wombat666
January 21st, 2012, 04:26
Day One.
Sébastien Loeb leads the Monte Carlo Rally for Citroën at the end of the opening day's action, but it could have been a different story had Jari-Matti Latvala not rolled his Ford into retirement while leading.
Latvala moved in front on the second stage on Wednesday morning thanks to an inspired tire choice that consisted of running a mixture of studded and supersoft slick tires in a diagonal configuration on his Ford Fiesta to cope with the ice and snow that littered parts of the run. He was more than 50 seconds faster than Loeb as a result to move more than 30 seconds clear of the defending world champion.
Loeb edged his rival on the first repeated stage of the day but Latvala was still able to maintain his healthy advantage, only for disaster to strike a little more than five miles into Wednesday's final test when the Finn's car vaulted a wall and rolled, thankfully without injury to either him or co-driver Miikka Anttila.
The Ford team confirmed afterwards that Latvala had been concentrating so hard on trying to pick out ice patches on the all-asphalt course that he didn't hear a pace note alerting him to a tightening turn.
“It's an accident; this is Monte Carlo and these things happen,” said the Ford team's technical boss Christian Loriaux.
“It's a shame; Jari was driving well.”
Ordinarily Latvala would have been able to continue on day two under restart regulations, albeit with a time penalty.
However, changes to the rules for 2012 allow events to choose whether to permit crews to continue under the new Rally 2 law. With Monte Carlo chiefs not in favor of the restart system, Latvala will take no further part in the event, which still has four days left to run.
Dani Sordo holds second overnight for Mini, more than one minute behind Loeb, despite damaging his car's suspension on stage two. Petter Solberg is third on his return to the Ford team after an absence of more than 10 years.
Sébastien Ogier is a fine fourth in his lower-powered Super 2000-specification Skoda with Russian Evgeny Novikov fifth and Loeb's new Citroën teammate Mikko Hirvonen sixth after brake problems following a brush against a wall on stage three.
Day Two.
Citroën star Sébastien Loeb has won five out of six stages on the second day of the Monte Carlo Rally, round one of the 2012 World Rally Championship, to extend his impressive lead to nearly two minutes.
Conditions on the second day were milder than they had been on the chilly opening leg, with mud and stones on the mountain roads around Valence proving a bigger hazard than snow and ice.
“Today was easier than yesterday, more like a normal asphalt rally, but it was certainly still tricky as it was very muddy in places,” said Loeb, a five-time winner in Monte Carlo. “I was feeling good so I tried to push. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, and with the conditions suiting me today I had to take everything I could. This rally is all about taking every opportunity.”
The situation behind him was far less clear-cut, with a close battle between Mini driver Dani Sordo and Ford’s Petter Solberg for second place. Sordo and Solberg swapped positions throughout the day, but Sordo claimed a slender 3.4-second advantage over his Norwegian rival on the final stage of the day.
“We’re in a good position, but there’s still a very long way to go,” said Sordo, reflecting on his day’s work. “You never know what the weather will do on this rally and sometimes that can work in your favor; sometimes it can’t. Now it depends on what happens with Sébastien.”
Mikko Hirvonen, driving his first rally as Loeb’s teammate, finished the day fourth overall, two minutes behind Solberg.
He admitted to struggling slightly with the factory Citroën, while Russian driver Evgeny Novikov, in his M-Sport Fiesta, ended up just six seconds behind him heading into day three.
Volkswagen Motorsport’s Sébastien Ogier started Thursday’s final stage in an impressive sixth overall with his Super 2000-specification Skoda Fabia, only to suffer a spectacular high-speed crash five kilometers from the stage finish. He was not injured.
French legend Francois Delecour, returning to the World Rally Championship after a 10-year absence, is sixth overall in a Fiesta, with Mini’s Pierre Campana demoting Ott Tanak into eighth after the Estonian’s Fiesta stalled at the start of stage 10.
Friday’s action features just three stages close to Valence before the crews head down toward Monte Carlo for the final two days of the marathon event, the oldest and most prestigious rally.
Day Three.
Sébastien Loeb's lead grew on day three of the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of this year's World Rally Championship.
The Citroën driver made the best tire choice in icy conditions during Friday's action and is now more than two minutes ahead of Mini driver Dani Sordo.
“This morning was very difficult as there was rain falling on the frozen road, which made it extremely slippery,” Loeb said. “We had the right tire choice, with four studded tires, and that meant we could relax.”
Petter Solberg, in the only remaining factory Ford following Jari-Matti Latvala's accident on the opening day, started Friday in third, only a few of seconds behind Sordo, but lost nearly a minute on the icy second stage because of a disastrous tire choice. He gambled on using slick tires, figuring that the conditions were less treacherous than they were.
“On this rally it's easy to lose a minute with something like this,” Solberg said. “But on the other hand, it's easy to make up a minute too.”
Mikko Hirvonen, on his debut rally with the factory Citroën team, is fourth, less than 30 seconds behind Solberg.
The rally now moves from Valence to Monaco for the final two days of the all-asphalt event, which this year covers five days. Saturday's action takes in four special stages, including the legendary Col de Turini stages, run at night.
Loeb is a-bloody-mazing!!!!!
Sébastien Loeb leads the Monte Carlo Rally for Citroën at the end of the opening day's action, but it could have been a different story had Jari-Matti Latvala not rolled his Ford into retirement while leading.
Latvala moved in front on the second stage on Wednesday morning thanks to an inspired tire choice that consisted of running a mixture of studded and supersoft slick tires in a diagonal configuration on his Ford Fiesta to cope with the ice and snow that littered parts of the run. He was more than 50 seconds faster than Loeb as a result to move more than 30 seconds clear of the defending world champion.
Loeb edged his rival on the first repeated stage of the day but Latvala was still able to maintain his healthy advantage, only for disaster to strike a little more than five miles into Wednesday's final test when the Finn's car vaulted a wall and rolled, thankfully without injury to either him or co-driver Miikka Anttila.
The Ford team confirmed afterwards that Latvala had been concentrating so hard on trying to pick out ice patches on the all-asphalt course that he didn't hear a pace note alerting him to a tightening turn.
“It's an accident; this is Monte Carlo and these things happen,” said the Ford team's technical boss Christian Loriaux.
“It's a shame; Jari was driving well.”
Ordinarily Latvala would have been able to continue on day two under restart regulations, albeit with a time penalty.
However, changes to the rules for 2012 allow events to choose whether to permit crews to continue under the new Rally 2 law. With Monte Carlo chiefs not in favor of the restart system, Latvala will take no further part in the event, which still has four days left to run.
Dani Sordo holds second overnight for Mini, more than one minute behind Loeb, despite damaging his car's suspension on stage two. Petter Solberg is third on his return to the Ford team after an absence of more than 10 years.
Sébastien Ogier is a fine fourth in his lower-powered Super 2000-specification Skoda with Russian Evgeny Novikov fifth and Loeb's new Citroën teammate Mikko Hirvonen sixth after brake problems following a brush against a wall on stage three.
Day Two.
Citroën star Sébastien Loeb has won five out of six stages on the second day of the Monte Carlo Rally, round one of the 2012 World Rally Championship, to extend his impressive lead to nearly two minutes.
Conditions on the second day were milder than they had been on the chilly opening leg, with mud and stones on the mountain roads around Valence proving a bigger hazard than snow and ice.
“Today was easier than yesterday, more like a normal asphalt rally, but it was certainly still tricky as it was very muddy in places,” said Loeb, a five-time winner in Monte Carlo. “I was feeling good so I tried to push. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, and with the conditions suiting me today I had to take everything I could. This rally is all about taking every opportunity.”
The situation behind him was far less clear-cut, with a close battle between Mini driver Dani Sordo and Ford’s Petter Solberg for second place. Sordo and Solberg swapped positions throughout the day, but Sordo claimed a slender 3.4-second advantage over his Norwegian rival on the final stage of the day.
“We’re in a good position, but there’s still a very long way to go,” said Sordo, reflecting on his day’s work. “You never know what the weather will do on this rally and sometimes that can work in your favor; sometimes it can’t. Now it depends on what happens with Sébastien.”
Mikko Hirvonen, driving his first rally as Loeb’s teammate, finished the day fourth overall, two minutes behind Solberg.
He admitted to struggling slightly with the factory Citroën, while Russian driver Evgeny Novikov, in his M-Sport Fiesta, ended up just six seconds behind him heading into day three.
Volkswagen Motorsport’s Sébastien Ogier started Thursday’s final stage in an impressive sixth overall with his Super 2000-specification Skoda Fabia, only to suffer a spectacular high-speed crash five kilometers from the stage finish. He was not injured.
French legend Francois Delecour, returning to the World Rally Championship after a 10-year absence, is sixth overall in a Fiesta, with Mini’s Pierre Campana demoting Ott Tanak into eighth after the Estonian’s Fiesta stalled at the start of stage 10.
Friday’s action features just three stages close to Valence before the crews head down toward Monte Carlo for the final two days of the marathon event, the oldest and most prestigious rally.
Day Three.
Sébastien Loeb's lead grew on day three of the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of this year's World Rally Championship.
The Citroën driver made the best tire choice in icy conditions during Friday's action and is now more than two minutes ahead of Mini driver Dani Sordo.
“This morning was very difficult as there was rain falling on the frozen road, which made it extremely slippery,” Loeb said. “We had the right tire choice, with four studded tires, and that meant we could relax.”
Petter Solberg, in the only remaining factory Ford following Jari-Matti Latvala's accident on the opening day, started Friday in third, only a few of seconds behind Sordo, but lost nearly a minute on the icy second stage because of a disastrous tire choice. He gambled on using slick tires, figuring that the conditions were less treacherous than they were.
“On this rally it's easy to lose a minute with something like this,” Solberg said. “But on the other hand, it's easy to make up a minute too.”
Mikko Hirvonen, on his debut rally with the factory Citroën team, is fourth, less than 30 seconds behind Solberg.
The rally now moves from Valence to Monaco for the final two days of the all-asphalt event, which this year covers five days. Saturday's action takes in four special stages, including the legendary Col de Turini stages, run at night.
Loeb is a-bloody-mazing!!!!!