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Due to the difficult weather conditions and the risk of flooding on Friday morning, two regularity stages (RS) were cancelled by the Race Direction of the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM). This left two on the programme for Day 3 of the 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo, and as soon as SR9 started (La Penne-Sigale, 13.098 km) the Belgian VW Club was back in the spotlight: a second win for Bernard Heine and Valérie Piette (VW ID3), after their initial win in SR2 on Wednesday. That also makes 3 wins from 7 SRs contested for Volkswagen in this 2023 edition.
As is often the case in this fierce rally, two crews shared 2nd place honours: the Tesla Model 3 in the SMEG colours, driven by Romain Haut-Labourdette with invaluable help from Yan Spano (see Thursday’s e-Briefs), on a par with Nadia Delvaux and Jean-Marc Piret (Peugeot E-208, number 53), who still sit in the Top 5 overall. The Franco-Belgian duo narrowly edged out Czechs Michal Zdarsky and Jakub Nabelek (Hyundai Kona), leaders of the Bridgestone ecoRally Cup 2023, by 10 penalty points. Whereas 2017 winners Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel (Tesla Model 3) jumped in the overall lead, taking it away from Eneko Conde (Kia E-Niro). But not for long…
Day 2 of the 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo ended with a win for Spaniards Eneko Conde and Lukas Sergnese in RS6, giving the Bridgestone ecoRally Cup 2022 winners the provisional overall lead in their Kia E-Niro. However, the best deal of the day came from Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel (Tesla Model 3), the winners of the 2017 edition, which suggests that the two crews will have a good fight on their hands on Friday and Saturday. The Frenchmen in a Tesla, experts of the Monegasque event and very steady at the front since Wednesday, are determined to make up the few dozen points (40 on Thursday evening) which separate them from the new leaders, after a very lively Thursday.
As the Clerck of the Course has decided to cancel RS7 and RS8 regularity stages on Friday morning due to a red alert for rain and flooding, there are only seven regularity stages left to run until Saturday night and the competitors are therefore almost halfway through the race, having contested six timed portions since Wednesday. And as far as the brands are concerned, the victories are very evenly distributed: two for VW on Wednesday, two for Kia on Thursday, one for Tesla and one for Nissan. In other words, four of the 19 manufacturers taking part in this 2023 event have already won at least one regularity stage.
Behind Conde and Malga (photo), who are perfectly capable of fighting it out to the finish, there are several other podium contenders to keep an eye on, who would all be ready to jump on any opportunity offered by the favourites. Starting with Jérôme Aymard and Christophe Marques, in a Nissan Ariya, who briefly led the rally on Thursday after their win in RS5. But also Nadia Delvaux and Jean-Marc Piret (Peugeot E-208), 4th on Thursday evening ahead of the leaders of the Bridgestone ecoRally Cup 2023, the Czechs Michal Zdarsky and Jakub Nabelek (Hyundai Kona). It promises to be a great battle until Saturday evening, not forgetting the three Belgian VW Club cars in the Top 9 at the halfway stage. Suspense guaranteed.
Following the Red Alert (rain – flooding) announced today by the Alpes-Maritimes Prefecture and the Monegasque Government, for Friday October 20, 2023 from 04:00 to 10:00, the Clerk of the Course of the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo took the following decisions*:
*Subject to the evolution of the rainstorm situation and extra-sportive decisions
Monaco, October 20, 2023
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One year follows another, but all things change! For the Italian-Monegasque crew of Jacques Pastor and Fulvio Gazzola, in the number 5 Kia E-Niro, the start of this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo is not living up to their status of last year’s winners! Why? The secret routes… which are kept secret up to an hour before the start, each day. This is a big change compared to previous years! “The ACM doesn’t like it when it’s too easy,” says Jacques Pastor with a smile. Not one to hold a grudge, Pastor is determined to reverse the trend between now and Saturday…
They were at the front of the field since the start on Wednesday, and they managed to score a regularity stage win on Thursday in this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo. Spain’s Eneko Conde and Lukas Sergnese, winners of the FIA ecoRally Cup 2022, topped the SR6 stage between Ascros and Toudon (10.572 km) early in the afternoon in their Kia E-Niro, with a tiny margin over a trio of chasers grouped in 2nd place: Guido Guerrini and Artur Prusak (winner in 2016 as driver), in another Kia E-Niro, Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel (Tesla Model 3), the winners in 2017, Philippe Demanet and Thierry Revel, in a very fine Polestar HR39.
All of which was enough to consolidate certain positions in the overall standings at the end of a very lively and intense day’s racing, as is often the case in the E-Rallye Monte-Carlo. Thursday’s final objective was to return to the Parc Fermé on Monaco Harbour, from 10:30 pm, to prepare for Friday with a bit of peace and quiet… and by carefully recharging the cars on one of 334 charging points of the Monaco On network, spread over many streets and car parks of the Principality.
Thanks to this win in RS6, the Spaniards jumped in the lead of the provisional overall standings, ahead of 2017 winners Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel (Tesla Model 3), followed in 3rd place by the Aymard-Marcal crew that won RS4 in their Nissan Ariya.
Download the classification of the RS6
They had already made their mark yesterday: Jérôme Aymard and Christophe Marques, in their Nissan Ariya in the colours of the eBorn recharging network, had taken 3rd place in SR2. They did it again on Thursday morning, finishing 3rd in SR4. Then they did even better in SR5, between the Valberg ski resort and the village of Guillaumes (13.075km), further down in the valley.
It was the first victory of this 7th edition for the French crew, closely followed on this regularity stage by a joint trio in 2nd place: Jérémie Delran and Lotfi Tazrout in a Peugeot E-2008, Emmanuel and Carole Burel in a VW ID3, Nadia Delvaux and Jean-Marc Piret in a Peugeot E-208. With Didier Malga and Anne-Valérie Bonnel, former winners of the event, still in the hunt for overall honours, thanks to a 5th place in this SR5. And everybody looking forward to SR6, the final regularity stage of Day 2, but a short one (10km), between Ascros and Toudon.
Three regularity stages (SR) on the menu for Day 2 of the 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo, with the overall classification lead on Thursday morning by a tandem of Belgians who shone on Wednesday afternoon (victory in SR1, 2nd place in SR3): Eric Cunin and Alexandre Peeters, in a VW ID3 entered by Rent Speed Racing.
The first RS of the day, between Saint-Sauveur sur Tinée and Beuil (21.553km), passed through the village of Roubion and the dreaded Col de la Couillole (1678m), all in the rain and on a wet road. In these tricky conditions, a highly experienced team came out on top, in a Kia E-Niro carrying number 2 : Guido Guerrini and Artur Prusak (winner in 2016 as a driver). The Italian-Polish duo beat Antoine Dechamps and Didier Noirhomme in their Belgian VW Club VW ID4. Then the crews headed almost immediately for SR5 (Valberg-Guillaumes, 13.226km), before a welcome regroup in Puget-Théniers at noon.
We had to wait until the 3rd and final special stage of Day 1 of this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo for a Tesla to come to the fore. Gautier Philippon and Enric Martin, entered by the Tesla Owner Club France, proved to be the best on the SR3 between La Cabanette and Col de Castillon (24.677km), the longest stage on the menu for this inaugural afternoon.
But as in the previous two stages, the Belgians were again at the front, aiming for another win “made in Brussels” and a spectacular hat-trick: Eric Cunin and Alexandre Peeters (VW ID3), had already won SR1. They came close to repeating that feat but had to settle for 2nd, maintaining a minimal 10-point gap over a French duo, Karel Colibert and Nathalie Zbinden in a Lexus RZ entered by Monaco’s Urban Planning Department. Daghe Munegu!
One Belgian team can hide another. After the victory of the Cunin-Peeters duo in SR1, Bernard Heine and Valérie Piette, entered by the Belgian VW Club in another ID3, took over in SR2, between La Bollène Vésubie and Peira Cava (18.106 km) via the ever famous Col de Turini. As if this was not enough, the first Belgian one-two finish of this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo happened, thanks to Jean-François Devillers and Eric Chapa, two other members of the Belgian VW Club, who took their VW IDA GTX to 2nd place.
To save the honour of the French drivers, Jérôme Aymard and Christophe Marques, in their Nissan Ariya flying the colours of the eBorn recharging network, took 3rd place in this SR2, on a par with an all-female crew entered by the Tesla Owner Club: Lesly Legallais and Caroline Guerraz, in a Model 3.
Great fans of electric rallies… and rallies in general, the Belgians got this 7th E-Rallye Monte-Carlo off to a flying start. The team of Eric Cunin and Alexandre Peeters, in a VW ID3, were the best in SR1 on Wednesday afternoon, between Lucéram and Lantosque (19.576 km). The stage was run under cloudy skies, but a few sunny spells did brighten up this very first round on Col de Turini, in a landscape that was particularly rich in autumn colours.
Just behind the Belgians, one of the clear favourites is already in position: Didier Malga, a former winner of this rally, took 2nd place in this inaugural special stage, in a Tesla Model 3. Rounding out the podium are the current Bridgestone FIA Eco Rally Cup leaders, Czechs Michal Zdarsky and Jakub Nabelek, in their Hyundai Kona.
