Warren Nel

The first full day of stages would see the crews tackle 106km’s over seven stages. In terms of the starting list, the crews would enter the stage in championship order and meaning that Kalle would open the stages throughout the first full day. Between the stages, would be a 30-minute service break.

We’d already had one stage on Thursday evening and leading the way was Kalle from Ott and Elfyn.

First stage on Friday morning was SS2 Brattby 1 – 10.76 km and it was Craig that was fastest from Ott and Esapekka! Best of the Toyota crews was Takamoto. Craig’s time put him up to second overall, whilst Ott’s time put the Puma driver into the lead. Great to see! Also on the move was Esapekka, who’d jumped one place and into third place. In the WRC2 category Emil and Reeta were fastest from Teemu and Sami and therefore took the lead. Oliver Solberg was not happy with his run and was now in fifth place in the category.

Into SS3 Sarsjöliden 1 – 14.23 km and the conditions in the stage suited him and he was fastest from Esapekka and Takamoto. Elfyn went wide on a left hander, clipping the snowbank a little and losing some pace. He was only seventh fastest and dropped two places to seventh overall. Meanwhile it was all change in WRC2, with Oliver leaping up four positions to take the lead and we had a new driver in second place as well, Ole Christian Veiby taking that from Teemu who fell to third in the category.

Takamoto won SS4 Botsmark 1 – 25.81 km from Kalle and Ott whilst Elfyn started to climb the leader board, moving ahead of Thierry. The overall top three remained the same, whilst in WRC2, Oliver was second fastest in the stage from Sami, but remained in the category lead.

After the service break there was a few changes following SS5 Brattby 2 – 10.76 km with Craig winning the stage from Pierre-Louis and Esapekka! The Irishman’s pace took him into the lead, pushing Ott down to second place and Esapekka remained third overall. Unfortunately, Takamoto rolled his car in this one and dropped three positions to eighth overall. In WRC2 Oliver took another category win and was 10 seconds ahead of Sami, whilst Jari was climbing up the leader board and into third place overall.

Craig took another stage win in SS6 Sarsjöliden 2 – 14.23 km from Elfyn and Ott. The Irishman was increasing his lead over the Estonian, now up to 10.5 seconds ahead. In WRC2, Sami was quickest from Ole Christian, whilst the leader Oliver was fourth. The gap reduced just a little to 8.5 seconds.

Into SS7 Botsmark 2 – 25.81 km and Ott was fastest from Esapekka and Craig third. The gap between the leaders came down a little to 6.4 seconds. In WRC2 Sami took another stage win from Oliver, reducing his lead down to just 6.8 seconds. Crazy that at the top on both categories the gaps were so similar!

The final stage of the day then, SS8 Umeå Sprint 2 – 5.16 km and Kalle was fastest from Ott and Esapekka. Craig was sixth fastest and now his lead was just 2.6 seconds. He was pretty calm though and very happy with his day. Oliver was in a stronger position though having increased his lead to 13 seconds over Sami.

Classification after Day One

1	C. Breen	J. Fulton	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	57:05.5
2	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+2.6
3	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+11.2
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+26.5
5	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+31.1
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+36.8
7	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+1:16.2

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Craig Breen

“It is hard to imagine that things would be as good as they have been today. We have had a good road position, of course, but we also have a good car. We tried to use both to take an advantage; to lead the rally overnight is a bit of a dream. I feel completely comfortable in the car, it feels soft and cuddly. For the moment, I am happy with it but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. I still don’t feel we are at the peak of where we need to be. It’s far from over. Tomorrow is a long day, and we’ve seen today that it’s hard to make much of a difference. I will give all I can, and whatever happens it won’t be for the want of trying. It’s like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in this rally – everyone is invited!”

Esapekka Lappi

“Today has not been too bad but I feel there is much more to come. I was quite satisfied this morning, and thought we were where we wanted to be. It’s always good to be further up but it was a solid start. Our preparation for the event was good, and I like these conditions. I thought we would have a better set-up for the second pass but that didn’t happen as we’d expected. We will have a think overnight to see what changes we might make. We don’t want to do anything too drastic, especially with the feeling we have now, otherwise we risk something going wrong. There are small things to perfect as we try to find more improvements in our pace.”

Thierry Neuville

“It has been a very challenging day out there. We knew that road conditions would not be great for us as one of the first cars on the road, but we still had hope. Despite the conditions, we were incredibly unlucky to lose the bumper twice, this morning and this afternoon, so we were handicapped by that. We started the day five seconds behind Kalle (Rovanperä) and ended it 5.7 seconds back; we would have loved to turn things around but with the missing aero we just couldn’t. We had to limit the damage. Tomorrow, the road position is better but we still have the front guys behind us so it will be another challenge; we will give it our best shot anyhow.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“It’s been a very positive day, we were not expecting this coming here and it was difficult to predict, but it’s been an okay day and let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 

Elfyn Evans

“It was not a strong morning at all from our side, as I was struggling with the balance and not able to find full confidence. This afternoon was better; we made some changes to the car setup at lunchtime that seem to have improved the feeling a bit. So overall I’m happy with how the afternoon went but still we are not really where we would have wanted to be. We’re definitely going to keep trying our all. The stages are technical and it’s easy to be caught out, so anything can happen. We just need to keep fighting and hopefully continue to climb the leaderboard tomorrow.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“This morning the conditions were surprisingly good. In the first stage we lost a lot of time as we had expected given the snow was really soft and loose. But after that we could do good times when the conditions were nicer, so the time loss was not too big this morning. This afternoon was a huge challenge: I think the first stage of the loop was the most difficult stage on snow any of us have ever done with huge ruts and a lot of loose snow. We lost a lot of time there and just tried to keep it clean and stay on the road. But when we had conditions where we could push, we were quite fast compared to our rivals, so I’m quite confident we can do more with our road position for tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I felt really good with the car and very comfortable this morning. I was not pushing too much, but the feeling was there and the times were there also, so I was very happy. This afternoon I tried to keep a good speed without a crazy push, but the conditions were very difficult with lots of loose snow and deep ruts. In a fast corner near the end of SS5 I couldn’t slow down enough or turn the car fully because of the ruts and we went wide and hit the snowbank heavily, as we were way too fast. It was my mistake and I’m really sorry for the team. We had a really good start this morning so I’m very disappointed. Hopefully we can restart tomorrow and get that feeling back but let’s see.”

 

Saturday

What does tomorrow hold for the crews? Well with 126 km’s over six stages including the longest stage of the event at 28.25km’s.

Can Craig stay in the lead tomorrow, or will we see Ott get into his groove like we have seen in the past and go past his former Hyundai teammate? Can Oliver also do the same thing and stay ahead of Sami? One thing is for sure, it will be an amazing day on Sweden’s stages.

It’s time for round two already and the championship moves to Umeå. This year’s edition has 301km’s over 18 stages. It starts with a short stage on Thursday evening after shakedown. Saturday is the longest day of the rally with 126km’s over seven stages.

Of course, Seb Ogier leads the championship, but of course is not competing in this rally and this means that Kalle will open the road throughout Friday’s stages. We’ve seen in the past that he and Jonne can get great results on the loose surface rallies despite starting first on the road.

 

There are three drivers that would like to keep the world champion off the podium. One of them is his teammate and the other two are with Hyundai and M-Sport Ford. Any idea who I’m talking about? These drivers are Elfyn, Ott and Thierry and all three of them have stood on the podium and taken victory as well.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was great to start the season well in Monte Carlo with a good feeling and with good points for the championship. We hope to continue the same way in Sweden and to enjoy the rally. We only have one event like this each year and it’s always cool, to have the studded tyres on the car and push hard between the snow-banks – it’s something special. We had a good result in Sweden last year and we will try to repeat it this time. It can be tricky to open the road on snow and it depends a lot on how the conditions will be. Our pre-event test went really well, with perfect conditions and a thick layer of ice on the road. Hopefully it’s like that for the rally too and we don’t suffer too much running first on Friday.”

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, Rallye Monte-Carlo was a good start to the year even if our result was disappointing with the pace that I think we had. Now we head to Sweden and a completely different challenge. Even with the snow and ice, it’s still one of the fastest rallies on the calendar and especially since the base moved a bit further north last year; I think the stages are even faster and we will have some new ones on this year’s route that we are yet to discover. It’s a rally where it’s almost impossible to have a perfect car all the time, because the grip you have can change a lot within one loop of stages, but we were able to work through various options in our test.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m really excited for Rally Sweden. Driving on snow feels very familiar and comfortable for me and I really like these conditions. Being one of the team’s three nominated drivers will maybe bring a little bit more pressure than I’m used to, but this position is where I have really wanted to be. I’m sure there will be challenging moments, but I will try to manage them and bring good points for the team. I will just do my best and this is no different to before. In testing on snow, the feeling in the car has been incredibly good; I would say the team has made quite a big step since, one year ago and hopefully this gives us more confidence in Sweden. Of course, the other teams are also improving and developing so we will need to be ‘full attack’!”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“The roads of Rally Sweden are very fast, so the key is to find a good line and carry as much speed as possible through the stages. We showed that we can be competitive on snow and ice last year, so it is our hope that we can be quick again in Sweden this time around. Consistency across the weekend will be vital, which is always easier when the car is comfortable to drive, meaning setup will be very important. Road position can also play a factor; if it is cold and icy, then it is best to be early in the starting order. However, if there has just been some fresh snow, then it is better to be on the stages later on. We want to be fighting for the podium positions from the start to finish, and of course we will try to beat as many of our main competitors in the championship as possible.”

Esapekka Lappi

“Rally Sweden has always felt like a second home event for me because it is very similar in profile and surface to the fast Finnish roads that I know best. I believe that we will be getting proper winter conditions this year, allowing us to have lots of fun between the big snowbanks. The second pass in Sweden is always special due to the narrow ruts that require you to quickly adapt your, driving. Preparations for the rally will be important, so we must make the most of the pre-event testing and our Finnish Rally Championship experience. If we can bring everything together, we will be back on the podium again like we were last year.”

Craig Breen

“Rally Sweden is always an event that I enjoy, and a place where I have been able to bring home some of my best results in the past. We only have one rally a year where we get to drive in true winter conditions with the studded tyres, so that makes Sweden even more special. The stages will be very straight and very fast, meaning you need to be committed to be quick. With quite a few stages taking place in the dark, it’s really important to make sure the pace notes are accurate. In an ideal world, I would love to leave Sweden having stood on the podium again, but with it being my first competitive event in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, this will be a challenge. Ultimately, my main goal is to enjoy the experience.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“This has been our first opportunity to try out the car on snow and ice. Some things seem to be there, and we are gradually growing in confidence. This is why it’s critical to do this rally in Estonia, to get some more experience across different conditions, and we’ll find out how far away we are from the right set-up.

“Personally, I feel much more confident on snow, so we’ll see how we compare to the other guys. If it’s icy it’s better to be out earlier on the road, and if its very snowy it’s the other way around. So, it really depends on the conditions, we’ll just have to see what the weather does. Either way we are ready for the action, we have no choice!”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“I’m very happy to be going to Sweden. This will be my second time there, but my first time on the new event in Umeå. I’m looking forward to the experience and aim to deliver a good, clean rally which will be the most important thing for me next weekend.

“Everything is still very new for myself and Nicolas, so it is important to gather as much experience and knowledge as possible and use that to build confidence ahead of the upcoming gravel events. Let’s try our best to deliver a good result and enjoy this new experience!”

WRC2 overview

There is a good entry for the WRC2 class as well, with twenty-five cars from Skoda, M-Sport Ford, Citroen, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

 

Oliver Solberg will take to the wheel for the second time this year to his Toksport run Fabia RS, but the first event of his WRC2 title campaign.

Here is what he has to say following his test last week.

 

“So now, it’s Sweden and my home race, It’s special. We drove for two days in the north, working with the team to find a good set-up for this week. It was really, really cool – like minus 24 on the first day! On Sunday it was much warmer… it was only minus 12 Celsius! We had some really good ice on the roads. We’ve had two great test days with several roads to choose between to help us get the cars set up for the mission ahead.”

 

It’s my home event,” he said. “You want to go well on every event, but there’s always a little bit more incentive when you’re at home and you can see the flags and everybody waving. I love the winter rallies and this one can be a really special one. We know there’s a lot of really tough competition with some big names and fast drivers in WRC2. All we can do is our best and I’m looking forward to doing that.”

 

Hyundai WRC2 team

Teemu Suninen

“Ever since the beginning of my career, Rally Sweden has been one of my favourite events. As it is our first time on snow in this car, testing will be very important for us. However, I hope my previous experience in wintry conditions will help me find a good feeling in the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. The stages themselves are relatively technical but with fast sections. It will be very tight, so we must be on the limit from the start to be competitive. We will also need to be brave and confident if we want to end the rally on the podium, and that is our target.”

Fabrizio Zaldivar

“I am very excited to be driving in snow again! Coming from a country with no snow, competing on this surface is always very special to me and I have great confidence in our Hyundai i20 N Rally2. This will be my first time in Umeå; I have no previous experience of the stages. I just hope there is enough snow to be able to enjoy the stages on both the first and second passes. Our aim for the weekend is to improve stage by stage and above all gain more confidence on this surface, which will surely allow me to obtain better times between each runs.”

 

Summary

Expect a big fight for victory this weekend between the three drivers that have taken victory in the past. For some there will be a fight for the final podium spots, and I suspect that we can look to Craig to be right in the fight for this.

Enjoy the rally!!

The former champion and Vincent Landais took a great victory in the season opener. Here’s the story as to how they seized the lead and made history.

Thursday

Two evening stages got things started the rally and the startlist was the finishing positions from last season’s championship. Rovanperä, Tänak, Neuville, Evans, Katsuta, Ogier, Sordo, Lappi, Loubet, Serderidis.

First stage then, SS1 La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini 1 – 15.12 km, and Seb took the first stage win from Elfyn and Thierry. Best of the M-Sport drivers was Ott, who was sixth fastest, whilst Esapekka making his first start for Hyundai was eighth fastest. It was great to see Welshman Elfyn right there, just 1.3 seconds from Seb.

Into SS2 La Cabanette / Col de Castillon – 24.90 km and Seb was fastest again, with Elfyn second and Ott third. The 2019 world champions pace lifted them ahead of Thierry and into third overall. In the WRC2 category, Nicolay was building a lead over Stephane, the gap between them just 1.3 seconds.

Let’s hear from the drivers

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“I think we are always happy to get through this first evening in Monte Carlo because we know there can be a lot of surprises. Tonight, there were not so many, but there was still this salty and slippery section at the end of SS1 and this very icy corner in SS2. So it’s good to put that behind us and to be in the lead with two stage wins is always positive. But the gaps are not that big. It’s just the start of this rally and we have to carry on like this tomorrow. There’s a long way to go, we have to keep the focus very high and try to keep this rhythm going and stay out of trouble.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s always exciting to start Rallye Monte-Carlo in the dark, it’s a pretty special feeling. I managed to settle into a pretty decent rhythm quite early on in the first stage and set a decent time. It was mostly dry but quite slippery towards the top of the Col de Turini. I was a bit more hesitant at some points in the second stage – we found some black ice in one corner which was quite hairy. Overall though it’s been a solid start and a decent evening, with a massive day ahead tomorrow.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has been quite a good start for us. The plan was just to start with a safe pace and we are in the fight with the others, so it’s a good place to continue from tomorrow. SS1 was quite tricky, it’s not really my favourite style of stage and there was even some cleaning at the end for us with quite a lot of salt put down on the road, so those behind us were quite a bit faster there. SS2 was also a clean drive. I was just a bit too careful with my ice notes on a frosty section. But overall, it’s been a pretty nice start.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“I need to get used to the car, it’s quite different and it’s doing some good things and some things that I’m not used to, let’s see tomorrow. When conditions were a bit tricky I would say that we were driving a bit better and when it was clean and racy we were still a bit behind.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“The first two stages of the rally went OK. I was a bit cautious on the first one, but we had a much better rhythm on the next. We got caught out on the only icy corner, which was not in our notes, and it’s still a question mark where that came from to be honest. I stalled the engine and lost seven-to-eight seconds. Other than that, we had a decent run and felt OK in the car as well. We were fastest up until that point. The last five or six kilometres were a bit of a struggle as tyre performance dropped off, and we lost a bit on the final split because of that.”

Dani Sordo

“I don’t like to make excuses; we were not on such a good pace today. In the first stage, I was feeling good. I was a bit scared of the tyres, but it was narrow at the beginning and the others pushed hard. The second stage was more or less OK. There was one part in the middle which I took very carefully because they said there was black ice in some places, but in the end, it was only at one corner. So, for one kilometre I lost a lot for no reason. The car looks and feels good; I’m happy so let’s see. We need to catch up a bit but tomorrow is another day.”

Esapekka Lappi

“It’s not ideal where we are, but I wouldn’t say there is any drama. The first stage was better than the second. There was an icy corner which I was afraid of; I was expecting ice elsewhere after that and I was just too careful and lost a lot of time. In the end, it was only in one place but when you don’t know, it’s better to take this approach. Still, it’s not a nice feeling to see you’ve lost 30 seconds. We had good grip, and the car turns well, but for some reason I don’t trust enough to keep the speed through the apexes; I need to understand why I’m thinking like that and braking more than I should. There are many new stages to come, and plenty of new opportunities.”

Classification after Day One

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	26:33.7
2	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+6.0
3	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+15.4
4	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+15.5
5	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+17.1
6	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+32.1
7	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+40.3
8	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+41.4
9	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+57.0
10	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+1:06.6

 

Friday

The startlist remained the same from Thursday’s two-night stages.

First up was SS3 Roure / Roubion / Beuil 1 – 18.33 km and Seb was once again fastest from Elfyn whilst Kalle who was third fastest jumped ahead of both Ott and Thierry and into third overall. The Estonian was now in fifth place, but happy with his run through the stage. The WRC2 leader was still Nikolay, but he led from Yohan now who had moved ahead of Stephane.

Into SS4 Puget-Théniers / Saint-Antonin 1 – 19.79 km and Seb was again fastest from Elfyn and Thierry. Kalle was only sixth fastest and dropped two places behind Thierry and Ott. In the WRC2 category, Oliver Solberg, who was not actually competing for championship points was setting a very fast pace and was fastest in that spec of car. However, the leaders were Nikolay, Yohan and Stephane.

SS5 Briançonnet / Entrevaux 1 – 14.55 km was next and Kalle was second fastest from Seb, whilst Thierry was third. The young world champion was back ahead of Ott, but the big shame from this stage was that Elfyn got a puncture and dropped from the lead battle down to fifth overall. Also dropping some positions was Pierre-Louis who was suffering with brake problems when trying to turn the car. He was now in ninth overall. He’d want to climb back up the leaderboard.

Into SS6 Roure / Roubion / Beuil 2 – 18.33 km and Elfyn came back from his disappointing puncture to set the fastest time from his teammates, Seb and Kalle. He was targeting former teammate Ott who was currently in fourth overall and just 10 seconds ahead. Meanwhile Kalle has brought himself up into second overall, passing Thierry. Unfortunately, Pierre-Louis and new co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul were still suffering technical problems this time with the powersteering not working.

Into the penultimate stage of the day then, SS7 Puget-Théniers / Saint-Antonin 2 – 19.79 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Kalle. The Welshman closed the gap to Ott with his pace, reducing it to just a little over four seconds. The top three in the WRC2 remained Nikolay, Yohan and Stephane.

Into the final stage then, SS8 Briançonnet / Entrevaux 2 – 14.55 km and Kalle set the best time from Thierry and Seb. Elfyn could only manage the seventh best time and remained 8.1 seconds behind Ott and in fifth overall. Meanwhile in WRC2 the top three remained the same with Nikolay 29 seconds ahead of second placed Yohan.

Classification after Day Two

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	1:26:39.4
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+36.0
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+37.9
4	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+54.2
5	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:02.3
6	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+1:30.2
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:33.1
8	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+1:57.7

Sébastien Ogier

“It has not been a straightforward day but it has been positive overall; we have arrived back in Monaco tonight with a good lead and that’s what matters. This morning we were without hybrid power for two stages and I knew I had to push very hard and take some risks to compensate for it, and I was surprised that we were still fastest. Thankfully the issue could be fixed before the afternoon and we could benefit from that extra boost once again; we could keep a more normal rhythm and even managed to build our lead a little bit more. It will be a long day tomorrow and we’ll try to drive as clean as possible.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today has been not too bad. Of course, I cannot be fully happy; on the morning loop we lost a bit too much time but the stages were also quite salty and dusty for us running first on the road, so it was not easy. It definitely felt much better this afternoon on the second pass of the stages. We had a lot more grip and the times were also better. It’s good to be in the fight. Seb has been much faster than anybody else so far, but we are still in a close fight with the guys behind so we have to continue to push and see what happens.”

Elfyn Evans

“We had a pretty decent start again this morning; quite similar to last night in that Seb had a small edge and we were just behind him all the time. I had a good feeling in the car, things have been working well and it’s all coming quite naturally. Unfortunately, the puncture just before lunch dropped us down the order. This afternoon we tried our best to claw back what we could, although we didn’t have the best final stage. But there’s still plenty of kilometres to go and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I think a good resume for the day would be to say we’ve maximised all we could in the circumstances, especially if we take our tyre choice in the morning into account. We expected better pace in the afternoon but there wasn’t more to find. I tried to push a couple of times, but we were missing a bit. We had very stable conditions between both loops; perhaps the final stage of the day was a bit dirtier than the morning but generally things have been straightforward. Tyre choice has made it more difficult because we’ve had to manage things carefully. Nobody can be truly confident in Monte. Tomorrow is another long day, in fact a longer loop than today, with more abrasive stages and possibly higher temperatures. We hope for a good strategy.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We have had the same challenges today as we had on Thursday; I have been too slow everywhere and generally too shy to make the entries of the corners fast enough. The car doesn’t feel too bad but for some reason the times are going away too quickly. We need to find out why. We made some changes throughout the day, and made a good step with the suspension, but we need to find more. We also must consider that we’ve been better on the final stage of the loop maybe because we have more performance left in our tyres. It’s a possibility. We will analyse the data with the engineers this evening; it might be a long night, but we need to try and improve, it’s the only way forward.”

Dani Sordo

“Honestly speaking, it has been quite a disappointing day. I had a good feeling with the car because the stages were nice to drive and in really good condition; I don’t know why, but we were just too slow. I haven’t had the precision that I needed, and we were losing the same amount of time on each stage. We could make a few adjustments to the car in between stages but it was difficult to get the feeling on the narrow roads and through the slow corners. It hasn’t felt bad; it’s just not been fast, we will try to do something in service, analyse things closely and make some changes to the car. Tomorrow is another day, and we will try to unlock some more speed.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“In the end it was a consistent day, the comfort is there, but the speed is missing. The grip was improving throughout the day and the stages were getting more racy, not something you’d expect from Monte. We want to improve and find the right direction and find more performance in the car and for sure there are many things that we will see what we can do.”

Saturday

The second full day of competition would see the top ten reversed with the leaders coming through the stages last. The start list would therefore be reversed and looked like this – Serderidis, Loubet, Lappi, Katsuta, Sordo, Evans, Tänak, Neuville, Rovanperä, Ogier.

SS9 Le Fugeret / Thorame-Haute 1 – 16.80 km was first up and saw Kalle pip Elfyn for the stage win, just six tenths separating the teammates! Seb was third fastest, still over 33 seconds in the lead. One driver on the move up was young Japanese star Takamoto, who passed Dani and moved into sixth overall. The Spanish driver was really struggling out there. However, at least he was still out there. Pierre-Louis lost the rear of his car and hit barrier, damaging his rear suspension and was out for the rest of the day. In WRC2 Nikolay increased his lead to almost 40 seconds over Yohan with a great time just 4.9 slower than Dani Sordo.

Into SS10 Malijai / Puimichel 1 – 17.31 km and Seb hit back with the fastest time from Elfyn and Kalle. In fact, the Welshman’s pace took him ahead of Ott and into fourth overall. The Estonian reported problems with his power steering. Elfyn’s next target was Thierry who was just 19 seconds ahead. Could he catch the Belgian? Meanwhile, EP seemed to be getting to grips with his i20 and was just a little bit off the pace of Thierry and much happier with the changes made to his car overnight.

Kalle took SS11 Ubraye / Entrevaux 1 – 21.78 km from Seb and Elfyn, who actually set the same time. Thierry was only a little slower than Elfyn with the fourth best time, so the gap remained over 18 seconds between them. Meanwhile, Nikolay had increased his lead to almost 45 seconds over Yohan in the WRC2 category.

Thierry won SS12 Le Fugeret / Thorame-Haute 2 – 16.80 km, just denying Elfyn from the fastest time. This was Hyundai’s first fastest time of this season. His teammate, Dani was suffering with hybrid problems and Ott was also continuing to have power steering issues, but they were only where the sections were tight and twisty. Meanwhile, Esapekka got a puncture and dropped some more time.

Thierry made it two out of two, winning SS13 Malijai / Puimichel 2 – 17.31 km from Kalle and Elfyn. The Belgian as opening up the gap to Elfyn a little more. In WRC2, Nikolay had a huge lead over Yohan that was approaching 50 seconds.

Kalle won SS14 Ubraye / Entrevaux 2 – 21.78 km from Thierry and Elfyn, but the big surprise was that Seb lost close to 10 seconds from his erstwhile lead and the gap between them was just 16 seconds. There was drama in WRC2 as well as Nikolay got a puncture and lost 35 seconds to Yohan, the gap was now just 10 seconds!

Classification after Day Three

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	2:15:31.5
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+25.8
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+35.1
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+57.6
5	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+1:20.8
6	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+2:05.8
7	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+2:38.7
8	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+2:59.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It has been another good day. I knew that today’s stages had the greatest risks in terms of cutting and in our position, I didn’t want to take any risks. You get nothing extra for stage wins and we had a gap that we just had to manage. I accepted that we would lose some time and just minimised the risks. It was a very clean drive and that was the plan and I’m happy to get to the end of the day. Kalle did a very good job today and we are now in a strong position to score a one-two for the team. But there are still four stages to go tomorrow and we have to finish the job.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today has been really good for us. This morning we were straightaway able to set good times. It felt a bit easier starting further down the road order, as there was a bit more grip on the racing line. The car has been feeling good and we’ve not really had to make any changes to the setup. This afternoon I was struggling a bit more when the road was really dirty. But the last stage in the dark was definitely a good one; it was a bit cleaner and I tried to push. Tomorrow’s stages are maybe not my favourites and Seb knows them so well that I don’t think there’s a chance to catch him. I’m sure he will be fast and there are not so many places to make differences. We’ll just try to maintain our pace and our position.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a long day but a pretty good day overall. I’ve enjoyed the driving and the feeling in the car. This morning we didn’t take as many soft tyres as the others and with today’s stages being quite abrasive, we suffered a bit towards the end of the loop. This afternoon we gave away a little bit of time in the dirtier conditions which was slightly frustrating. I could feel myself just not quite taking the risks needed to go really quickly. Tomorrow we’ll have some nice stages and we’ll see what the weather brings for the final day.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I think we have improved; we have been capable of setting some good times. We are still in third and it has required a bit of a push on today’s stages. We gave a lot on both loops and there wasn’t much more we could do. We’re now 16 seconds behind Kalle. I don’t think we can catch him on pure speed, I think we are a bit below, but we are going to continue to try, nonetheless. Essentially, the car has been moving too much in the dry conditions. Tomorrow, we will have another run of Col de Turini, this time in daylight; it’s going to be fun!”

Dani Sordo

“We have had some issues with the hybrid system today, but I am realistic enough to know we have generally not been on the pace we wanted to be this weekend. We have tried to make some changes to find improvements, but we haven’t found anything yet to unlock the solution. I haven’t had the feeling I need to get the confidence for these stages. I was hoping to be more on the top, but we haven’t been, which is disappointing. Hopefully, tomorrow might bring something different but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Esapekka Lappi

“A much more positive day. We managed to find some settings overnight that were better for me. Like I said before, it didn’t feel bad, but the times were not there. Today, I started driving the same way as on Friday, but the car told me I could go faster, and it was safer to push harder. That’s why the times suddenly improved. We’re not winning stages or matching Thierry’s times, but we are way closer than before, which is a very promising direction. I still haven’t found the limit but there’s now much more potential. The objective is to keep improving from here.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“The last stage meant the problem was quite manageable, (commenting on his power steering problem) and the last stage was more bumpy and affected it more, but not a full failure and basically just heavy steering. Some internal issue so nothing we can do at the moment.”

Sunday

The final day then with nearly 68km’s over four stages and Pierre-Louis was back out with his repaired Puma and starting first on the road. He was just out there to gain experience for the future.

Seb started off well winning SS15 Lucéram / Lantosque 1 – 18.82 km from Elfyn and Kalle. It was a very good time that saw the Frenchman pull away from Kalle. In the WRC2 category, Yohan was fastest from Nikolay and now the gap between them was just five and a half seconds. Stephane was also on the move passing Pepe Lopez for third place in the category.

Onto SS16 La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini 2 – 15.12 km and Kalle was fastest from Seb and Thierry. Elfyn could only manage the sixth best time as he suffered a spin on one of the many hairpins in the stage. He commented that he thought something had broken and that when he came off the throttle, that the car just rotated around. In WRC2 Nikolay was still leading by just 4.7 seconds from Yohan after the Frenchman was fastest in the stage. There was drama though for American Sean Johnston in his C3 rally2 as he lost control at the top of the Col du Turini and hit the wall which led to his car spinning and getting quite badly damaged. He and his co-driver Alex emerged fine.

Seb took SS17 Lucéram / Lantosque 2 – 18.82 km from Takamoto and Kalle. Esapekka set a great time going fifth fastest, just half a second behind Thierry. It seemed that the Finn was getting in the right pace on his first competitive outing in the i20. Unfortunately, Pierre-Louis suffered a mechanical failure on the road section and retired from the rally.

The final stage then, SS18 La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini 3[Power Stage] – 15.12 km and early pacesetter Ott was denied by Kalle by just six tenths of a second and he took the stage win and maximum points for the stage win. Elfyn, Thierry and Seb rounded out the top five fastest times in the stage and took the remaining points.

Meanwhile Seb Ogier had taken his ninth Rallye Monte Carlo and Vincent Landais his first! Rounding out the podium was Kalle and Thierry.

Final Overall Classification –Rallye Monte Carlo

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	3:12:02.0
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+18.8
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+44.6
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:12.4
5	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+2:34.9
6	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+3:32.6
7	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:47.5
8	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:51.3
9	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+10:03.4
10	Y. Rossel	A. Dunand	Citroën C3 Rally2	+10:07.9

 

Driver comments

Sébastien Ogier

“It has been a perfect weekend. This rally means a lot to me and to win it is always something very special, so I’m going to really enjoy it. I think I can be proud of myself and proud of my team. It’s been quite a dominant weekend for the team. Toyota once again provided us with fantastic tools so thanks to them. It’s an amazing way to launch the season with a one-two finish and it was a strong performance from Kalle as well. Yesterday was hard for my nerves; I knew I could go faster but I didn’t want to take risks at all. Today I knew it was more about pure driving and could enjoy the end of the rally. I’m so happy for Vincent as well. It’s his first WRC win and he deserves it so much; he has done a perfect job to my right-hand side in only our second rally together.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“I have to say we are really happy with this weekend. There was a bit more road cleaning for us to do in the beginning of the rally than I had expected, so we lost a lot of time there, but after that the pace was really good. When we had a clean road, we had the same pace as everybody else, we were fighting for the top times, and finally we could also take full points on the Power Stage so we have really good points to start our season. The team has done a great job with the car; I think all of us were fast and quite confident in the car. Big congratulations to Seb: he’s the master of Monte Carlo.”

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, the weekend has been a positive one for us. It’s been a pretty good one in terms of pace and we probably had the potential to achieve a bit more. Some frustration on Friday put us out of contention for the podium but that’s rallying and the way it goes sometimes. After that, fourth was probably the best we could have done and the gap to third was just a bit too big. Still it’s solid points to start the season and a decent performance. The car was working really well; the team have been working hard and it shows in the overall result here.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m happy to finish this rally and score some points at the beginning of the season. The conditions were a bit more consistent than the typical conditions for Rallye Monte-Carlo and when the grip level was high like on Friday, I could feel I was getting more confident and comfortable in the car. Saturday was trickier for me, as there was more cutting and more dirt on the road. Where you needed to take risks, I was maybe taking it a bit too easy. This is an area where I still need to improve but I learned many things. On Sunday I wanted to push in the final stage but something happened and we had an impact with a rock face. Thankfully we could finish and hopefully when I have a similar opportunity next time, I can push all the way to the end.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I gave everything I could this weekend and while we would have preferred to be much more in the fight for victory, it is still a good start into a new season, especially compared to last year. The speed was not that great, but it also wasn’t too bad, so there’s no need to be too alarmed. We had more tyre wear that the others and even taking risks we weren’t in a position to match the lead times. We had to be clever, which we were, and we kept the car on the road. In the end, it’s great to be back on the podium in Monte-Carlo. Sweden will be an entirely different type of event and we should be in the game.”

Dani Sordo

“Honestly, this weekend has not been to our standards or expectations. We had a lot of problems with the hybrid yesterday, and again on today’s final stages. I know the team has done all it can to give me a car to perform better. It’s disappointing to have the problems, but we have tackled things well as a team and can look forward with some encouragement. I have enjoyed myself a bit more today and the times have also been better considering the issues – that’s a positive, at least.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We have gathered important mileage this weekend and made some steps forward. On tarmac, you need to be smart if you want to make the times faster. You must get the indication from the car that you can drive it faster. I think we did just that this weekend. We saw we were not on the pace, so we slowly developed ourselves and made some progress. We are now much better prepared for Croatia, the next tarmac event. There are just small details we need to work on to be as fast as we want to be. This is the trickiest thing because the level is so high, you need perfection to match the top times.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“Generally, it was a good weekend, we have learnt plenty and got some good mileage as well. There are things we need to improve, and just look to be more consistent and gain some speed. The Power Stage definitely shows that it could be possible to be competitive in this car, but we need to find a better balance so we can drive fast.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“I think the pace during the rally was strong, even on Sunday morning after restarting. We have shown that we have the pace to keep up with the guys at the front, so we have to keep that confidence and not give up.

“From my side, the car was fantastic to drive. On dry Tarmac in Monte-Carlo, the car is incredible and it felt really good. There are some points for improvement, but in general it was a great experience. I think the pace is better than last year, we have seen some progress and we can look to fight for a podium on gravel later in the year.”

Summary

Well, it was an odd Rallye Monte Carlo for sure. The lack of ice and snow on the roads certainly made for a more predictable rally. Pirelli brought the usual four types of tyres, but the snow and studded tyres were not used at all. Of course the guy with the most experience came through and took the victory and I suspect this was the case due the amount or should I say the lack of tyres available to the crews. I’d say that without the puncture for Elfyn, he’d have been in the fight for second place with his young teammate. It was not a surprise to see Thierry on the podium. He’s won this rally in the past and shown good pace over the years as well in this event.

In WRC2 there was late drama as Nikolay Gryazin was given a five second penalty and as he only led by 4.5 seconds at the end of the rally, Yohan Rossel took the win accordingly. The Skoda driver gained this penalty after being penalised for cutting a corner in stage 14 at the end of Saturday.

The next event is Rally Sweden which is held from the 9^th to the 12^th of February. My preview will be published shortly.

Well, just 56km’s over four stages were ahead of the crews with two runs of each stage. This first started before the dawn, with the cars blasting through with their light pods ablaze. Gus Greensmith’s Puma had been rebuilt and was first to start.

First up was SS16 Pratdip 1 – 12.15 km and Dani set the fastest time from Thierry and Kalle. The Spaniard was really in the groove and feeling very confidant with his i20! Further back in the standings and at the head of the WRC2 standings was Teemu Suninen in his Rally2 spec i20. He was fastest overall in the category from Yohan Rossel. There was drama for Elfyn who reported at the end of the stage that there were pigs in the road and he was sure that he’d hit one of them.

Next up was SS17 Riudecanyes 1 – 15.90 km and there was drama for three of the crews! Thierry was fastest from Seb and Dani. Meanwhile Craig had a off following getting a puncture from a drain cover that was on the inside of a left-hand corner, then Elfyn ran over some of the debris that was pulled onto the road and got his own puncture. Finally, Kalle also got a puncture, again at the same spot, but it went down nearer to the end of the stage and he didn’t lose so much time as a result.

After the break and service, the second running of SS18 Pratdip 2 – 12.15 km. Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott. The M-Sport crews were enjoying themselves with all reporting a great drive at the end and Pierre-Louis saying that he preferred driving in the daylight. The top three fastest WRC2 crews were Emil, Teemu and Georg.

The final stage then, SS19 Riudecanyes 2 [Power Stage] – 15.90 km. The top five fastest were Seb, Thierry, Kalle, Ott and Takamoto. In fact, Elfyn set the same time as Takamoto, but as the Japanese driver set the time first, he got the nod for the final power stage point. This stage also saw the final time that Craig and Paul would compete together after 25 WRC rallies. A huge moment for the duo.

 

This is what Paul had to say at the stop line – “A bit emotional. It’s been an incredible journey. I came into this sport as a young lad and I followed the dream. I have five wins and I leave as a husband and a father with so many memories. This mine beside me has been like a brother to me – he’s brought me so much success. I also have to mention Kris Meeke – without these men I’d be nowhere, so thank you.”

Well, the big result though was for Seb and Benjamin. Benji, as he is affectionately known took his first WRC victory and played his role as co-driver giving Seb his 55^th victory. In addition to this, their win and Kalle’s third place also gave their team the manufacturers world championship. A very important result for the whole team.

Let’s take a look at the final standings and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification –Rally de España

1	S. Ogier	B. Veillas	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:44:43.9
2	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+16.4
3	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+34.5
4	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+44.0
5	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:16.5
6	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:51.1
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:19.1
8	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Ford Puma Rally1	+2:38.4
9	C. Breen	P. Nagle	Ford Puma Rally1	+2:43.0
10	P. L. Loubet	V. Landais	Ford Puma Rally1	+3:25.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier (1^st)

“It’s a fantastic feeling today. The most important thing was the manufacturers’ title, for the whole team: They have done a fantastic job the whole season and really deserve it. I am also very happy personally to take a win after the bad luck we have had on the events we’ve done this year. It was a very enjoyable weekend; the car was really fun to drive and the times were following. It is almost a surprise because I hadn’t driven this car on asphalt for so long, apart from only one day of testing, so was nice to see straightaway at the beginning of the rally that we were really fast, even with not such a great starting position on Friday. I am also very happy for Benjamin as it’s his first win. After six wins for Kalle and one for myself, let’s try to make it eight victories in Japan – especially given that eight is a lucky number there.”

Kalle Rovanperä (3^rd)

“A huge congratulations and thank you to the team. I think this year we really showed how talented this team and our people are, to be able to make this new car the strongest and the fastest and the most reliable. We could just have in the cockpit, so thank you to everybody. It’s especially nice this season as I think we have done our part quite well and brought many points for the team. We can all be really proud of what we have done. This weekend was pretty good for us. The goal was to be a bit sensible and bring home a good result if we didn’t have the pace to stay with the leaders. Seb was flying the whole weekend; he was really fast and even if I was pushing to the maximum I’m not sure if I could have matched him. So, he fully deserves the win and it’s nice to have two cars on the podium again.”

Elfyn Evans (6^th)

“Of course, I’m very happy for the team securing the manufacturers’ title. It’s been a massive effort from everyone to build these new cars for this year and they’ve had a great season, so a big congratulations to every member of the team. This weekend was not the best for myself and Scott, we struggled for the most part with our outright pace so there’s some things to work on for the future. We’ve investigated some things over the weekend, playing with the setup and with driving style to try and improve. Hopefully we have taken some steps in the right direction and we have some more ideas on where to work on before we go to Japan.”

Takamoto Katsuta (7^th)

“We had quite a difficult beginning to this rally but at the end I had a very good feeling with the car, with the pacenotes and with everything. It was getting better and better during the weekend and by the finish I felt very confident and comfortable. This was what I really wanted to have from this rally with Rally Japan coming next. My aim here was to build my confidence and I gained a good feeling with my asphalt driving and the car was working very well. There were a few times where I was trying to push too much and making mistakes, but this is good experience and learning for the future. Of course the result was not quite what I wanted but it has still been a pretty good weekend. I’m also very happy for the team to clinch the manufacturers’ title: This triple championship is an amazing achievement and everybody did a fantastic job over the whole season.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville (2^nd)

“Second place is a good result for us this weekend. It has been a challenging event and a huge fight. Somehow, we started to find more speed towards the end and enjoy it more. We missed a bit of performance in the early phase of the rally, in the tricky conditions on Friday. Unfortunately, we lost any chance to fight for victory there at the beginning. I am happy for the team that we have added another podium result, and now we can look forward to Japan. We don’t know what to expect there but hopefully we can translate some of our learnings from Spain to be in the fight.”

Ott Tänak (4^th)

“It has definitely been a long weekend. On the first day, we had a couple of hybrid issues but other than that it was quite a smooth run through. Performance-wise, we’ve been lacking a bit and I’ve not really been able to find the balance in the car or get it to work for myself. Rally Spain is a challenging rally, almost like a racetrack, where car performance means a lot and it’s crucial to have a good balance and feeling; it’s fast, smooth, and flowing. Still, we finished the rally in one piece and got some points and collected plenty of useful data. Japan will be new for everyone, so we’ll have to wait until we’re out there to find out more about it.”

Dani Sordo (5^th)

“I have given it everything this weekend. We lost some time to the front-runners on the first day, but I got more confidence as the rally went on. On the Power Stage, I was pushing hard; the car was oversteering towards the end, and it was difficult to keep in the line. But I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to the team for giving me the opportunity to compete again in my home rally and giving me a car like this. We are always learning about it, making it more comfortable to drive. It has been incredible to see so many fans here and to feel all their support. I am disappointed in one way not to be on the podium, but I am happy in another to have shared this weekend with them.”

2022 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’

After Round Twelve

1	K. Rovanperä	255
2	O. Tänak	187
3	T. Neuville	166
4	E. Evans	124
5	T. Katsuta	106
6	S. Ogier	85
7	C. Breen	79
8	D. Sordo	60
9	E. Lappi	58
10	G. Greensmith	36

 

2022 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’

After Round Twelve

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	503
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	410
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	238
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team NG	122

 

Summary

Well, what a brilliant rally for the Toyota team headed by Jari-Matti. They have had an amazing performance taking their first win since returning to the championship in 2017. It was a well deserved 55^th win for eight-time champion Seb and first for Benjamin.

Thierry showed again why he is so fast on these roads taking a podium. He certainly hoped for more, but given the difficulties with this version of the i20, this was a good result.

Finally, Kalle took a good third place, showing good pace on tarmac and dealing with punctures and other issues, but showed that great pace to secure the final step on the podium and therefore the teams championship.