WRC: Rallye Monte-Carlo 2012

Steve · Jan 19, 2012

Steve said: ↑

Hey Crash, there was snow on Stage 2/4 today (I'll be looking for video of course) and there's talk of snowfall tomorrow on the Col du Turini.
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I must have mixed up something here. I read today that they expected snow but didn't get any. On the other hand, the Col du Turini stage isn't until Sat...

When they do get to the Turini, snow or no snow, it should be interesting because the repeat stage runs on Sat should be in the dark (if I'm reading the schedules right).

Steve · Jan 19, 2012

Sordo back into 2nd! I'd say this is what they call a see-saw battle.

Sordo 2nd on the stage, 7th Campana, 10th Araujo, 18th Nobre.

SS10: Sordo reclaims second as Ogier crashes (wrc.com)

19 Jan 12
Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS10, Lamastre-Gilhoc-Alboussiere (21.66 kilometres)

Dani Sordo is back into second place on Rallye Monte-Carlo after going 6.1s faster than rival Petter Solberg on Thursdayâ€™s final stage. However, there was drama when Sebastien Ogier suffered a high-speed crash in his Volkswagen Motorsport Skoda Fabia Super 2000.

Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia were uninjured in the incident approximately five kilometres from the stage finish but their impressive run on the World Rally Championship season-opener - they were sixth overall at the time - is over.

Elsewhere, a fifth fastest stage time of the day for Sebastien Loeb means the eight-time world rally champion has grown his overall lead to 1m37.5s.

Loeb, who took 14m00.1s to complete the test, said: â€œIt was really good, no problem at all. Today was easier than yesterday, more like a normal Tarmac rally but it was still tricky because it was very muddy in places. But Iâ€™m feeling good and I will try to push. I donâ€™t know what will happen tomorrow and with the conditions suiting me I tried to take everything I can.â€

Sordo was six seconds slower than Loeb in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC. He told World Rally Radio: â€œI always lose a lot of time at the first splits but then I take a bit of time and I donâ€™t understand. I try to drive very clean and I will try to continue our battle with Petter tomorrow but the weather may be difficult so we will see.â€

Solberg, who dropped to third in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC after recording a time of 14m12.2s, said: â€œThere was so much mud in some places and I really struggled. Thatâ€™s the only thing I can think of. Weâ€™ve lost second but itâ€™s a long way to go.â€

M-Sport Fiesta driver Evgeny Novikov is now 6.0s behind Citroenâ€™s Mikko Hirvonen in the fight for fourth after another solid effort by the young Russian. Hirvonen, meanwhile, said: â€œIn some areas Iâ€™m making progress and finding a rhythm but when itâ€™s slippery I donâ€™t have the confidence. But the more mileage I get the more confident I get.â€

Francois Delecour completed the stage with a smoking Fiesta. He was 24.7s down on Loebâ€™s best time but holds sixth position.

MINI driver Pierre Campana has overtaken Ott Tanak for seventh after the Estonianâ€™s Fiesta stalled at the stage start and refused to fire up for several seconds.

A 45-minute service halt in Valence now awaits the crews. Fridayâ€™s action gets underway with the 23.28-kilometre St Jean en Royans - Font dâ€™Urle test at 10:02hrs local time. There is talk of rain and even snow affecting tomorrowâ€™s route.
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Steve · Jan 19, 2012

This one is from last night. I forgot Sordo had two incidents with damage yesterday.

MINI satisfied with Monte-Carlo return (wrc.com)

19 Jan 12
MINI's return to Rallye Monte-Carlo, an event it won three times in the 1960s with its legendary Cooper S model, has got off to a "satisfying" start according to new team principal Dave Wilcock.

Dani Sordo is second overall after four stages with new team-mate Pierre Campana eighth in their Prodrive-prepared MINI John Cooper Works WRCs.

â€œThis has been a satisfying first day of Monte Carlo for us, especially as we have got both our cars back to Valence [service] after covering a third of the rally,â€ said Wilcock, who has taken over from David Richards as MINIâ€™s team principal. â€œDani could have been added to the list of victims this morning after his accident on stage two when he clipped [the] left rear after braking hard on a left-hand corner. This did serious damage to the left rear, and then when he went off into the snow the right front also took a heavy hit. The team has done a great job to get the car all straight again, and you wouldnâ€™t even know it has had an accident.â€

Despite the strong start to the World Rally Championship qualifier, Wilcock is remaining cautious with four days of the event still left to run: â€œIf we can keep our noses clean for the next few days and can get to Monaco in a similar position we shall be extremely happy. Our weather forecasts for towards the end of the week predict more snow, and obviously that will bring its own challenges. We have to be careful with our tyre allocations to make sure we have enough snow tyres in good condition for those final stages, so right now it is a bit of a balancing act.â€
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Steve · Jan 19, 2012

Monte day two review: Loeb enjoys the sunshine (MaxRally.com)

19th January 2012

Sebastien Loeb did everything you would expect him to on day two of the 2012 World Rally Championship opener - dominating from the front and leaving Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg to provide the close action, while the rally lost a major entertainment factor when Sebastien Ogier demolished his S2000 Skoda.

Jari-Matti Latvala's crash while leading by half a minute late on day one didn't just break hearts at Ford, it also caused most rally fans' shoulders to sag (except perhaps among the French contingent), as the prospect of the Finn trying to fend off a charging Loeb for the rest of the week was a tantalising one.

Instead, the leaderboard showed a five-time Monte Carlo winner and eight-time world champion a minute clear of the pack with only one of four days completed, and from that position Loeb was only ever going to get further away.

Even with a big lead in his pocket, Loeb had no intention of backing off - and won five of today's six stages to increase his advantage to 1m37s, admitting that he was determined to build a cushion in case today's benign weather was shortlived.

"Today was easier than yesterday - it was more like a tarmac rally," said Loeb. "It was still tricky, but the feeling was good and I tried to push because we don't know what will happen tomorrow.

"Today the conditions were suiting me and the car, so I tried to take everything I can. We have information that maybe the weather could be worse tomorrow - maybe rain, maybe snow on the top. We will see."

While Loeb produced his masterclass, the battle for second place remained very close and hugely significant. Whatever tyres they chose and whatever frustrations they endured - with neither man totally happy with his driving today - nothing could separate Sordo and Solberg. They swapped places four times and headed for service split by only three seconds in Sordo's favour.

For both drivers, a podium would be a superb result. Ford desperately needs a good points haul after Latvala's departure and Solberg would love to start his Blue Oval return on the rostrum. Given Mini's winter of strife and the romance of its Monte Carlo heritage, a podium for Sordo would be a huge boost to the programme. Both know that their teams would rather see their cars come home third than come home mangled on the back of a truck...

Speaking of which, the dream of seeing Ogier put an S2000 car on the overall podium ended when the Citroen refugee had what following crews described as an enormous shunt on today's final stage.

Keeping the WRC runners at bay on today's dry stages had proved impossible, but Ogier was still pushing flat-out, thoroughly enjoying himself and hoping for snow later in the week to give him a chance to get back in the fight. Given that his S2000 outings are supposed to be all about experience gathering for the VW personnel ahead of 2013's WRC campaign, a massive crash at half-distance certainly wasn't in the plan. But by trying to achieve the apparently impossible, Ogier had given a spectacular demonstration of what he, VW and the Fabia can do...

Ogier's retirement makes life a little easier for Mikko Hirvonen, who would not have relished the prospect of finishing behind his Citroen predecessor in a secondary-class car. The Finn is still in settling-in mode in the DS3, though he did progress to fourth today.

"We are finding a rhythm, but it's still the same - when it's a bit more slippery I don't have a good feeling or confidence with it," Hirvonen admitted. "But it's okay, the more miles I'm doing, the more confident I'm getting."

He still hasn't managed to shake off Evgeny Novikov, though. Sceptics might have translated the Russian's pre-rally vow to take it steady on his Monte debut as meaning his Ford Fiesta would be upside down by stage three, but two days in and Novikov is being quick, consistent and tenacious - closing back to within 6s of Hirvonen by the close of play today. A very impressive performance from a man whose speed is too often overlooked in favour of crash anecdotes.

Novikov's illustrious M-Sport Ford team-mate Francois Delecour is now sixth, despite intercom problems, a brush with a bridge, and an as-yet unknown issue that left him frowning at the end of today's concluding stage.

Delecour is one and a half minutes behind the Hirvonen/Novikov battle and a similar distance clear of the fight between Pierre Campana and Ott Tanak, in which the Mini reclaimed the advantage when Tanak struggled to restart his M-Sport Ford after stalling at the start of SS10.

Despite the loss of Ogier and Mathieu Arzeno, and Bryan Bouffier's ample Wednesday delays, there are still two S2000 cars in the top 10.

P-G Andersson is demonstrating Proton's progress by leading the S2000 field in ninth overall, just ahead of non-SWRC driver Kevin Abbring in VW's second Skoda. And they don't owe those positions to WRC carnage - both Go Fast Fords, Martin Prokop's Czech Ford and Mini privateers Armindo Araujo and Paolo Nobre's top-class cars are all in Andersson and Abbring's wake.
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Steve · Jan 19, 2012

Pics from MINI Motorsport:

Steve · Jan 19, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39eiFMuFGnY]Leg 2 - 2012 Rallye Monte-Carlo - Best-of-RallyLive.om - YouTube[/ame]

B.A.D. · Jan 19, 2012

It's a shame Olgier crashed. I would have liked to see him give everyone a run for their money in that Skoda Fabia S2000.

I think this season is going to be very interesting, not sure if anyone can stop Seb. However, I like the fact that Sordo is right in the thick of it from the start. I'm also excited to see Petter running with a team again.

minimark · Jan 19, 2012

Good stuff!!!

Steve · Jan 19, 2012

B.A.D. said: ↑

... I'm also excited to see Petter running with a team again.
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Then you'll probably be happy to know...

Ford gives Petter Solberg green light to fight for second in Monte Carlo (autosport.com)

By David Evans | Thursday, January 19th 2012, 18:47 GMT
Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson says Petter Solberg will be allowed to fight for second place on the Monte Carlo Rally, rather than having to drive for points on the World Rally Championship opener.

There had been speculation that Ford returnee Solberg would be held back in the wake of team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala's first-day crash, but Wilson is adamant that is not the case. Solberg ends the second day of the event third, but just 3.7 seconds behind Dani Sordo's Mini.

"Don't get me wrong, I want the [manufacturer] points, but at the same time, he needs to be learning the car and finding out what it's all about," said Wilson. "I just want him to continue. He was conservative on the last stage and he wants to finish without making a mess on his first rally with us. I still think he can beat Dani."

Solberg and Sordo have traded seconds all day, with both drivers spending time in the provisional runner-up spot, behind runaway leader Sebastien Loeb.

Solberg said: "It's been a fantastic day. The car has been very, very good all of the time and it's a great battle."

Sordo added: "I would prefer to be in Sebastien's position, a minute and a half ahead of this fight, but I'm here and I will continue to fight. It's a big fight."
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Steve · Jan 19, 2012

Ogier's crash. The video's not so good but you can see how fast they were going and it's no wonder they couldn't continue. Apparently his co-driver is being checked out because of pain in his arm. Otherwise all ok.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVLDgouNius]Acidente de Sebastien Ogier SS10 Rally de Monte Carlo 2012 no 2Âº Dia - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 19, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEqBucCvv0c]Rallye Monte Carlo 2012 - leg 2 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 20, 2012

Tire/tyre choice was absolutely crucial this morning. Stage 11 to the Fords, they took the top 4 spots with P. Solberg winning the stage.

Sordo followed in 5th ahead of Loeb 6th. 8th Araujo, 12th Campana, 20th Nobre.

SS11: Solberg shines to snatch second (wrc.com)

20 Jan 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS11, St Jean en Roynans-Font dâ€™Urle (23.28 kilometres)

Petter Solberg has shot ahead of Dani Sordo in the battle for second place on Rallye Monte-Carlo with a sensational performance through Fridayâ€™s opening stage.

Solberg, in a Ford World Rally Team Fiesta RS WRC, completed the run in a time of 12m08.6s to pull 9.5s clear of the Spaniard in the overall standings.

Meanwhile Sordo, in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC, was fifth fastest, taking 12m21.8s to tackle the run, which was reported to be extremely slippery due to rain.

With a lead of more than 1m30s starting day three, eight-time world champion Sebastien Loeb could afford to adopt a slightly more cautious approach in his Citroen DS3 WRC. However, he put his time, which was 16.7s slower than the flying Solberg, down to his decision to use studded tyres at the rear and slick tyres at the front in preparation for stage 12, which is understood to be coated in snow and ice in parts when he will be able to bolt on his two spare studded tyres at the front in an effort to achieve maximum grip.

â€œI expected to lose much more time because I had two studs and two slicks,â€ Loeb told World Rally Radio. â€œBut for the next one where the is more ice I have full studs but even with this choice I will have to be very careful.â€

Evgeny Novikov, driving an M-Sport Fiesta, continues to impress on his Rallye Monte-Carlo debut. The Russian set the third fastest time, 8.5s slower than Norwegian Solberg.

Another standout performance came from French legend Francois Delecour, whose time in a privateer Fiesta was 3.3s off Solbergâ€™s stage best. Estonian youngster Ott Tanak also shone by going fourth quickest in his M-Sport Fiesta, 11.2s slower that the fastest time.
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Steve · Jan 20, 2012

... and the weather and road conditions changed ... and the start-of-day tire strategies started to pay off ... or not.

Campana finished 3rd! Sordo 21 sec behind him in 4th, 9th Araujo, 17th Nobre.

Standings after 12 stages: 1 - Leob, 2 - Sordo (now a minute ahead of...), 3 - Solberg, 7 - Campana, 12 - Araujo, 22 - Nobre

SS12: Dramatic stage win for Hirvonen (wrc.com)

20 Jan 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS12, Cimetiere de Vassieux - Col de Gaudissart (24.13 kilometres)

Mikko Hirvonen has claimed his first stage victory for Citroen in the World Rally Championship powered by Nokia after going fastest through Fridayâ€™s penultimate stage to move into fourth overall.

The Finn, who switched to Citroen from Ford at the end of last year, made the most of his decision to run a full set of studded tyres on the ice-coated test.

He is now 36.3s behind third-placed Petter Solberg after the Norwegian struggled through the stage without the luxury of studded tyres on his Ford Fiesta.

â€œThis time we definitely had the right tyre choice and for once we were brave enough in this car,â€ said Hirvonen. â€œIt was very, very slippery but thereâ€™s still two and a half days to go so itâ€™s game on.â€

Rallye Monte-Carlo leader Sebastien Loeb completed the stage in a time of 15m51.4s, 3.7s slower than Hirvonen while young Corsican driver Pierre Campana impressed with the third fastest time, a 16m05.1s, in his factory MINI, which used a full set of studded tyres.

â€œFor sure it was the right choice of tyre [with full studs] but even with that it was very difficult to keep the car on the road,â€ said Loeb. â€œThe conditions changed a lot since my [safety] crew passed but I knew I had the best choice so I just went through. Iâ€™m happy to be at the end.â€

Despite electing not to use studded tyres for added grip, MINI driver Dani Sordo was able to move back ahead of Solberg in the overall standings. His advantage heading back to service in Valence is 1m00.6s.

â€œIt was really, really tricky,â€ said Sordo, who ran with a full set of â€˜winterâ€™ tyres. â€œWe didnâ€™t take tyres with studs and lost a lot in the last part where there was snow and where it was really bad.â€

Solberg started the stage on a high following his fastest time on the previous run but was soon in trouble on stage 12.

â€œI had slicks on the rear and no studs on the front and there was so big aquaplaning from the start,â€ said Solberg. â€œI almost went off, it was unbelievable. There was so much water and black ice. It was much worse than I expected.â€

Henning Solberg completed stage 12 with damage to the rear of his Go Fast Energy Fiesta following an impact.

PG Andersson continues to lead the Super 2000 World Rally Championship despite his PROTONâ€™s front windscreen demister failing on the previous test. The Swede said the fault meant it was difficult for him to see the road.
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Steve · Jan 20, 2012

Another view of this morning's events.

Happy Saint SÃ©bastienâ€™s Day! (best-of-rallylive.com)

SÃ©bastien Loeb has held on to his lead after this morningâ€™s two stages in the Vercors Mountains. The five-time Rallye Monte-Carlo winner profited from the run to extend his lead over Dani Sordo to more than two minutes. Competitors now face the long drive down to Monaco after contesting the Montauban/Lâ€™OuvÃ¨ze-Eygalayes test a little later this afternoon.

It was raining this morning when we arrived at the service park in Valence. When SÃ©bastien Loeb emerged from the CitroÃ«n motorhome to get in his DS3 WRC/Michelin, his fans called out â€œHappy Saint SÃ©bastienâ€™s Day, Seb!â€

The world champion thanked them politely, but didnâ€™t appear to be aware of January 20â€™s significance on the calendar. He was no doubt more focused on his tyre choice for the upcoming Saint Jean en Royans and CimetiÃ¨re de Vassieux stages where surprise snow more or less settled the outcome of the Rallye Monte-Carlo this time last year.

In addition to the rain, the temperature was reasonably mild in Valence which sits on the left bank of the River RhÃ´ne. The question mark concerned what was happening high in the nearby Vercors Mountains, near Col de la Machine, Col de lâ€™Echarrasson and the cross-country skiing resort, Font dâ€™Urle?

At the Stop Control of SS12 (CimetiÃ¨re de Vassieux-Col de Gaudissart), the thermometer displayed 5Â°C and rain was falling from the low grey clouds, while patches of mist shrouded the forested mountain sides. According to the teamsâ€™ ice note crews we spoke to, however, there was a nastily-place portion of ice on the testâ€¦

â€œYes, studded Michelin snow tyres were absolutely the best choice this morning,â€ announced Seb Loeb at the stage finish. â€œI stalled my engine on the start line, but Solberg was still 44 seconds down at one point according to the split times I received.â€ Both CitroÃ«n factory drivers, Loeb and Hirvonen, were on studded Michelin Alpin WRC tyres all-round. The Finn even posted the best time, his first with the DS3 WRC, while Pierre Campana (Mini/Michelin) was third quickest on studded tyres.

For the second year running, Petter Solberg made a poor choice for the â€˜Vercorsâ€™ loop, and his fastest time on â€˜St Jean en Royansâ€™ was of little consolation. With two non-studded Michelin Alpins at the front, and two Pilot Sport asphalt tyres on the back wheels, the Norwegianâ€™s Ford dropped almost two minutes to Loeb over the 24km of SS12, a result which gives second-placed Dani Sordo (MINI/Michelin, non-studded Alpin WRCs all-round) a bit of welcome breathing space.
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Steve · Jan 20, 2012

One more stage to run later today.

Solberg and Patterson vow to fight on (wrc.com)

20 Jan 12

Ford ace Petter Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson are refusing to give up on finishing second overall on Rallye Monte-Carlo despite slipping to more than one minute behind their closest rivals Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio.

Solberg and MINI driver Sordo have fought out a close battle since the World Rally Championship powered by Nokia got underway in Valence on Wednesday morning. Solberg thought heâ€™d got the upper hand with a commanding run through Fridayâ€™s first stage only to slip back when his choice of tyres proved unsuitable to the rain and ice-hit 12th test.

â€œWe tried the best we could,â€ Solberg told World Rally Radio. â€œOn the first stage there was no problem but the second stage was full of water from the start and there was big aquaplaning so we really backed off. Then there was more water and full ice in the forest - we didnâ€™t have a good feeling and we didnâ€™t want to end up in the ditch. Of course weâ€™re still battling and we need to make a better choice next time.â€

Patterson said: â€œWe really struggled on the last stage, especially on the ice on the downhill [section]. We had a spin at less than 3kph and a stall but weâ€™re still here and weâ€™re still fighting. Thereâ€™s a long way to go so we wonâ€™t give up.â€

Ford team chief Malcolm Wilson added: â€œStage 11 worked really well for us, but on stage 12, the conditions had deteriorated quite a lot since the [safety] crews had gone through it. Petter had a huge moment very early on, resulting in a 100-metre slide - as similarly happened to some other drivers - and after that, he sensibly decided to just get through to the end of the stage. He wanted to protect his podium rather than risk anything rash. Going forward, stage 13 this afternoon is likely to have rain, and of course we've still got the famous passes through the Col de Turini to go, so I very much believe anything can still happen."

With one stage of day three remaining, Solberg is trailing second-placed Sordo by 1m00.6s. Sebastien Loeb, driving for the factory Citroen team, continues to lead the event with an advantage of 2m09.0s.
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Steve · Jan 20, 2012

Last stage of the day, #13, is in the books. I'm not really digging this long, drawn out format; more days but less stages per day.

Sordo managed 4th, 7th Campana, 8th Araujo, 18th Nobre.

Araujo moves to 10th overall so there are now 3 MINIs in the top 10: 2nd Sordo (now 2min 12sec behind Loeb and 1min 7sec ahead of Solberg), 7th Campana, 10th Araujo, 22nd Nobre.

SS13: Hirvonen quickest again (wrc.com)

20 Jan 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS13, Montauban sur Ouveze-Eygalayes (29.89 kilometres)

Mikko Hirvonen has made it two stage wins out of two on day three of Rallye Monte-Carlo to close to within 20.8s of third-placed Petter Solberg on the opening event of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

Finn Hirvonen set a time of 17m08.8s through the test as Solberg lost ground after breaking the front-left rim of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC cutting a corner too tightly a handful of kilometres from the stage finish. He reached the stop line nursing a front-left puncture with the fifth best time.

Sebastien Loeb was second fastest through the stage, 2.9s slower than fellow Citroen DS3 WRC driver Hirvonen. The eight-time world champion will head to the overnight halt in Monaco leading by a commanding 2m12.4s. He said: â€œIt was hard to make the right tyre choice this morning but for this one it was like a normal Tarmac stage. I was not taking any risks.â€

Dani Sordo, in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC, was 3.4s slower than Loeb in fourth position. However, he has increased his advantage over third-placed Solberg to 1m09.8s: â€œWe got a big gap in the stage before,â€ said Sordo. â€œIt was the first time for me on this stage but itâ€™s unbelievable, really, really nice.â€

Evgeny Novikov shone with the third fastest time in his M-Sport Fiesta, a 17m41.1s. Francois Delecour was sixth quickest in a time of 17m30.8s. Pierre Campana took 17m32.0s to complete the stage with fellow MINI driver Armindo Araujo 3.6s slower.

Crews are now embarking on the 239-kilometre road section to the overnight halt in Monaco ahead of Saturdayâ€™s four stages.
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Steve · Jan 20, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah29DHNK4zk]Saint-Bonnet-Le-Froid - 2012 Rallye Monte-Carlo - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

TSR53 · Jan 20, 2012

Steve, thanks for all your reporting and summarizing, I know how this task goes all to well BTDT...

Your efforts are awesome! I subscribed to the Michelin youtube channel and watched the lot of them last night with my wife in HD. Good stuff. Love how the Prodrive tweeked MINI engine sounds so much more gnarly than the other marques. I'm holding off to watch the two new videos tonight on the big screen.

Steve · Jan 20, 2012

Thanks, I do what I can. It's much easier when you're posting things you wanted to hunt down and read/watch anyway.

Steve · Jan 20, 2012

Summary from Prodrive:

Monte Carlo Day Three

by Prodrive on Friday, January 20, 2012 at 11:33am
Day three of the Monte Carlo Rally was always going to be a challenge for all the competitors with the running of the most difficult stage of the event, the 24.13 kilometre SS12 at CimetiÃ¨re de Vassieux â€“ Col de Gaudissart , so the MINI WRC Team was delighted when its drivers arrived in Monte Carlo for the overnight halt with Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio lying second and Pierre Campana and Sabrina de Castelli seventh. On this classic stage, the middle one of the three that accounted for a total of 77.30 competitive kilometres, not only did Sordo retake second from Petter Solberg, after the Norwegian had moved ahead of him on the first stage of the day, but Campana set the third fastest time behind Mikko Hirvonen and SÃ©bastien Loeb. Campana in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC started the day in seventh, dropped behind Ott Tanak after stage 11, but was back in front of him at the lunch time service halt. However, tyre choice was an important factor, with the crews leaving Valence at the start of the day with many different combinations. The Michelins chosen by Sordo were all winter tyres with no studs, while Campana took studs on the right, super soft on the left and studs in the boot. The Frenchman changed to all studs after SS11 in readiness for the atrocious conditions on SS12, which included driving rain and five kilometres of ice. Luckily for them all the final stage was run in good conditions with the surface from damp to dry and the average temperature five degrees Celsius.

Dave Wilcock, Team Principal: â€œIt has been a very good day. It was a difficult choice this morning with lots of information coming in, everything from rain, to fog, to ice, to snow, to wet snow â€“ you name it we had just about every combination. Based on this our tyre decision was a safe one, but by the time we left service we realised all three manufacturers were on different tyre strategies. Clearly for Petter the super softs were the right ones for the first stage, but then we were waiting to see how the second stage unfolded. At the end of the day our safe option worked as Petter dropped over a minute to Dani on stage 12. What we have seen with Pierre is he is a little bit less confident on the ice and snow, so for him we chose to run four studs to give him confidence in those wet and slippery conditions. It paid off, as it was the right tyre for stage 12, although he sacrificed time on the first stage. However, it rewarded him with third on stage 12 and that is fantastic for him.â€

Dani Sordo: â€œI am happy with how it has gone today. In the first two stages the car felt good and I am happy now with the choice we took as we took a lot of time off Petter. In the first stage it was good as I had the right slick tyres. In the second, even though the studs would have been better, I know overall we took the right choice. We still need to stay focused as anything can happen on this rally. If the conditions are okay for the rest of the rally, it will be okay, but if it starts raining or snowing we have to be careful as in this rally it is very easy to make a mistake.â€

Pierre Campana: â€œThis morning in the first stage I was careful to manage the tyres. In the second stage my tyres were in good condition. The stage was very tricky because at the start it was raining and then at the end it was covered in ice. However, all in all this was a very good day for me and I am enjoying the rally more and more.â€
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