Most liked posts in thread: WRC: Rally Monte Carlo (2014)

Steve · Jan 19, 2014

Take your pick, they're all good. :yesnod:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waFLbOQsqFc]82Â° Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 stage 13 day 3 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD-e3IZOvCs]WRC - Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 [HD - Pure Sound] - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyC0Vi00pkA]82Ã©me Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 19, 2014

Ogier: Monte could have been so different (WRC.com)

Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Sebastien Ogier has admitted his world title defence could have got off to a very different start if his team hadn’t made some improvements to his VW Polo R WRC during the close season.

The Frenchman, who along with co-driver Julien Ingrassia picked up his winners’ trophy from the prince’s palace in Monaco this morning, came close to disaster on the first corner of the very first stage when he understeered into a wall.

He feared it was a rally-ending moment. But the strength of his car came to the rescue and he marched on to win the event by 1m 18s.

“We had a bit of luck this weekend, we have to admit that,” Ogier said. “Our race could have ended on the first corner. All the road section was very humid and then on the first corner of the first stage there was small slush on the road. We understeered into a wall.”

“Fortunately, the improvements we made on the car during the winter were quite clever because we reinforced all the steering and suspension. Now, I think that was a good idea.”

Nearly all of the crews were caught out by the unexpected wintry conditions on Thursday’s first stage and Ogier blamed his mistake on a wrong tyre choice. Just like his rivals, he was using Michelin’s super-soft slick tyre.

Ogier added: “We struggled a lot with the weather information on day one, but fortunately, everyone copied us. If someone had taken four snow tyres, they would maybe have taken a five-minute lead.”

VW Motorsport boss, Jost Capito, acknowledged that Ogier had been fortunate. “If he would have crashed like that in last year’s car, he might have been gone,” he said.
Click to expand...

Steve · Jan 19, 2014

And that wasn't his only lucky moment.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTNnLw_0QtY"]Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 SS9 Sebastien Ogier Crash WRC sorti de route VW .by nico pharel - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Jan 19, 2014

That was luckier than his first off. Yikes!

Steve · Jan 19, 2014

Nice writeup.

MAXRALLY Monte Carlo wrap (MaxRally.com)

by Anthony Peacock / 19th January 2014

All you need to know about the Monte Carlo Rally, as seen by our correspondent Anthony Peacock.

Would Paddy Hopkirk â€“ the winner in 1964 â€“ recognise the Monte Carlo Rally now? Probably not, if only for the simple reason that half a century earlier, huge swathes of Monaco werenâ€™t even built yet. At the time, the royal family were still looking at land reclamation projects as an exotic project for the future, and there were only a few, comparatively modest, skyscrapers dotting the skyline. A far cry from the Beverley Hills-on-Sea that the Principality has become now.

Hopkirk started his rally from Minsk in Russia (now Belarus) which he described as a â€œmassive adventureâ€. As Paddy put it: â€œwho wouldnâ€™t want to go there?â€

We can supply him with a list if heâ€™s still wonderingâ€¦

Since the concentration run was abolished in 1996, the rules are very different, but one thing remains the same: Monte Carlo is still the toughest event on the World Rally Championship, because of its duration and sheer unpredictability. To some extent the current event is fettered by the usual FIA regulations regarding distance and format: the reason why it split from the WRC to join the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in 2009, returning to the WRC in 2012.

But part of the charm of the Automobile Club de Monaco is the fact that they have always done things their own way (very much like the quintessentially French Automobile Club de lâ€™Ouest, which controls Le Mans).

So Monte is an event like no other. There is a pastis bar in the press office, for example, open from the early hours of the morning, and the staff uniforms throughout the rally are impeccable: there are more blazers per square kilometre than you would find in Jermyn Street: the tailoring capital of London.

Thatâ€™s why winning it feels very special, and itâ€™s testimony to how easily Sebastien Ogier has assumed the mantle of power that the fact this was only his first Monte win actually feels surprising. Undoubtedly it was one of the Frenchmanâ€™s greatest wins yet, given that he had to fight back from ninth place at one point on day one to achieve it.

The reason behind his tribulations was the usual Monte dilemma of tyre choice, which is capable of gaining and losing competitors those enormous chunks of time that are never seen anywhere else. Play the system properly and it will work to your advantage, even if you start off with comparatively modest resources. No wonder there is such a commonly-made analogy to the roulette wheel in the Principalityâ€™s famous casino.

The perfect example of this situation was Bryan Bouffier, who maximised every opportunity that came his way to claim another podium, off the back of his IRC win in 2011. Or Kris Meeke, who hadnâ€™t even seen the event since 2010 (when he went off on day two) and finished a remarkable third for Citroen, silencing his doubters.

The seed to their successful performances was actually sown on the first day, when Bryan and Kris were the only people to take winter tyres whereas the others took slicks. â€œI didnâ€™t actually realise Bryan had the same choice as me,â€ explained Meeke. â€œI knew that we had absolutely the right tyre for the conditions and I thought we could do well, so I just stayed cautious because I thought nobody else had the same choice. Had I known Bryan was on them too, I might have pushed a bit harderâ€¦â€

But Monte is full of â€˜had I knownsâ€™. Had Xavier Panseri, Bouffierâ€™s co-driver known that the road looped round the other way in the middle of SS11, he would not have missed out five kilometres of stage in their pace notes. They only realised the mistake once their gravel crew had been through the stage a few hours before and noticed a considerable discrepancy between the scenery in front of them and what was written down in the pace note book. Cue some frantic ringing round to make alternative arrangements. In the end, the crew got hold of Dominique Savignoni (Francois Delecourâ€™s co-driver) who was able to dictate the missing five kilometres of notes down the phone to them. That still cost them 30 seconds thoughâ€¦

The best way to avoid making mistakes of course is to try and avoid making too many decisions for yourself, which is why Elfyn Evans had exactly the right attitude in cheerfully admitting that he was largely doing what he was told when it came to tyre choice. To wheel out a tired clichÃ© (but clichÃ©s are only clichÃ©s because they contain fundamental truths) a star was born in Monte Carlo in the shape of the young Welshman.

Elfynâ€™s sixth place in Sardinia last year was astonishing, but he proved it was no fluke by matching that in Monte Carlo. It wasnâ€™t just the result that marked him out: it was the way he achieved it. Diligently, intelligently, and humbly.

Malcolm Wilson said that he was very, very pleased by what he saw. Something really quite special. The boss wasnâ€™t quite as bowled over by the performance of Mikko Hirvonen, but to be fair, neither was Mikko himself. Elfyn was ahead of his experienced Finnish team mate by the end of the first day, but the young Welshman wasnâ€™t getting carried away by that â€“ one of the reasons why he is so highly rated.

â€œTo be honest, itâ€™s only happened because Iâ€™ve gone with the conservative tyre choices and Mikko has tried something different,â€ he said at the first service halt in Gap. â€œI wouldnâ€™t read too much into it.â€

The wider point weâ€™re making here is that despite the loss of their established 2013 stars, both Citroen and M-Sport have plenty to be happy about. Itâ€™s going to be a very interesting season where consistency will pay off, because at some point, Ogier and Volkswagen will slip up â€“ itâ€™s happened before. Mikkoâ€™s retirement will sadly have far-reaching consequences for him: heâ€™s played his joker already.

And what of Hyundai, the new kids on the block? They made a bold statement with a huge investment and a motorhome that has not just moved the hospitality game up a notch, but changed it completely. A bit like Jaguarâ€™s entry into Formula One in 2000, for those of us old enough to remember that, and everyone knows how that ended.

The real work goes on behind the scenes though and it seems that Hyundai has everything it needs to succeed. The one thing they couldnâ€™t quite control was the mentality of their number one driver. Team principal Michel Nandan admitted that when he saw the first split on stage one, he knew it was too fast. And these things can happen when you push hard, is basically what an insouciant Thierry concluded afterwards.

Compare and contrast with Robert Kubica, who won the first two stages to build up more than a half-minute lead and then crashed on the first stage of day two from fourth place. Robert was completely mortified, but had absolutely no need to be. Thierry could learn a bit from that.
Click to expand...

Steve · Jan 20, 2014

For those interested, there are a bunch of pics posted on Kris Meeke's site. All watermarked, unfortunately, but still pretty good.

Steve · Jan 20, 2014

Some good footage in this one.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltowzL3kkNU]Best of WRC Montecarlo 2014 | Drift, Crash & Maximum attack [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Jan 10, 2014

Spectators have been know to shovel snow onto the stages to make things more interesting too. :frown2:

Hope it is a snow covered route this year. Looking forward to it.

Thanks for the pre-event coverage Steve.

Crashton · Jan 14, 2014

Nice video. I wish Robert the best of luck.

Man that car was set up stiff.

Steve · Jan 15, 2014

Shakedown was today.

Top 10 times:

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

Posn

Driver

Car

Time

1 S. Ogier VW Polo R WRC 2m 15.3s

=2 K. Meeke Citroen DS3 WRC 2m 16.5s

=2 M. Ostberg Citroen DS3 WRC 2m 16.5s

4 J-M. Latvala VW Polo R WRC 2m 18.2s

5 R. Kubica Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2m 18.3s

6 T. Neuville Hyundai i20 WRC 2m 18.4s

7 M. Hirvonen Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2m 18.8s

=8 D. Sordo Hyundai i20 WRC 2m 20.4s

=8 A. Mikkelsen VW Polo R WRC 2m 20.4s

10 B. Bouffier Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2m 21.9s

Justa Jim · Jan 15, 2014

Wise on both their parts. This is a new team and and the past is the past.

Also glad to see VW up there. Looks like they plan to go for it in a big way.

This should be a good season, so keep them coming Steve.

Nathan · Jan 15, 2014

Yay. WRC is getting underway again

Steve · Jan 16, 2014

Holy crap, a tumultuous opening day for the Monte!

Can't wait to see the videos! (which, of course, I will post...when I eventually find them)

After 6 stages:

1st Bouffier
2nd Meeke
3rd Kubica
4th Ogier
5th Ostberg
6th Evans
7th Latvala
8th Hirvonen
9th Mikkelsen

I think both of the Hyundais are officially retired.

Monte midday wrap: Thursday (WRC.com)

The opening morning of Rallye Monte-Carlo was packed with drama and threw up more than a few surprises.

Although all of the crews have ice note teams that inspect the stages around two hours before the competition gets underway, they were all caught out by an unexpected amount of snow and ice on the opening 25km test.

Like almost all of his rivals, reigning World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier was using super-soft slick tyres on SS1 and promptly crashed into a wall on the very first corner. It wasnâ€™t a good start.

Just behind him, Hyundaiâ€™s Thierry Neuville became the first retirement. He was 4.5s faster than Ogier at the first split time, but his excitement got the better of him and he crashed into a telegraph pole a couple of corners later. Damage to the rear of his i20 meant he was unable to continue.

Robert Kubica ignored all the drama that was unfolding around him to set fastest times on both of the opening stages. Everyone knew the ex-F1 driver was fast, but the speed with which he got to grips with the unpredictable Monte conditions surprised many. His Ford Fiesta RS WRC was the car to beat.

But on the final stage in the opening loop, the standings changed again. The catalyst was a lengthy section of snow part way through SS3. It was a disaster for those on slick tyres, but great news for those with a couple of snow tyres in the boot of their cars.

Frenchman Bryan Bouffier fitted a snow tyre to one his carâ€™s front corners and repeated the exercise on an opposite corner at the rear. That gave him just enough grip to set the fastest time on SS3 and move into the overall rally lead.

Citroenâ€™s Kris Meeke did the same and moved up in to second place, while Dani Sordo followed suit and leapt in to third overall.

Kubica, who didnâ€™t have the benefit of snow tyres, was unable to match the ultimate pace on SS3 and dropped to fourth place. Ford World Rally Team driver Elfyn Evans was second quickest on SS3 and moved up to fifth place overall, while Mads Ostbergâ€™s Citroen finished the morning in sixth place.

In the WRC2 category, Lorenzo Bertelli set the early pace in his Ford Fiesta R5 and led the way after the first couple of stages to hold a 37-second lead over Yurii Protasov heading into the third test.

But the Italian dropped almost a minute on SS3 and promptly dropped down to second place, behind his Ukranian rival. Irelandâ€™s Michael Barrable finished the morning in third place at the wheel of his Tunnocks World Rally Team Fiesta.

In the WRC3 category, the sole entry of Gilbert Quentin remains on course for a maximum points score after making it to the opening loop of stages unscathed.

The same loop of three stages would be re-run after lunch to complete Thursdayâ€™s first leg.
Click to expand...

Monte-Carlo Day one update (WRC.com)

Thereâ€™s plenty happening on day one of Rallye Monte-Carlo. Here is a run down of the headline-making events and incidents that are shaping the early leaderboard. We'll update it as the day goes on:

Another Hyundai hiccup on SS5

Retiring on a stage is hard to take. But retiring on a road section is impossible to comprehend. That was the fate that befell Dani Sordo before SS5. The Spaniard was hoping to get even closer to second-place Kris Meeke on the stage but his Hyundai i20 WRC developed an electrical fault on the road section and ground to a halt. He and Marc Marti tried desperately to get their car moving again but they failed. Their rally was over.

Sebastien Ogier gave his local fans a little bit of hope with a fastest time on SS5. He opted to use two winter tyres and two super-soft slicks on his VW Polo R WRC and it was a combination that worked in the muddy conditions that he encountered. He was 6.5s faster than his team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala to leap up to fourth place overall.

Lessons learned on SS4:

The drama on the morningâ€™s stages clearly taught people a few lessons, particularly when it came to tyre selection. The super-soft slicks that were favoured in the morning, were superseded by winter tyres in the afternoon. That gave everyone the grip they were looking for on the sodden re-run stages.

Jari-Matti Latvala got his rally back on track after a disappointing morning that left him squandering in 18th place. He was fastest by 10.8s on the fourth test and moved into 10th overall. â€œThe feeling is much better now,â€ the VW driver said. â€œI used four winter tyres and that was absolutely correct.â€

Bryan Bouffier, Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo held station at the head of the field, although Hyundai driver Sordo managed to reduce the gap to second-place Meeke from 27.9s to 6.1s over the 25km . Sordo said: â€œUsing the snow tyres on the wet roads was definitely the right choice. It meant we didnâ€™t aquaplane in all the water on the surface.â€

All change on SS3

Fortunes on SS3 depended on what tyres you had in the boot of your car. Only a handful of drivers opted to take a brace of snow tyres on this morningâ€™s loop of stages â€“ and one of them was Bryan Bouffier. By fitting one snow tyre on the front and one on the rear of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC, he was able to take a massive chunk of time out of his closest rivals and leap into the overall lead by 41.5s.

Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans and Kris Meeke also benefited from having snow tyres on board for SS3. Meeke jumped into second place overall and Sordo took third place. Robert Kubica, the rally leader going into the stage, didnâ€™t have snow tyres and promptly dropped to fourth place.

A smoother SS2

With less wintry conditions greeting the crews at Rosans-Ste Marie-La Charce, events arenâ€™t quite as dramatic on SS2. Robert Kubica continued his excellent start by going quickest on this test. He was 4.6s faster than VWâ€™s Jari-Matti Latvala to extend his overall rally lead to 36.8s over Sebastien Ogier who was clinging on to second place.

Bryan Bouffier, who was second on SS1, lost time on SS2 and dropped to fourth place overall. The Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver was 27.5s off the quickest pace. â€œI tried to drive safe,â€ he explained.

Kris Meeke praised the work of his ice note crew as his third fastest time ensured he held on to third place overall. The Citroen driver said: â€œWe had some excellent info from our ice note crew. There was some black ice that almost caught me out in a few places, but weâ€™re doing okay.â€

Privateer Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver, Martin Prokop, retired before he got to the start of SS2. The battery on his M-Sport-prepared machine wasnâ€™t charging at the end of SS1 and he failed to make it to the beginning of the next test. His rally is over.

Drama on SS1

The day gets off to the worst possible start for Hyundaiâ€™s Thierry Neuville. His debut in the i20 WRC is going well at the first split time as heâ€™s a stunning 4.5 seconds faster than stage opener Sebastien Ogier at the first split. But his challenge falls apart a few corners later as he crashes at the 6km mark.

He and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul are okay, but their rally is over. Sadly, itâ€™s the Belgianâ€™s third consecutive Rallye Monte-Carlo retirement on the opening loop of stages.

Reigning World Rally Champion, Sebastien Ogier, fails to top the first stage time sheets as many people expected. The Frenchman, who was born in the nearby town of Gap, starts the stage on super-soft slick tyres and, with snow covering the road early on, he loses a significant amount of time after he ploughs his VW Polo R WRC into a wall on the first corner. He makes it to the stage finish but he isnâ€™t impressed.

Robert Kubica overcomes the unexpected snowy conditions and proves to be a first stage revelation! The former F1 driver, making his WRC debut in an M-Sport-prepared Ford Fiesta RS WRC, blasts his way to a time that is 19.1 seconds faster than Ogierâ€™s best and 14.3s quicker than second-place man Bryan Bouffier. He says: €œThat was very tough â€“ the hardest stage of my life. We were not expecting snow, so it was very tricky.â€
Click to expand...

Crashton · Jan 16, 2014

Sounds like a great start to the rally. Changing conditions making last minute tire changes necessary. Swapping tires on transits, old school rally at its finest.

Steve · Jan 16, 2014

Second all that.

Also, yeah, Neuville is definitely out...

Since the Monte has no Rally2 restart rule, Hyundai is completely out of the rally.

Obviously frustrating for them but, as some have pointed out, they ought to be still testing. Remember, VW was credited with winning the championship last year in their first year out, but they signed Ogier and ran him in a Skoda for a year while they continued to test before finally starting the next year. If Hynudai can start consistently finishing rallies before mid-season they ought to consider it a good effort. Based on Neuville and Sordo's pace early on today, my guess is they can do a lot better than just finishing...

Steve · Jan 16, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPyJhplySCk#t=95]Stages 1-3: Rallye Monte-Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 16, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cF1BQC1iJA]Neuville' Hyundai i20 WRC after Crash - Rally Monte-Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Jan 16, 2014

That's pretty comprehensively bent. Short rally for the Hyundai team. Better luck next time.

Steve · Jan 16, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiW8CFg08iM]Stages 4-6: Rallye Monte-Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 16, 2014

Some fun amateur footage in this one.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjkxviZLMr0#t=71]Highlights rally Monte Carlo 2014 day1 by Ouhla lui - YouTube[/ame]

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Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
Posn	Driver	Car	Time

1	S. Ogier	VW Polo R WRC	2m 15.3s
=2	K. Meeke	Citroen DS3 WRC	2m 16.5s
=2	M. Ostberg	Citroen DS3 WRC	2m 16.5s
4	J-M. Latvala	VW Polo R WRC	2m 18.2s
5	R. Kubica	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	2m 18.3s
6	T. Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	2m 18.4s
7	M. Hirvonen	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	2m 18.8s
=8	D. Sordo	Hyundai i20 WRC	2m 20.4s
=8	A. Mikkelsen	VW Polo R WRC	2m 20.4s
10	B. Bouffier	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	2m 21.9s

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