Rally Monte Carlo: Neuville consolidates lead as Ogier bounces back

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is at one with the 2017 Rallye Monte-Carlo and the Belgian continues to top the leaderboard in the all-new i20 Coupe WRC, leading by 45.1 seconds after today’s first full day of competition.

Reigning World Champion Sébastien Ogier has bounced back to second after dropping to eighth this morning, the Frenchman uncharacteristically going off the road. Team-mate Ott Tänak – second for most of the day – slipped behind Ogier in the final stage but is a mere three-tenths of a second adrift.

The first full day of competition got underway this morning and took in two loops of three stages to the north of Gap, forming the lengthiest day of competitive action. Neuville, last night’s leader, was second in the opener this morning but went on to win the following two stages to head the pack by just over half a minute by the mid-day service. This afternoon, he won the one stage that had eluded him in the morning but ceded two stage victories to Ogier, albeit still leaving him with a welcome cushion going into another long day on Saturday. Ogier’s low-speed off less than three kilometres into the first stage was unusual for the Frenchman and saw him plummet from second to eighth with a loss of nearly 45 seconds. After a tricky morning, this afternoon was still difficult in the snow and slush but Ogier gradually climbed the leaderboard, also benefitting from mistakes by rivals Kris Meeke and Juho Hänninen, both of whom also went off but sustained too much damage to continue. Tänak has set an impressive pace in the sister Fiesta WRC and held second for most of the day after a clean run. He dropped back to third in the final stage, admitting his rivals had simply gone faster. The three-tenths of a second gap to Ogier will however be a huge boost to the Estonian.

Fourth position is now held by Jari-Matti Latvala, following the retirement of team-mate Hänninen. The Finn had a bad start to the day when the Yaris WRC failed to start in Parc Fermé and he and co-driver Miikka Anttila had to push the car to service. Frantic repairs ensued leaving no time for the planned set-up changes and Latvala struggled during the morning, also suffering a misfire. He fared better over the repeated stages, despite a spin in the final test, and is enjoying the challenge presented as he continues to grow in confidence with the Yaris. Dani Sordo is fifth in the 2017 Hyundai but being challenged hard by Craig Breen in a 2016 specification Citroën. Sordo admitted to a bad day, not enjoying the tricky and unpredictable conditions, while Breen has simply been trying to keep it neat, tidy and on the road. 

Former Volkswagen driver Andreas Mikkelsen heads the FIA WRC 2 Championship category in seventh overall ahead of Elfyn Evans in the third Fiesta WRC. Pontus Tidemand, in similar machinery to Mikkelsen, is ninth and ahead of the third R5 Škoda of Jan Kopecky. 

In the two-wheel drive FIA WRC 3 Championship category, Frenchman Raphael Astier is leading in his Peugeot 208. He has a seemingly unassailable advantage over Luca Panzani, baring problems during the remainder of the event.

Leaders Provisional results after Section 3