Rally Most liked posts in thread: WRC - 2018

Different conditions today.

 

Challenge

• Essentially an asphalt rally but unpredictable mountain weather brings varied conditions.
• Competitors must expect snow, ice and dry asphalt - often encountering all in the same stage.
• They must balance the need for grip in winter weather with that required for dry asphalt.
• Shrewd tyre selection providing the best compromise for frequently changing conditions is key.
• Experience and the ability to ‘read’ conditions is vital.

Car Setup

• Asphalt suspension.
• Wacky tyre selections which can include studded tyres on opposite corners of the car, matched with dry weather rubber.
• Two spare tyres is normal.
• Additional light pods for Thursday’s night stages.

Event History

• Rallye Monte-Carlo is the WRC’s jewel in the crown and the oldest in the calendar.
• First run in 1911, it was designed to promote Monte-Carlo as a tourist destination, with competitors starting from different European cities before gathering in Monaco.
• The 1966 rally became famed for its controversial outcome when giant-killing Mini Coopers claimed the top three places before being disqualified for alleged infringements of headlight regulations.

What´s new for 2018

• Fifty per cent of the route will be new compared to 2017.
• Thursday night’s classic Thoard - Sisteron stage over the Col de Fontbelle will be contested in that direction for the first time in WRC history.

 

Friday's Monte: Another lucky escape for Ogier (wrc.com)
26 JAN 2018
Rallye Monte-Carlo master Sébastien Ogier escaped an uncharacteristic second error to remain on target for a fifth consecutive win on Friday night.

He spun his Ford Fiesta into a ditch on today’s penultimate speed test and watched his lead of almost 40sec dwindle as fans manhandled it back onto rain-soaked mountain roads in the French Alps.

The incident followed a previous spin on an icy bend during a crazy opening night of the four-day event yesterday, but the Frenchman still led this opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship by 14.9sec from Ott Tänak.

“It was a difficult day but we’re here and still leading,” said Ogier. “It would have been better without the spin, we would have been a minute ahead. Tomorrow must be better.”

Tänak climbed from an overnight fifth but lacked the confidence to push hard in the heavy rain on his Toyota Gazoo Racing debut. Driving a Yaris, the Estonian won two of the day’s six speed tests and was one of three drivers to take on the mantle of Ogier’s closest pursuer.

Andreas Mikkelsen, second overnight, conceded the position after overshooting a junction in the opening stage before retiring on the following liaison section with a broken alternator in his Hyundai i20.

Team-mate Dani Sordo moved up but fell back to third after a mix-up in tyre selection and a misted windscreen delayed the Spaniard. He ended 59.7sec behind Tänak.

Toyota’s Finns, Esapekka Lappi and Jari-Matti Latvala, were fourth and fifth to complete an impressive showing by the Japanese manufacturer. Lappi trailed Sordo by 10.2sec and was just 0.2sec ahead of his colleague, who struggled with understeer this morning.

Kris Meeke was a lonely sixth, the Northern Ireland driver 1min 35.4sec further back in his Citroën C3 and admitting he needed those ahead to hit problems to give him any chance of climbing higher.

Bryan Bouffier was seventh ahead of fellow M-Sport Ford driver Elfyn Evans, who won two stages as he recovered from a time-consuming puncture last night.

Thierry Neuville, who dropped more than four minutes yesterday after sliding into a snow bank, climbed to ninth his i20. The Belgian has set himself the target of a top-six finish.

Craig Breen was a deflated 10th, the Irishman losing more than three minutes this morning with a brake problem in his C3.

Tomorrow drivers face two identical loops of two stages north of Gap before a repeat of last night’s Bayons - Breziers test. After 117.55km of action, they make the long journey south to Monaco ahead of Sunday’s finale in the mountains above the Principality.

 

Thursday's Monte: Ogier overcomes early scare (wrc.com)
26 JAN 2018
World champion Sébastien Ogier recovered from a spin on the opening stage at Rallye Monte-Carlo on Thursday night to secure a handy 17.3sec lead heading into day two.

A number of his rivals weren't quite so lucky as patches of black ice and snow shook up the early leaderboard.

The Frenchman, who was born close to the host town of Gap, used his local knowledge to master the asphalt stages that were smattered with patches of ice that could barely be seen in the darkness.

Despite a slow half spin in the 36.69km Thoard - Sisteron stage, Ogier was fastest through both of the opening speed tests in his M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Fiesta WRC.

He was happy with his start as he went in search of his sixth Rallye Monte-Carlo win. "We knew on the first stage it would be difficult to pass the icy section. Before the spin I was right in the middle of the road doing 10kph. Luckily I managed to stay on the road," he explained.

"The information we got from the ice note crew was correct. We have some small things to improve but it's not a bad start."

Andreas Mikkelsen emerged from the darkness as the second fastest driver overall. The Norwegian managed to keep his Hyundai i20 pointing in the right direction across both opening stages but complained that it was hard to know how hard he could push – without doing anything he would later regret.

Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo was a further 8.3sec behind as he made a positive start to the first rally of the 2018 WRC season. The Spaniard was 11.8sec ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing's fastest driver, Esapekka Lappi. The Finn beamed: "We are on a mission. No mistakes, that was the target tonight. The pace was not the best but it's not so easy to drive on these stages. I need to build up the confidence step-by-step."

Team-mates Ott Tänak and Jari Matti Latvala completed the top six in their respective Yaris WRCs but both men had endured a fraught opening night of competition. Tänak dropped 37.3sec in the opening test when he spun and got stuck, while Latvala slid off the road twice in the same stage and dropped even more time.

"It was very difficult. The road was icy so I went into the snow to try and get some more grip. But it was worse and we spun a couple of times. That's Rallye Monte-Carlo," Latvala said philosophically.

Craig Breen guided his Citroën C3 to seventh place despite getting it stuck when he too suffered a first stage spin. He was 48.7sec clear of 2011 winner Bryan Bouffier who filled eighth spot.

Kris Meeke, Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville all suffered a disastrous first night at Rallye Monte-Carlo and found themselves in ninth, tenth and 11th places respectively.

Meeke and Neuville both spun off the road and got stuck in the opening stage while Evans had to stop his Fiesta to change a puncture after only 12km of the same stage. Meeke ended the day 2m 12.7sec off Ogier's lead while Evans and Neuville were already more than four minutes off the pace as the opening night drew to a close.

The rally resumes on Friday, when crews will tackle six more mountain stages covering a total distance of 144.88km.

 

Saturday’s Monte: Ogier withstands Tänak (wrc.com)
27 JAN 2018
Sébastien Ogier is just four speed tests away from a popular home victory on this weekend’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, but the Frenchman will need to hold his nerve on the final day after Ott Tänak kept him on his toes throughout Saturday with an impressive performance on his Toyota debut.

Ogier and Tänak began leg three of the season curtain-raiser separated by just under 15 seconds in their duel for glory. Although the Frenchman had more than doubled that advantage come day’s end, the figures do not paint the full picture of a see-saw scrap that at one point saw him more than a minute clear.

The M-Sport man produced a virtuoso performance on the opener (SS9: Agnières-en-Dévoluy – Corps), maximising his favourable road position in treacherously snowy conditions to extend his lead over Tänak to 1min 18.4sec – but then the Estonian fought back. Fastest on both SS10 (Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes – La Bâtie-Neuve) and SS11 (a repeat pass through Agnières-en-Dévoluy – Corps) – notwithstanding an excursion into a field in the latter – by the time the cars headed back to evening service in Gap, the margin between the pair was down to just 33.5sec.

“Losing six seconds [to Tänak] on SS13 was what we had allowed for – I wanted to have at least 30 seconds in hand tonight, and that’s what we have,” reflected Ogier. “We perhaps didn’t make the perfect tyre choice for today’s final stage – it was very dirty and we were a bit on the limit – but it’s ok.”

Tänak’s Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala briefly flirted with second spot himself – closing to barely 20 seconds shy with a good run through SS9 – before falling away and settling into a solid and lonely third place. The Finn’s cause was aided when Hyundai rival Dani Sordo crashed out of a podium position on Saturday’s first stage.

Latvala overhauled compatriot Esapekka Lappi in another Yaris as he moved up the order, with the younger Finn falling behind Britain’s Kris Meeke when a mistake precipitated a puncture on SS11. Lappi spent the remainder of the day playing catch-up, with his dogged determination paying off as he reclaimed fourth spot from his Citroën rival on the final stage (SS13: Bayons – Bréziers), leaving a scant 1.6sec between the pair heading into Sunday.

Elfyn Evans sits sixth overnight as the Welshman continues to battle back from opening day misfortune in his Ford Fiesta, with Hyundai’s similarly delayed Thierry Neuville recovering to seventh courtesy of a brace of stage wins on SS12 and SS13.

Bryan Bouffier has slipped to eighth in the classification ahead of Citroën’s Craig Breen, who suffered for being the ‘road-sweeper’ through the snow of SS9. WRC 2 pace-setter Jan Kopecky completes the overall top ten.

Tomorrow, crews will tackle two identical loops of two stages totalling 63.72km in the steep Alpes-Maritimes hills, with no service break. La Bollène-Vésubie – Peïra-Cava and La Cabanette – Col de Braus will each be run twice, with the former comprising the legendary Col de Turini and the latter doubling up as the points-paying Power Stage.