melting and quite wet,” said the Briton.
Andreas Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville climbed to third and fourth after Latvala’s problem, but the Belgian was just 0.5sec ahead of the Finn after losing a minute himself.
“We’re trying something else with the tyres, a crossover on this one,” said Neuville. “We lost a minute, which is what we were expecting.”
Stephane Lefebvre and Bryan Bouffier were fourth and fifth to retain seventh and eighth overall.
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Afternoon:
SS12 ST LEGER LES MELEZES-LA BATIE NEUVE 2 (17.13 km)
Kris Meeke (below) and Jari-Matti Latvala both retired from Rallye Monte-Carlo during a dramatic Saturday afternoon in the mountains near Gap.
Second-placed Meeke, who was the only driver to mount a challenge to leader Sebastien Ogier, went off the road briefly in the second pass through the St Leger les Melezes - La Batie Neuve speed test.
The Briton jumped out of the car at the stage finish to examine underneath the front of Citroen’s DS 3. He left without talking to journalists and retired with a damaged gearbox at the entrance to the tyre fitting zone at Tallard, ahead of today’s final stage.
Latvala yielded third after dropping 1min 50sec in SS11 when he slid into a water-filled ditch and broke his Volkswagen Polo R’s front left suspension arm. He fitted a replacement after the finish and set off for SS12, but retired after realising he would be too late to start the test.
Both will not restart tomorrow as there is no Rally 2 service facility ahead of the final leg.
Hyundai completed a clean sweep of the top three times in SS12. Thierry Neuville’s clever tyre strategy, which meant he had two studded winter tyres and two unstudded units fitted to his i20, were perfect for the slushy conditions and he was fastest by 13.4sec from Hayden Paddon with Dani Sordo third.
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SS13 SISTERON - THOARD (36.60 km)
Sebastien Ogier will start Sunday's final leg of Rallye Monte-Carlo with a near two-minute lead after his two closest challengers retired during a dramatic Saturday afternoon in the French Alps.
Although the Frenchman won only one of today's five speed tests near Gap, he journeyed south to Monaco with a 1min 59.7sec advantage over Volkswagen team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen. Thierry Neuville was 12.5sec back in third.
Kris Meeke, who twice demoted Ogier from the lead in an exciting opening two legs, retired from second. The Briton hit debris in the penultimate test, holing the sump guard on his DS 3 and damaging the gearbox.
"It's a shame for Kris as he was very fast this weekend and we had to produce a big performance to stay ahead of him," said Polo R driver Ogier. "It was an exciting fight. Now it's a different rally for me, I just have to concentrate on getting to the finish."
Third-placed Jari-Matti Latvala slid into a ditch in SS11 and broke the front left suspension arm on his Polo R. He made repairs after the test but had no chance of checking in at the next control in time and called a halt.
There is no Rally 2 service facility available in Monaco tonight and so neither Meeke nor Latvala will restart tomorrow.
Mikkelsen dropped over a minute after a bad tyre choice this morning but recovered to head Neuville by more than a minute. However, the Belgian's inspired selection of winter tyres for the final two stages ensured victory in both in Hyundai's new-specification i20 and he closed in.
Modified suspension settings provided a better feeling for Neuville on the slippery and bumpy sections after a difficult opening two days.
Mads Ostberg steered clear of trouble to hold fourth in his Ford Fiesta RS, the Norwegian still fine-tuning his pace note relationship with new co-driver Ola Floene. He is 2min 13.7sec behind Neuville and more than three minutes clear of Stephane Lefebvre's DS 3.
Lefebvre twice spun but headed Bryan Bouffier in sixth. However, Bouffier broke the rear left suspension arm on his Ford Fiesta RS in the last stage and used a ratchet strap to try to hold it together before embarking on the long liaison section to Monaco.
Ott Tanak was seventh ahead of Dani Sordo, who lost six minutes with damaged suspension in the opening stage. WRC 2 leader Elfyn Evans and Armin Kremer completed the leaderboard.
Sunday's final leg contains three stages covering 45.50km. Two passes over the 12.07km Col de L'Orme - St Laurent sandwich the 21.35km test from La Bollene Vesubie to Peira Cava. The latter contains the famous Col de Turini, one of the highlights of the WRC season, where huge crowds will gather to watch competitors cross the famous mountain.
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