Monte Carlo Rally 2019
Live Text
Sort by
Has Latvala had a problem here? He completes the stage 35s off the pace and slowest so far.
Of the drivers mid-stage now, Latvala, Esapekka Lappi and Andreas Mikkelsen are all in the Neuville range of split times - even though they're believed to be on studded tyres all round.
Quote
"I'm not sure it's anything special," says Tanak. "It's so tricky at the moment, so a few seconds here and there is nothing at the moment. It's just the first stage of a very tricky rally."
Says the bloke who's blitzing everyone else already tonight.
Says the bloke who's blitzing everyone else already tonight.
Stopwatch
Tanak comes through the finish fastest so far by 10.6s over Ogier.
Hello, here's Tanak being massively faster than everyone else. Sound familiar?
Quote
"I was surprised that the grip was still that good, so I was a little bit careful - I was expecting it to be more slippery," says Neuville. "I hope that on the next stage with two slicks on the car I can catch the time back up."
Neuville is in, 16.2s slower than Ogier. That's not bad if his tyre choice is going to pay off big style on the next stage.
Stopwatch
Meanwhile Tanak still sets the pace - 6s up on Ogier at the latest split.
Neuville remains 17s down on Ogier at the latest split, but frankly for a totally different tyre choice that's not bad - this was the sort of drastic difference in strategy where you might've expected a gap of a minute for whoever guessed wrong.
Quote
"For sure it was safer with our tyres," says Ogier of his and Neuville's tyre choice split. "He's going to be much faster in the next stage, but I'm not sure what he'll be doing on this one."
Stopwatch
Ogier is in, with a benchmark time of 13m12.6s.
A painful split for Neuville now - the middle of the stage is clearly a tough spot for slick tyres as drops to 16s off Ogier's pace.
Stopwatch
Tanak remains fastest at split two, but now by just three tenths of a second over Ogier.
Ogier is now onto a slippery and snowy section where even with his studded tyres, traction is a headache.
At the next split, Neuville has pulled 4s back on Ogier so is only 4s slower overall.
David Evans
Toyota boss Tommi Makinen hasn't exactly applied team orders here, but he has given some clear instructions to Tanak, Latvala and Meeke:
Makinen had previously stated he would not offer instructions or try to manage the crews’ performances. But for Monte Carlo, he offered strong advice to follow their own feeling rather than get tempted into racing.
“I don’t know if it really helps for me to say anything – I don’t know if they are listening,” Makinen told Autosport. “But I wouldn’t like to see them competing against each other too much. I would prefer if they concentrated on their own work and not follow what the others are doing.
“In these conditions and on this rally you have to have your own feeling and you have to know how fast to drive. Your eyes have to be open all of the time for the changing conditions.”
Makinen said his advice was Monte-specific and when the conditions became more consistent on the following rallies, then he would be happy for the drivers to make their own plan.
He added: “When we go to Sweden, for example, then [they can go] maximum flat out and to their limit. But here, if you go a little bit too fast then immediately you have trouble. You must follow your own feeling and notes.”
Makinen had previously stated he would not offer instructions or try to manage the crews’ performances. But for Monte Carlo, he offered strong advice to follow their own feeling rather than get tempted into racing.
“I don’t know if it really helps for me to say anything – I don’t know if they are listening,” Makinen told Autosport. “But I wouldn’t like to see them competing against each other too much. I would prefer if they concentrated on their own work and not follow what the others are doing.
“In these conditions and on this rally you have to have your own feeling and you have to know how fast to drive. Your eyes have to be open all of the time for the changing conditions.”
Makinen said his advice was Monte-specific and when the conditions became more consistent on the following rallies, then he would be happy for the drivers to make their own plan.
He added: “When we go to Sweden, for example, then [they can go] maximum flat out and to their limit. But here, if you go a little bit too fast then immediately you have trouble. You must follow your own feeling and notes.”
Stopwatch
Fastest of all now at split one is Tanak, 3s up on Ogier and Neuville there.
Here's Bruno Saby dispensing wisdom to us at the stage end
Stopwatch
On the split times so far, Ogier is 8s faster than Neuville.
Neuville is counting on the fact that SS2 is expected to be much better conditions snow-wise than SS1, so he can afford to lose a bit of time treading carefully here than fly on the next stage.
But while that strategy does fit with the weather predictions, DAVID EVANS has just spoken to course car driver Bruno Saby at the end of SS1 - and he says he'd have taken studs...
But while that strategy does fit with the weather predictions, DAVID EVANS has just spoken to course car driver Bruno Saby at the end of SS1 - and he says he'd have taken studs...
Our man at the stage end DAVID EVANS says conditions at that point are "deeply cold" but that there is no snow falling there and that the road looks clear.
That choice of normal tyres will help Neuville on clean parts of the stages, but as Ogier's already finding there are areas that are absolutely covered in ice and snow. And slicks there will be a nightmare.
Now Neuville takes to the stage - and he's already taking a gamble, running stud-less supersofts!
The in-car footage from Ogier makes clear this is a classic Monte night stage - in the first mile there's a real mix of what looks like completely dry, clear patches, then sudden snow, and plenty of black ice too in other areas.
He's running studded winter tyres all round on his Citroen.
He's running studded winter tyres all round on his Citroen.
Information
Latvala has also provided our stage guides for tonight.
SS1 La Breole-Selonnet (12.90 miles)
We have done four kilometres [2.5 miles] of this in the past, but the rest is new. This stage is more open and through the fields. There are some places in the forest and then you finish in this place that’s quite like a canyon. But the first three-quarters of the road is wide and fast. We have some long straights here, one straight is 300 metres and one is 400 metres.
These straights are quite nice. You have come from the places where you are in really technical sections and then suddenly you can relax and breathe for a fraction of a second.
SS1 La Breole-Selonnet (12.90 miles)
We have done four kilometres [2.5 miles] of this in the past, but the rest is new. This stage is more open and through the fields. There are some places in the forest and then you finish in this place that’s quite like a canyon. But the first three-quarters of the road is wide and fast. We have some long straights here, one straight is 300 metres and one is 400 metres.
These straights are quite nice. You have come from the places where you are in really technical sections and then suddenly you can relax and breathe for a fraction of a second.
Green flag
Ogier is on the startline, the season starts now...
David Evans
In search of a deeper appraisal of what the conditions were like this evening, Autosport sought Jari-Matti Latvala. With a coffee and a banana, the Finn took us on a journey through Thursday evening.
“In the recce when we did the stages we had 10-15% ice and snow. The snow came yesterday and it covered almost 50% of the stages.
"The question for us now is how much of that snow has melted today. It was only a couple of centimetres of snow, but where has it melted and will that water freeze to make ice tonight. Stage one was the full winter conditions.
“The tyre choice will be complicated, we need as much information from the [gravel] crews as we can possibly have, but really you need a studded tyre for the first stage and a slick for the second one. You have to make that compromise.
“When it’s like this for the rally, it’s always more difficult. You know, we have been on the recce and we have this picture of what the road is like and then it’s changed, completely changed and we just don’t know what to expect in that first stage. It makes everybody more nervous.”
And, to clear up any banana-related questions, Autosport can confirm J-ML is committed to the fruit – he even eats the brown, mushy bits.
“In the recce when we did the stages we had 10-15% ice and snow. The snow came yesterday and it covered almost 50% of the stages.
"The question for us now is how much of that snow has melted today. It was only a couple of centimetres of snow, but where has it melted and will that water freeze to make ice tonight. Stage one was the full winter conditions.
“The tyre choice will be complicated, we need as much information from the [gravel] crews as we can possibly have, but really you need a studded tyre for the first stage and a slick for the second one. You have to make that compromise.
“When it’s like this for the rally, it’s always more difficult. You know, we have been on the recce and we have this picture of what the road is like and then it’s changed, completely changed and we just don’t know what to expect in that first stage. It makes everybody more nervous.”
And, to clear up any banana-related questions, Autosport can confirm J-ML is committed to the fruit – he even eats the brown, mushy bits.
So, in short, this is going to be fun.
That's the same Toyota where Ott Tanak started blitzing the WRC scene with dominant pace that nearly carried him to the title last year.
And Thierry Neuville's still in the Hyundai that so nearly ended the Ogier title run.
And the M-Sport Ford that carried Ogier to his last two titles is still in the field, with the team trying to rebuild in its post-Ogier era with Teemu Suninen, Elfyn Evans and - for now at least - Pontus Tidemand.
And Thierry Neuville's still in the Hyundai that so nearly ended the Ogier title run.
And the M-Sport Ford that carried Ogier to his last two titles is still in the field, with the team trying to rebuild in its post-Ogier era with Teemu Suninen, Elfyn Evans and - for now at least - Pontus Tidemand.
Then there's Meeke - back in the field with a point to prove and adamant that he's been revitalised by Tommi Makinen's guidance at Toyota.
And we're about to see the bizarre sight of Loeb attacking WRC stages in something other than a Citroen, with Hyundai having capitalised on Citroen's difficulty in securing funding for a third car and pounced to scoop up the nine-time champion.
But instead we're going into that tantalisingly tricky scenario knowing that we're about to see how Sebastien Ogier fares back at the Citroen team that launched his career, but has been in various levels of success-free strife since his namesake and sometime arch-rival Loeb left its full-time line-up.
We're about to commence the 2019 WRC season with a pair of after-dark, snow and ice speckled Monte Carlo Rally stages, which is exciting enough in itself even if we were coming off the pack of a static winter of zero driver market movement and no changes to the line-up.
Hello and welcome to Autosport Live. Have you missed Sebastien Loeb? Have you missed Kris Meeke? Have you missed the World Rally Championship?
We definitely have.
We definitely have.
By: Matt Beer
Published:
Page:
