WRC: Rally Monte Carlo (2014)

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]

minirab · Jan 16, 2014

Steve said: ↑

Kris Meeke onboard, Stage 3.

They hit the snow line at about 5:55 and then road conditions worsen.

They need to put some Aquapel on the glass in front of that camera.

Kris Meeke Onboard SS03/ Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 - YouTube
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wow.

Nathan · Jan 16, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC47DQb4dd4]Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 - Show Time Ostberg & Limit Day 1 [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

Nathan · Jan 16, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvoCHOEdYtA]Rallye Monte-Carlo Day One - Hyundai Shell WRT 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Nathan · Jan 16, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAQBIpfA0E4]SORTIE DE ROUTE OGIER MONTE CARLO 2014 ES3 COL DE PERTY - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Jan 16, 2014

Slicks on ice & snow = bang! Hope he can recover from this.

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

Monte midday wrap: Friday (WRC.com)

17 Jan 2014

Bryan Bouffier continues to lead Rallye Monte-Carlo at the midpoint of day two despite some strong pressure from hard-charging Sebastien Ogier.

The defending world champion leapt into second place with a fastest time on the mammoth 49-kilometre opening stage, but Bouffier fought back on the next test to go fastest by 0.2s.

It was enough to stop Ogier in his tracks. Bouffier said: “I am having to drive quite flat out and close to the edges. It’s a great battle with Seb and I’m doing my best.”

Britain’s Kris Meeke was bumped down to third place following Ogier’s first stage charge but he was pleased with his morning’s work after successfully defended the place from day one sensation Robert Kubica just behind.

Citroen’s Mads Ostberg and VW’s Jari-Matti Latvala hold fifth and sixth places respectively at the end of the morning, while M-Sport World Rally Team duo Elfyn Evans and Mikko Hirvonen occupy seventh and eighth places in their Ford Fiesta RS WRCs.

There was drama in the WRC2 category as a brace of punctures forced the lead to change twice. Overnight pacesetter, Yurii Protasov picked up a puncture in SS7 and that handed the lead to Armin Kremer. But Kremer suffered an identical fate on the next test and that handed the lead back to a grateful Protasov.
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Justa Jim · Jan 17, 2014

Looking good Kris.

Crashton · Jan 17, 2014

Happy to see Kris & Robert doing so well.

Thanks for the coverage Steve!

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

So much for Robert.

Mission not accomplished for Kubica (MaxRally.com)

by Richard Rodgers / 17th January 2014

Robert Kubicaâ€™s bid to finish the Monte Carlo Rally is over after the ex-Formula One crashed out on the second running of Vitrolles-Faye this afternoon.

Kubica started stage nine 0.8s behind Kris Meeke in fourth spot but went off the road into a ditch 32 kilometres into the 49-kilometre run inflicting substantial front-end damage to his Ford Fiesta in the process. â€œI saw his car off just before a bridge,â€ said Meeke. â€œIt was very difficult I just backed right off after I saw his car.â€

Prior to the stage Kubica had told MAXRALLY that his aim was simply to reach the finish in Monaco on Saturday night after he survived a brush with a rock face on stage eight, Selonnet-Breziers.

â€œIt was very bumpy in one corner over the crest when we land and the suspension closed completely and launched us into the mountain,â€ Kubica explained. â€œWe were very lucky because we could have bigger damage after I hit the front and rear of the car.

â€œOur position doesnâ€™t matter to be honest. If someone told me I would finish 24 seconds behind the world champion [Sebastien Ogier on the 49-kilometre Vitrolles-Faye stage this morning] in similar conditions because I was running just behind him I would have signed straight away. But the rally is still long and my priority remains as always to be in the end and I hope to achieve it.â€

Kubica wasnâ€™t the only driver in trouble on stage nine: a spin into a field for Bryan Bouffier cost the Frenchman vital time and handed the lead to Ogier, whose advantage after he won Sisteron-Thoard stands at 22.6s.

Following a regroup in Digne Les Bains, stage 11, Clumanc-Lambruisse, begins at 1800 local time.
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Steve · Jan 17, 2014

Mini on the Monte flashback time.

Miniâ€™s Monte Carlo anniversary (motorsportmagazine.com)

Paul Fearnley | 16 January 2014

Canâ€™t help thinking that the usually perspicacious BMW has missed a trick. But for its maxi budgetary kerfuffle with Prodrive in 2011-â€™12, it might this Sunday have been celebrating the golden anniversary of Paddy Hopkirkâ€™s Monte Carlo Rally victory with another timely win for a Mini â€“ preferably a red one with a white roof (and sponsored, natch) â€“ driven by a Northern Irishman.

Paddy Hopkirk and Henry Liddon with the winning Mini

Both the MINI â€“ in caps presumably because it wasnâ€™t that mini, truth be told â€“ and driver Kris Meeke showed tantalising glimpses of promise during their short WRC time together. We know now, of course, that it wasnâ€™t meant to be.

We should be grateful that Meeke â€“ I am amazed he is 34 â€“ has been awarded another opportunity, this time by a CitroÃ«n in gentle rally decline while its focuses on SÃ©bastien Loeb in the WTCC. Itâ€™s difficult to imagine Meekeâ€™s DS3 defeating the fast and still rising SÃ©bastien Ogier and his mint Volkswagen Polo R, but the Monte can be fickle, as the late, great Colin McRae often found to his cost, and so thereâ€™s always hope. (Meekeâ€™s being second-fastest time behind Ogier in yesterdayâ€™s official shakedown was certainly encouraging.)

Thereâ€™s hope, too, that the WRC, like the WEC, is exhibiting signs of recovery. Ogier is an odds-on favourite, but there are perhaps six others who can reasonably entertain thoughts of victory, as Ford and Hyundai, as well as CitroÃ«n, take the fight to VW.

That said there were almost twice as many retirements (136) from the 1964 Monte as there are entrants (72) for its 2014 iteration.

A lot has changed in 50 years.

Rallying in 1964

The 299-car field of 1964 was initially spread far and wide: from Oslo, Glasgow, Lisbon, Paris and Frankfurt to Athens. Hopkirk and studious co-driver Henry Liddon began their 2700-mile odyssey from Minsk â€“ now in Belarus, then part of the USSR. This was a decision that triggered at least one handbrake turn to avoid a grumpy Red Army soldier wielding a submachine gun.

The gendarme who later intercepted Hopkirk travelling the wrong way along a one-way street and haughtily demanded to see his rally road book â€“ any official â€˜blotâ€™ would have resulted in disqualification â€“ was fobbed off with a cock-and-bull story about a mercy dash to a friendâ€™s funeral.

Hopkirk, now 80, still possesses the gift of the gab and a twinkle in his eye. In a recent interview he explained how rallying then was akin to the Olympics: a nationalistic endeavour as much as a PR platform for the manufacturers. His Monte victory was a victory for British industry.

He also admitted that he had surprised himself in winning.

The Miniâ€™s first outings

Despite the protestations of its ingenious creator Alec Issigonis â€“ he was soon persuaded otherwise â€“ Mini had demonstrated its sporting prowess from the moment Marcus Chambers, then BMCâ€™s comps boss, provided chase support to Pat Mossâ€™s Austin A40 during the 1959 Viking Rally in Norway.

Suffolk farming twins Donald and Erle Morley scored its first international class win on the 1960 Geneva Rally.

.......... <snip>
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Full article here.

Kris Meeke craves Paddy power (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)

By Sammy Hamill â€“ 16 January 2014

The symmetry would be perfect but the possibility of emulating Paddy Hopkirk wasn't on Kris Meeke's mind as he began the Monte Carlo Rally this morning.

It was exactly 50 years ago that Hopkirk stunned the rally world by winning the Monte in a tiny little Mini Cooper, a feat which will be celebrated with a gala dinner in Belfast's Titanic Quarter next month.

It was Hopkirk, too, who helped to launch fellow Ulsterman Meeke on his rally career by picking him out in a "find a driver" competition more than a decade ago.

Now it has come full circle with the 34-year-old former Intercontinental Challenge champion from Dungannon becoming the first driver from Northern Ireland since Hopkirk to tackle the most iconic of all rallies in a car with winning potential. It has been a torturous climb since the day at Silverstone in 2000 when Hopkirk identified the potential in the young rally rookie, fresh out of Queen's University with a first class engineering degree.

There have been huge pitfalls and knockbacks along the way but Meeke's steely determination and belief have finally paid off with a contract to lead the Citroen team into the 2014 World championship.

Just think, a year ago Citroen were on the brink of winning the Monte for a ninth time with the most successful driver of all time, Sebastien Loeb, at the wheel of their factory-prepared DS3.

Twelve months on and Meeke, who is partnered by Kerryman Paul Nagle, has the daunting task of taking his place.

"Citroen Racing has rewritten the WRC record books with Sebastien over the past 10 years and to be a part of that now is fantastic; I know I can count on their vast experience," he said.

"They understand where I am â€“ I've only ever done 10 WRC rounds in a World Rally Car â€“ but they understand my potential too, otherwise I wouldn't have been given this chance.

"There is pressure, but it's different than what you'd find on a one-off appearance. It is a challenge but it feels right."

He adds: "I know I have to temper my enthusiasm. There have been a few occasions in the past when it has got the better of me. But there have always been cases when everything's been riding on a single event; now I know I have a full season ahead of me and I can build throughout that year.
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Justa Jim · Jan 17, 2014

Well, I feel better. Paddy sees promise in Kris, so I am in good company.

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wciYmUzKko8]WRC Monte Carlo 2014 SS9 Vitrolles - Faye 2 Sebastien Ogier tape un talu ! - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BIwOfNEhiI]Stages 7-8: Rallye Monte-Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAXnRgbg1xo]Stages 9-11: Rallye Monte-Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy2_tw-QPCU]Robert Kubica - Crash SS9 - Rallye Monte-Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 17, 2014

Ogier on course for Monte win (WRC.com)

17 Jan 2014

World Champion Sebastien Ogier has edged a step closer to victory on this yearâ€™s Rallye Monte-Carlo after a near-perfect day two performance.

The VW driver, who was fighting back after a forgettable opening day, passed Bryan Bouffier for the lead on this morningâ€™s third stage. The Frenchman made his rivalâ€™s job easier by sliding off the road and landing in a field.

Ogier drew on his championship-winning experience to control the rest of the day and ended with a 51s advantage. â€œToday was much better than yesterday,â€ he said. â€œTomorrow will be difficult with some snow expected on the Col de Turini. But for now I can be happy.â€

Kris Meeke put in another assured performance in his Citroen DS3 WRC to retain third place. His main threat at the start of the day came from ex-f1 star Robert Kubica. However, his rally came to an abrupt end 32km into SS9.

â€œThere was a sudden change of grip,â€ the Pole explained. â€œWe needed to be cautious because we had it marked by our ice crew, but unfortunately I misjudged how big that change would be. We went into the corner, the front went straight on and we hit a bridge.â€

That took the pressure off Meeke and he carved out a 1m 10s lead over his team-mate Mads Ostberg at the final control.

Jari-Matti Latvala edged past impressive M-Sport World Rally Team driver Elfyn Evans to claim fifth place on the final stage, while Mikko Hirvonenâ€™s frustrating rally continued in seventh.

VWâ€™s Andreas Mikkelsen completed the top eight in his Polo R WRC. His progress was hindered when he slid off the road on SS10 and dropped more than four minutes.
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Steve · Jan 17, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmOpwChCTUs]Leg 2 - 2014 WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 18, 2014

Col du Turini today:

Steve · Jan 18, 2014

Ogier onboard from Stage 4.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OHZHxde8RE]Onboard Sebastien Ogier SS04/ Rallye Monte Carlo 2014 - YouTube[/ame]

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