News
With the dust of last weekend's 80th Monte Carlo Rally, round one of the 2012 WRC still hanging in the mountain air, Saturday sees another full brown assault on the Alps Maritime launched from six cities which helped to forge the reputation of the first Rallies that carried the rally's famous name - Barcelona, Glasgow, Oslo, Reims, Turin and Warsaw.
The 15th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique will run from Saturday January 28 to Saturday February 4 2012. The different Concentration Legs will meet in Monaco where crews will benefit from a night's rest before the next two legs take them northwest to the region around Valence, before driving back to Monaco for the second part of the Common Leg and the final night of competition.
Again in keeping with tradition, the regularity tests will use special stages that have featured on Monte's of the past. Timing to the nearest second will be ensured using the Tripy GPS system, while timing to the nearest tenth of a second will be clocked by hand. Competitors who enter cars manufactured prior to 1966 or of a cubic capacity of less than 1,300cc will be able to choose the 'low' average speed option.
Cars eligible to contest the rally must be a model that contested the Rallye Monte-Carlo between 1955 and 1980 and consequently manufactured before 1980. The list includes some 100 makes and this years 305 car entry reflects the extremely broad choice of models being used by the truly international field of entries.
Among the 305 cars selected from over 1,000 entries are 15 carrying the union jack proudly with full or part UK crew members and the IRDC is delighted to report that its secretary, Tony Graham will be carrying the familiar IRDC badge as co-driver for brother Steve in car 299, their well-known 1970 Lancia Fulvia 1.3S Coupe. Running under the Ecurie Ecosse team banner, Steve and Tony will be trying to replicate their solid performance on this rally last year and their place on the second step of the podium on the 2011 Tour Britannia.
Another prominent British competitor is ex BMC works co-driver and veteran of many Monte's Willy Cave, co-driving for Peter Barker in his specially constructed 'Mini World' 850 Mini. Other 'A' list celebrities standing out on the entry are Sandro Munari driving his 'signature' Lancia Fulvia 1.6 and Alain Serpaggi in a fire-breathing Renault 5 Alpine, both drivers past legends of this rally.
With the weather forecast predicting a little more snow in the alps this week the IRDC wishes all competitors and teams good luck.
24th January, 2012
After what seems like a WRC rally marathon lasting almost a week Citroen's Sebastien Loeb driving a Citroen Total WRT DS3 has won the 2012 Rallye Monte Carlo, 2 minutes 45.5 seconds ahead of Dani Sordo in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC car with Petter Solberg completing the podium trio for Ford ahead of Mikko Hirvonen and Evgeny Novikov.
In truth, the result has never really been in doubt since the rally started on Tuesday and following Latvala's opening burst of speed and ignominious exit from the rally on Wednesday, Loeb took control, settling into the devastatingly quick, safe and consistent driving style that has now seen him victorious on this rally 6 times and secured him 8 world rally championships. To complete the perfect working week, Seb secured maximum World Rally Championship points by scoring three bonus points with victory on the event-closing Power Stage so who'd bet against him adding a ninth world title in 2012?
Erratic weather conditions in the mountains called for appropriate choices of tyre and played a major part in the outcome of the 2012 rally but although it was the same for everyone, Loeb always seemed to be on the right rubber; largely due to the efficiency of Citroen's hard-pressed ice note crews who anticipated and read the changing conditions to perfection. Doubtless Seb will be buying dinner for a large table of emotional Frenchmen at some exclusive principality restaurant tonight!
The IRDC extends congratulations to Sebastien Loeb, co-driver Daniel Elena and the Citroen team on their outstanding Rallye Monte Carlo performance.
Rally Monte Carlo: Overall standings after Stage 18 (Top 20):
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT DS3 4hours 32mins 39.9secs
2. Dani Sordo MINI WRC Team John Cooper Works +02mins 45.5secs
3. Petter Solberg WRT Fiesta RS +03mins 14.2secs
4. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 +04mins 06.8secs
5. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS +06mins 03.4secs
6. Francois Delecour M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS +07mins 47.9secs
7. Pierre Campana MINI WRC Team John Cooper Works +08mins 31.4secs
8. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS +10mins 34.6secs
9. Martin Prokop Czech Ford National Team Fiesta RS +16mins 10.7secs
10. Armindo Araujo WRT MINI Cooper Works +16mins 16.6secs
11. Matthew Wilson Go Fast Energy WRT Fiesta RS +18mins 51.0secs
12. Kevin Abbring Skoda Fabia S2000 +18mins 56.3secs
13. Henning Solberg Go Fast Energy WRT Fiesta RS +20mins 16.3secs
14. Craig Breen Ford Fiesta S2000 +24mins 26.3secs
15. Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 +27mins 25.4secs
16. Michael Burri Peugeot 207 S2000 +30mins 19.5secs
17. Cedric Robert Citroen DS3 R3T +32mins 27.7secs
18. Olivier Burri Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +35mins 30.5secs
19. Sebastien Chardonnet Renault Clio R3 +36mins 55.3secs
20. Paulo Nobre Palmeirinha MINI John Cooper Works +38mins 59.7secs
Other(s)
30. Michal Kosciuszko Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +1hr 02mins 34.9secs P
36. Eamonn Boland Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +1hr 07mins 55.2secs
54. Louise Cook Ford Fiesta ST +2hour 29mins 59.7secs P
22nd January, 2012
Loeb, who has led the 2012 Monte Carlo Rally since Wednesday's SS4, appears to be cruising to his sixth success on this, the 80th running of this iconic rally. For the day's first visit to the 'Turini'/'Loda-Luceram' loop, he chose hard-compound Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. "No problems," reported the Citroën DS3 WRC at the Stop Control of SS15. "There were quite a lot of stones either side of the stage, and it was quite narrow, so I did my best to stay in the middle of the road."
After a cautious start to the event to familiarise himself with his new car, the world champion's team-mate Mikko Hirvonen was on a mission today, to snatch third place from Petter Solberg's Ford Fiesta. The Finn was fastest on the Col du Turini test but the Norwegian responded with the best effort on the following stage, on which he was the only driver to get beneath the 13-minute mark. "I made a small mistake towards the end, so I think Mikko will beat me," said the heavily perspiring Ford driver at the control.
Two minutes later, it was Mikko's turn to rue his caution, nearly 10s off Solberg's pace: "I was a bit too careful through the damp portions. There are still two night-time stages to come and I think third place is still possible." Past Monte Carlo Rally winner François Delecour was quite agitated at this control: "I've got a power steering problem," he explained, inviting onlookers to tug on his steering wheel to check for themselves. "Not a bad time, though, ay? It pays to keep fit!"
With almost two and a half minutes in hand and only the hand of fate to intervene it's now surely a mere formally before Loeb is confirmed as the 2012 Monte Carlo Rally winner and opens his WRC account with a useful deposit of points.
Top Ten Postions
1. Loeb/Elena - Citroen DS3
2. Sordo/Del Barrio - MINI Cooper Works + 2:37.6
3. Solberg/Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC + 3:08.4
4. Hirvonen/Lehtinen - Citroen DS3 + 3:52.4
5. Novikov/Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC + 5:35.4
6. Delecour/Savignoni - Ford Fiesta WRC + 6:53.8
7.Campana/De Castelli - MINI Cooper Works + 8:19.2
8. Tanak/Sikk - Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 9:40.6
9. Prokop/Hruza - Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 15:47.3
10. Araujo/Ramalho - MINI Cooper Works + 15:50.2
21st January, 2012
When Sébastien Loeb emerged from the Citroën motorhome to get in his DS3 on day three of the Monte Carlo Rally the world champion's mind was focused on his tyre choice for the upcoming Saint Jean en Royans and Cimetière de Vassieux stages where surprise snow more or less settled the outcome of the Rallye Monte-Carlo this time last year.
In addition to the rain, the temperature was reasonably mild in Valence which sits on the left bank of the River Rhône. The question mark concerned what was happening high in the nearby Vercors Mountains, near Col de la Machine, Col de l'Echarrasson and the cross-country skiing resort, Font d'Urle.
At the Stop Control of SS12, the thermometer displayed 5°C and rain was falling from the low grey clouds, while patches of mist shrouded the forested mountain sides. According to the teams' ice note crews however, there was a nastily-place portion of ice on the test.
"Yes, studded Michelin snow tyres were absolutely the best choice this morning," announced Seb Loeb at the stage finish. "I stalled my engine on the start line, but Solberg was still 44 seconds down at one point according to the split times I received." Both Citroën factory drivers, Loeb and Hirvonen, were on studded Michelin Alpin WRC tyres all-round. The Finn even posted the best time, his first with the DS3 WRC, while Pierre Campana's Mini was third quickest on studded tyres.
For the second year running, Petter Solberg made a poor choice for the 'Vercors' loop, and his fastest time on 'St Jean en Royans' was of little consolation. With two non-studded Michelin Alpins at the front, and two Pilot Sport asphalt tyres on the back wheels, the Norwegian's Ford dropped almost two minutes to Loeb over the 24km of SS12, a result which gave second-placed Dani Sordo some welcome breathing space.
So going into the final day of the rally Loeb holds a 2.12 minute lead over Dani Sordo's MINI who in turn is just over one minute ahead of a revitalised Petter Solberg in the number 2 works Ford Fiesta who has a motivated Mikko Hirvonen coming up on the rails a mere 23 seconds behind. The scene is set for an epic finale to the rally on Saturday.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 3h31m25.2s
2. Dani Sordo Mini + 2m12.4s
3. Petter Solberg Ford + 3m22.2s
4. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 3m43.0s
5. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 4m28.2s
6. Francois Delecour M-Sport Ford + 6m39.1s
7. Pierre Campana Mini + 7m45.1s
8. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford + 8m44.8s
9. P-G Andersson Proton + 13m20.8s
10. Armindo Araujo Araujo Mini + 14m40.7s
20th January, 2012