Monte Carlo Rally
Live Text
Sort by
Fans
Not too surprising that we have had some overcrowded stages this weekend given the huge interest in Sebastien Loeb's return.
As DAVID EVANS notes: "These boys were absolutely on the money until that rock on the outside of a right-hander mid-way through SS8."
Breaking news
Here are the tyre choices for this morning (for the Michelin runners):
* All three VWs have four super-soft slicks and two studded tyres
* Elfyn Evans has four soft slicks and two studded
* Everyone else has taken five softs
Reports from SS10 are that it's mostly dry and clear, but there are some long patches of ice and snow. On this rally you can get a lot of variety into 32 miles.
* All three VWs have four super-soft slicks and two studded tyres
* Elfyn Evans has four soft slicks and two studded
* Everyone else has taken five softs
Reports from SS10 are that it's mostly dry and clear, but there are some long patches of ice and snow. On this rally you can get a lot of variety into 32 miles.
Stopwatch
Hopefully we can bring you plenty of split-time information as this mega-stage progresses.
Yesterday the timing system was spot on in the morning, but in the afternoon it kept insisting that what we really wanted to see was split times from last year's Sweden powerstage. We didn't.
Yesterday the timing system was spot on in the morning, but in the afternoon it kept insisting that what we really wanted to see was split times from last year's Sweden powerstage. We didn't.
Here's a reminder of our current standings, with Sebastien Chardonnet about to begin the stage.
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1m45.4s
3 Mikkelsen +2m34.8s
4 Tanak +2m44.4s
5 Ostberg +3m02.9s
6 Evans +3m15.2s
7 Neuville +3m29.9s
8 Sordo +4m03.0s
9 Prokop +6m38.9s
10 Solberg +7m13.8s
15 Loeb +10m08.0s
21 Meeke +12m02.3s
28 Kubica +14m18.8s
And we'll see those last three first, along with Chardonnet (who is 48th overall), as they're all running under Rally2 restart rules, then it's the rest of the field in 2014 championship order.
1 Ogier
2 Latvala +1m45.4s
3 Mikkelsen +2m34.8s
4 Tanak +2m44.4s
5 Ostberg +3m02.9s
6 Evans +3m15.2s
7 Neuville +3m29.9s
8 Sordo +4m03.0s
9 Prokop +6m38.9s
10 Solberg +7m13.8s
15 Loeb +10m08.0s
21 Meeke +12m02.3s
28 Kubica +14m18.8s
And we'll see those last three first, along with Chardonnet (who is 48th overall), as they're all running under Rally2 restart rules, then it's the rest of the field in 2014 championship order.
Breaking news
So this morning's themes...
Ogier just has to keep it smooth, and in theory so does Latvala - but J-ML's pace this weekend has varied from bang on Ogier's times to half a minute per stage adrift depending on where his head's at...
...and Mikkelsen can't relax as he has Tanak, Ostberg, Evans and Neuville not too far behind his third place, and the M-Sport pair in particular have flown at times this week...
...while Neuville will probably be keeping it very tidy as he's crashed out early on every previous Monte attempt (getting as far as Saturday is a huge novelty for him here)...
...you'd definitely still fancy Loeb's chances of getting back into the points too...
...and Kubica won three stages yesterday, though he also had two crashes (on one stage), so his pace is well worth watching.
See, this is till fun even though it's not Loeb vs Ogier for the win anymore.
Ogier just has to keep it smooth, and in theory so does Latvala - but J-ML's pace this weekend has varied from bang on Ogier's times to half a minute per stage adrift depending on where his head's at...
...and Mikkelsen can't relax as he has Tanak, Ostberg, Evans and Neuville not too far behind his third place, and the M-Sport pair in particular have flown at times this week...
...while Neuville will probably be keeping it very tidy as he's crashed out early on every previous Monte attempt (getting as far as Saturday is a huge novelty for him here)...
...you'd definitely still fancy Loeb's chances of getting back into the points too...
...and Kubica won three stages yesterday, though he also had two crashes (on one stage), so his pace is well worth watching.
See, this is till fun even though it's not Loeb vs Ogier for the win anymore.
Rain
Cold
And here's an indication of the weather, via the high-tech method of the AUTOSPORT Peugeot 308's windscreen.
"Considerably colder start this morning," reported DAVID EVANS as he headed out to the stages.
"Minus six took a while to clear..."
Stopwatch
Quickest man at split one is Meeke, he's 1.1s up on Kubica. Chardonnet is 5-6s slower than them.
Breaking news
Problems for Rally2ing Citroen young gun Chardonnet, the tracking system shows him stopped on the stage.
Loeb's first split is in, and he's a couple of seconds off team-mate Meeke's pace.
Loeb and Meeke as team-mates, that still sounds novel doesn't it? Will this weekend be the only time we can type it...?
It'll be interesting to compare Loeb and Ogier's splits today (there's still honour at stake) but actually we really want to see Loeb's pace versus the likes of Prokop and Solberg, as they're the men he has to catch to salvage some points.
Loeb and Meeke as team-mates, that still sounds novel doesn't it? Will this weekend be the only time we can type it...?
It'll be interesting to compare Loeb and Ogier's splits today (there's still honour at stake) but actually we really want to see Loeb's pace versus the likes of Prokop and Solberg, as they're the men he has to catch to salvage some points.
The timing system hasn't picked up Ogier's first split (he's still moving fine on the tracking), but Latvala is 13s off the pace there.
Stopwatch
Kubica is now the fastest man at split two, 5s faster than Meeke, while Loeb is 13s off the Pole's pace.
Ogier's second split is in, and he's 24s slower than fastest man Kubica there.
With the variety of tyre choices, conditions and amounts drivers have to lose, plus the fact this stage is 32 miles long, we could see some big time swings here.
With the variety of tyre choices, conditions and amounts drivers have to lose, plus the fact this stage is 32 miles long, we could see some big time swings here.
Mikkelsen is the quickest of the three VWs at the first split. He's on a similar pace to Kubica and Loeb, which is just over 10s better than Latvala up to that point.
It's not impossible that Mikkelsen could end up challenging Latvala today. They began the morning 50s apart and both men's pace has fluctuated all over the place this week.
It's not impossible that Mikkelsen could end up challenging Latvala today. They began the morning 50s apart and both men's pace has fluctuated all over the place this week.
Crash
Reports at the stage end at the moment indicate that Chardonnet's problem is a crash.
The Junior WRC champion's chance of starring on this Citroen World Rally Car outing didn't last long, as he broke his suspension with an early accident on Thursday night, but he had shown some good pace yesterday, including a second-fastest time on one of the afternoon stages.
The Junior WRC champion's chance of starring on this Citroen World Rally Car outing didn't last long, as he broke his suspension with an early accident on Thursday night, but he had shown some good pace yesterday, including a second-fastest time on one of the afternoon stages.
Stopwatch
At split three, Kubica's time is now 27.5s faster than Meeke's.
Ogier is slowest so far at split two, with Latvala through there 2s quicker than his team-mate.
Ogier is slowest so far at split two, with Latvala through there 2s quicker than his team-mate.
Mikkelsen remains 10s quicker than Latvala as he reaches split two.
Back at split one, Mikkelsen, Ostberg and Neuville are on a similar pace, 10s faster than Latvala but a couple of seconds slower than Kubica, Loeb and Meeke were there.
Loeb is through split three 35s slower than Kubica and 8s slower than Meeke.
Back at split one, Mikkelsen, Ostberg and Neuville are on a similar pace, 10s faster than Latvala but a couple of seconds slower than Kubica, Loeb and Meeke were there.
Loeb is through split three 35s slower than Kubica and 8s slower than Meeke.
Stopwatch
Past the mid-stage split and Kubica continues to fly, he's 29.7s faster than Meeke there.
Stopwatch
At split 5, Kubica is 31.3s quicker than Meeke.
Loeb remains about 8s off Meeke, and Latvala is on a similar pace to Loeb.
We're getting our first splits from the lower-top-10 drivers that Loeb has to catch, and at split one he's taken 12s out of Prokop. He's got a three and a half minute gap to close to the Czech over the next day and a half.
Loeb remains about 8s off Meeke, and Latvala is on a similar pace to Loeb.
We're getting our first splits from the lower-top-10 drivers that Loeb has to catch, and at split one he's taken 12s out of Prokop. He's got a three and a half minute gap to close to the Czech over the next day and a half.
This is extraordinary stuff from Kubica, who is so far an absolute class apart. No one is within half a minute of his pace as the stage goes into its second half.
Ogier is 1m12s slower than Kubica at split four, and 30-40s slower than the likes of Meeke and Loeb.
The VWs have gone out with some studded tyres among their options, could tyre choice be causing this disparity?
The VWs have gone out with some studded tyres among their options, could tyre choice be causing this disparity?
Prokop's second split is in, and Loeb is half a minute faster than him there.
Stopwatch
Split six is in for the first few cars, and Kubica is 32.5s faster than Meeke there.
First split in for Tanak, who is way back on 14th on the road still, and he is a couple of seconds quicker than Mikkelsen, who he's chasing for third overall.
First split in for Tanak, who is way back on 14th on the road still, and he is a couple of seconds quicker than Mikkelsen, who he's chasing for third overall.
Latvala is half a minute quicker than leader Ogier at split four. Ogier has a 1m45s cushion to sit on, but that's a lot to lose.
Kubica reaches the stage end, he's beaming, and he's on four super-soft Pirellis.
Quote
What were you doing in there, Kubica is asked...
"Nothing, just driving," he says. "We have good tyres, and the conditions were very, very tricky. Our gravel crew did a very good job.
"It's not easy, because when you see ice you don't know how long it will last.
"It was a very difficult stage, but I think I drove it nicely."
Yes, you did.
"Nothing, just driving," he says. "We have good tyres, and the conditions were very, very tricky. Our gravel crew did a very good job.
"It's not easy, because when you see ice you don't know how long it will last.
"It was a very difficult stage, but I think I drove it nicely."
Yes, you did.
Crash
Kubica also confirms that Chardonnet has crashed. He reckons the Frenchman lost it under braking on ice at a slow hairpin. The crew are OK.
Ogier's latest split time is 1m20s slower than Kubica's pace and 31s down on Latvala.
Meeke is in, yet to get his complete stage time. He reports that there was much more ice than he was expecting. He was on four soft slicks.
There's Meeke's time - he's 34.4s slower than Kubica. And he's probably going to be second-fastest at the present rate!
Loeb is in, and he's 7.8s slower than Meeke so slowest so far. That time still compares well to the leaders, and puts him on course to take a big chunk out of the gap to the top-10 tail-enders, though.
Tanak is nibbling a bit of time out of Mikkelsen in their battle for third, but not a lot - just a second or so of their 10s gap.
Neuville is set to fall further away from the top six group on this stage, he's between 20-40s slower than the cars ahead of him in the results at the moment, and 10s down on Hyundai team-mate Sordo, who's chasing him for seventh.
Ogier comes through the finish, and he's a massive 1m50s slower than pacesetter Kubica.
Loeb reported he was simply cautious on the ice, and that his soft tyres would maybe the wrong choice for the dry parts, where super-softs would've been better.
Loeb reported he was simply cautious on the ice, and that his soft tyres would maybe the wrong choice for the dry parts, where super-softs would've been better.
At the splits available so far, Ogier is still losing over half a minute to Latvala and Mikkelsen.
Quote
Ogier confirms he's just taking it very easy with such a handy lead:
"Everything is OK. We were very safe with the tyre choice. I was really slow on every icy part. I have nothing to play for. It was fully safety for me.
"I don't know what Jari's rhythm is, maybe I will lose it."
Informed that Latvala is half a minute quicker, he replies: "No problem."
"Everything is OK. We were very safe with the tyre choice. I was really slow on every icy part. I have nothing to play for. It was fully safety for me.
"I don't know what Jari's rhythm is, maybe I will lose it."
Informed that Latvala is half a minute quicker, he replies: "No problem."
Latvala is in, and he's taken 40s out of Ogier on that stage, but he's still over a minute adrift (and he was over a minute slower than the amazing Kubica there).
Quote
Latvala is amazed he gained so much on Ogier:
"I don't understand it. I spun at the beginning of the stage and lost 10-15s. There was a lot of gravel on the road.
"I was afraid I was going to lose 50s or a minute on this stage."
"I don't understand it. I spun at the beginning of the stage and lost 10-15s. There was a lot of gravel on the road.
"I was afraid I was going to lose 50s or a minute on this stage."
Loeb's mission update: he's going to take over a minute out of the gap to Prokop on this stage.
Why are we going on about Loeb vs Prokop? Because we reckon the Czech privateer, who's currently ninth, is the highest-placed realistic target for Loeb in his comeback charge from 15th. They started the day three and a half minutes apart.
Why are we going on about Loeb vs Prokop? Because we reckon the Czech privateer, who's currently ninth, is the highest-placed realistic target for Loeb in his comeback charge from 15th. They started the day three and a half minutes apart.
Mikkelsen's third place is now looking more secure, Tanak's middle splits are slower and he's dropping over 20s to the VW.
"We went with no risks. We took no risks in the icy parts," says Mikkelsen of his run.
"We went with no risks. We took no risks in the icy parts," says Mikkelsen of his run.
At split five, Loeb is 1m40s quicker than Prokop, and Solberg (who's 10th) is on a similar pace to Prokop so far.
Should we be looking further ahead for Loeb? Probably not, next target after Prokop would be Sordo in eighth, and the Hyundai is basically on the same pace as the Citroen.
So our bet remains a final finish of ninth for Loeb, further attrition permitting.
Should we be looking further ahead for Loeb? Probably not, next target after Prokop would be Sordo in eighth, and the Hyundai is basically on the same pace as the Citroen.
So our bet remains a final finish of ninth for Loeb, further attrition permitting.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Scott Mitchell
Published:
Page:
