RALLY ESSENTIALS
What a difference a year – or two – makes. M-sport team principal Rich Millener cut a slightly forlorn figure harbourside first thing on Sunday morning. For the last two years, he and Malcolm Wilson have been at the very heart of this event, winning it with Sebastien Ogier. This time the highestplaced factory car was Teemu Suninen in 11th place. The Finn crashed on the first stage, and was crashed into as Kalle Rovanpera caused close to £10,000 worth of damage bouncing off the back of the factory Fiesta WRC to stay on track in SS1. Suninen’s team-mate Elfyn Evans was chasing sixth when he got slightly off line on Saturday afternoon and slammed into the trees.
Citroen’s manufacturers’ effort is on the back foot to start with. When Esapekka Lappi bounced his C3 WRC off a rock on Friday and then retired with an engine fault on Saturday, it was halved, leaving little to cheer about apart from a stunning run from Sebastien Ogier.
On the face of it, Andreas Mikkelsen’s miserable run continues, but actually the Norwegian was very much more at the races in Monte. After crashing out of third, his new boss Andrea Adamo said: “First of all, I said thank you to him because he has shown he is back; he was third and I will never kick in the ass someone who crashes when they are fighting for the lead and they make a mistake.”
One-time Formula 1 racer – and former Subaru works driver – Stephane Sarrazin guided a Hyundai i20 R5 run by his own team to ninth place, finishing just 10s behind Yoann Bonato. Sarrazin wasn’t registered for WRC 2 points.
Japanese star and Toyota Gazoo Racing junior driver Katsuta Takamoto took a trouble-free 13th with Dan Barritt alongside him in a Ford Fiesta R5.
Day one: 25.69 miles; 2 stages
Weather: clear -5ºc- 0ºc End of day one: 1 Tanak/jarveoja 26m33.0s; 2 Ogier/ Ingrassia +9.1s; 3 Neuville/gilsoul +14.3s; 4 Lappi/ Ferm +45.2s; 5 Latvala/anttila +46.4s; 6 Evans/ Martin +48.2s.
Day two: 77.74 miles; 6 stages
Weather: clear/sunny -4ºc-10ºc End of day two: 1 Ogier/ Ingrassia 1h37m17.3s; 2 Neuville/gilsoul +2.0s; 3 Mikkelsen/jaeger +1m17.7s; 4 Latvala/ Anttila +1m25.1s; 5 Loeb/ Elena +1m25.9s; 6 Evans/ Martin +1m47.5s
Day three: 58.02 miles; 4 stages
Weather: clear/sunny -5ºc–12ºc End of day three: 1 Ogier/ Ingrassia 2h38m30.0s; 2 Neuville/gilsoul +4.3s; 3 Loeb/ Elena +1m58.7s; 4 Latvala/anttila +2m01.0s; 5 Tanak/jarveoja +2m16.0s; 6 Meeke/ Marshall +5m26.8s
Day four: 39.75 miles; 4 stages
Weather: clear/sunny -2ºc–15ºc