Monte Carlo Rally
Live Text
Sort by
Newest first
Sordo comes through, slightly happier on that stage and he's carved a healthy chunk out of the gap to ninth-placed Hyundai team-mate Neuville.
If you weren't with us last night, Sordo made his Monte hard from the outset by sliding off the road in the first few miles of SS1 and needing a quick shove back on course from co-driver Marc Marti.
If you weren't with us last night, Sordo made his Monte hard from the outset by sliding off the road in the first few miles of SS1 and needing a quick shove back on course from co-driver Marc Marti.
Split three is in, and Loeb is 10s slower than Ogier.
His lead was 24.3s at the start of the stage...
His lead was 24.3s at the start of the stage...
Czech privateer Prokop has set some very respectable times on this event so far and was keeping Sordo under pressure for 10th until this stage, where he's a fair way off the Hyundai's pace.
Prokop, Sordo and Solberg (Henning, in case anyone's thinking the Petter comeback has become fact already) up next, then Tanak and Loeb.
Evans finishes the stage 32s slower than Latvala, his rival for third place overall.
He plays down the moment the TV crew spotted, but says worn tyres clearly cost him.
"We just touched a bank in a slippery section," Evans says of his near-miss.
"We didn't have any studs left for this stage. It didn't feel so bad but the time is not great."
Unless we've just had our second maths failure of Friday, that time actually drops Evans a few tenths behind Meeke into sixth overall.
He plays down the moment the TV crew spotted, but says worn tyres clearly cost him.
"We just touched a bank in a slippery section," Evans says of his near-miss.
"We didn't have any studs left for this stage. It didn't feel so bad but the time is not great."
Unless we've just had our second maths failure of Friday, that time actually drops Evans a few tenths behind Meeke into sixth overall.
Loeb reaches split two and is now 7s slower than Ogier.
Stopwatch
Stage order so far:
1 Kubica
2 Ogier
3 Latvala
4 Meeke
5 Mikkelsen
6 Ostberg
1 Kubica
2 Ogier
3 Latvala
4 Meeke
5 Mikkelsen
6 Ostberg
Meeke adds 3s to his advantage over Mikkelsen and Ostberg in their fight for sixth.
"Good notes from the safety crew, but spectators are putting snow on the road after they've been through and it's incredibly dirty in places.
"In some places though it's bone dry. That's Monte Carlo."
"Good notes from the safety crew, but spectators are putting snow on the road after they've been through and it's incredibly dirty in places.
"In some places though it's bone dry. That's Monte Carlo."
Loeb's first split is in, he's 4s down on Ogier.
Quote
Potentially bad news for Loeb from Neuville, who says running further back on this stage is not fun:
"Definitely worse, it's getting horrible towards the end of the stage. Sometimes spectators are putting snow on the road, sometimes the cars in front are cutting."
The Hyundai is slowest so far and loses 20s to the Ostberg/Mikkelsen pack.
"Definitely worse, it's getting horrible towards the end of the stage. Sometimes spectators are putting snow on the road, sometimes the cars in front are cutting."
The Hyundai is slowest so far and loses 20s to the Ostberg/Mikkelsen pack.
Ostberg finishes the stage precisely one tenth of a second slower than Mikkelsen, so the gap between them increases from 9.6s to 9.7s. They're set to stay seventh and eighth at present.
This isn't turning out to be a good stage for Evans - at the middle split he's slowest so far, 10s off the Ostberg/Meeke/Mikkelsen par and 20s off third-place rival Latvala.
Mikkelsen is fourth fastest, 28s off Kubica/Ogier and 13s down on Latvala.
But he's on a similar pace to Meeke and Ostberg, his sparring partners in the close battle for sixth overall.
But he's on a similar pace to Meeke and Ostberg, his sparring partners in the close battle for sixth overall.
The focus for Latvala is the M-Sport pair as they fight for third, and at the early splits he's adding a few seconds to his advantage over Evans. Tanak is yet to start the stage.
Quote
Latvala says Ogier's snow-spreading plans are working, but it's not making much difference to him:
"I had to take it carefully, it was very, very messy in some places.
"I had quite a smooth run. Obviously we are losing time, but I'm concentrating on my tactics. I want to be in the top four."
Latvala completes the stage 15s slower than Kubica and Ogier.
"I had to take it carefully, it was very, very messy in some places.
"I had quite a smooth run. Obviously we are losing time, but I'm concentrating on my tactics. I want to be in the top four."
Latvala completes the stage 15s slower than Kubica and Ogier.
Evans's first split time is indeed a few seconds off the other WRC frontrunners.
TV crews on the stage are reporting that Evans had a big moment and nearly crashed, but is continuing unscathed.
Ogier completes the stage with plenty of snow in the front of his VW...
He admits that he was deliberately trying to "make some cuts" and bring some more snow and mud onto the road to hamper those behind him to even out what he feels is a running order disadvantage.
He admits that he was deliberately trying to "make some cuts" and bring some more snow and mud onto the road to hamper those behind him to even out what he feels is a running order disadvantage.
Anyone else thinking that the only way a Loeb/Ogier battle for Monte victory could be even better would be if Kubica was making it a three-way fight...? Yeah, damn those electrical problems last night.
Ogier is two tenths faster than Kubica at the final split, but he finishes the stage 0.8s off the Pole.
Stopwatch
Kubica sets the stage benchmark with a 15m13.2s, achieved on very worn snow tyres:
"It's very difficult but you have to get used to it. We used all our studs on the second stage where there was a fast Tarmac part. So wherever there was ice and snow, it was very difficult for us. It's not easy to survive."
"It's very difficult but you have to get used to it. We used all our studs on the second stage where there was a fast Tarmac part. So wherever there was ice and snow, it was very difficult for us. It's not easy to survive."
Latvala is 7s slower than Kubica and Ogier in the middle of the stage, but on the earlier splits that's still 6s better off than Mikkelsen in the third VW.
Just a tenth between Kubica and Ogier's pace at the latest split to come in.
Mikkelsen is still off the pace on SS5, he's slowest of the main contenders so far at split one, 6s down on Kubica and Ogier.
Bakery
Meanwhile in excellent news for the future of rallying journalism, DAVID EVANS is no longer starving:
After eight hours in the car to and from Monaco, reporting at the end of the first stage then offering massive technical insight to a Canadian Grand Prix winner at the side of the Route Napoleon, all I managed to eat yesterday was a couple of croissants - followed by a half-eaten packet of Jaffa Cakes found at the bottom of the bag and tasting like the'd been there since Rally GB.
Which is why I raided this place this morning.
Stopwatch
Kubica's pace isn't letting up on SS5, at the middle split he's still 1.2s quicker than Ogier.
Latvala was 4s down on this pair at the first split.
Latvala was 4s down on this pair at the first split.
Breaking news
SS4 summary:
* Loeb loses a little time but holds a 24s lead over Ogier
* Kubica takes the stage win - though it's little help after last night's electrical problems left him outside the top 60 overall
* Latvala recovers his confidence and moves back past Tanak and Evans into third
* Mikkelsen loses his confidence and falls back to seventh behind Meeke
* Loeb loses a little time but holds a 24s lead over Ogier
* Kubica takes the stage win - though it's little help after last night's electrical problems left him outside the top 60 overall
* Latvala recovers his confidence and moves back past Tanak and Evans into third
* Mikkelsen loses his confidence and falls back to seventh behind Meeke
Checkered flag
SS4 results:
Stage times:
1 Kubica 15m27.0s
2 Ogier +3.0s
3 Latvala +5.3s
4 Loeb +7.0s
5 Tanak +15.4s
6 Meeke +17.3s
7 Evans +20.6s
8 Ostberg +23.0s
9 Neuville +28.4s
10 Mikkelsen +30.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Loeb
2 Ogier +24.3s
3 Latvala +1m17.1s
4 Tanak +1m18.4s
5 Evans +1m23.7s
6 Meeke +1m45.6s
7 Mikkelsen +1m45.7s
8 Ostberg +1m55.3s
9 Neuville +2m01.5s
10 Sordo +2m30.4s
Stage times:
1 Kubica 15m27.0s
2 Ogier +3.0s
3 Latvala +5.3s
4 Loeb +7.0s
5 Tanak +15.4s
6 Meeke +17.3s
7 Evans +20.6s
8 Ostberg +23.0s
9 Neuville +28.4s
10 Mikkelsen +30.0s
Overall leaderboard:
1 Loeb
2 Ogier +24.3s
3 Latvala +1m17.1s
4 Tanak +1m18.4s
5 Evans +1m23.7s
6 Meeke +1m45.6s
7 Mikkelsen +1m45.7s
8 Ostberg +1m55.3s
9 Neuville +2m01.5s
10 Sordo +2m30.4s
Quote
Loeb puts that slight deficit down to "a little mistake, I pushed hard" but overall he's pretty happy with that.
Loeb loses a bit of ground in the run to the finish. He's fourth fastest, 4s down on Ogier and 7s behind Kubica.
That means the Citroen man's overall lead stands at 24.3s to Ogier.
That means the Citroen man's overall lead stands at 24.3s to Ogier.
Tanak is 5s faster than Evans in the M-Sport battle, but 10s down on Latvala, who jumps back ahead of the two Fords to third overall.
Now Loeb is quicker than Ogier at the final split, though still a touch slower than Kubica.
Loeb is pulling time back later on the stage, only 0.4s off Ogier and within 0.9s of pacesetter Kubica.
Lights out
Last big guns to come through SS4 are Tanak and the biggest gun of all, Loeb, but meanwhile Chardonnet and Kubica are about to begin SS5.
Here's DAVID EVANS on the final stage of this morning's rapid-fire loop:
The third stage in the loop will be a big one for Sebastien Ogier – it ends in St Julien-en-Champsaur, his backyard.
Running in its entirety at over 1000 metres (with a peak at 1542 metres), this new-for-this-year stage will be littered with snow and ice until the final descent – the home run for the defending champion – which is all south facing and flat out.
Here's DAVID EVANS on the final stage of this morning's rapid-fire loop:
The third stage in the loop will be a big one for Sebastien Ogier – it ends in St Julien-en-Champsaur, his backyard.
Running in its entirety at over 1000 metres (with a peak at 1542 metres), this new-for-this-year stage will be littered with snow and ice until the final descent – the home run for the defending champion – which is all south facing and flat out.
A slow time from Sordo, who is quicker only than Prokop and half a minute off the stage pace. The Spaniard sounds bemused at that lack of pace, which will keep him in 10th.
Tanak is slightly quicker than team-mate Evans in their battle for third as he reaches the middle split, but Latvala is likely to jump both the M-Sport men with his resurgent performance on SS4.
At split two, Loeb is 4.3s down on Ogier. His lead at the start of the stage was 28s.
Evans comes in fifth fastest. He falls behind Latvala overall.
Loeb is on the stage and he's 2.9s slower than Ogier at the opening split.
Meeke is in, he's fourth fastest and that's edged him away from Ostberg and brought him onto Mikkelsen's tail for what should be sixth overall.
"We found a better rhythm in there, but it's still tricky with a lot of mud being pulled out. The mud is as tricky as the ice. I'm trying to stay disciplined."
"We found a better rhythm in there, but it's still tricky with a lot of mud being pulled out. The mud is as tricky as the ice. I'm trying to stay disciplined."
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Scott Mitchell
Published:
Page:
