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A third fastest stage time on Friday for Thierry Neuville on the 7th special stage of the 92nd Monte-Carlo Rally: it was a fitting reward for the Belgian driver, who started his rally cautiously on Thursday evening but began to show his class on Friday, in a Hyundai inspiring him a lot more confidence.
Neuville set the fastest time on SS3, followed by SS6 and then SS7, the second stage between Champcella and Saint-Clément (17.87km). In the space of a few hours, he was back to 8.7 seconds behind Sébastien Ogier and 17.3 seconds behind Elfyn Evans, just one stage away from the end of this superb rallying day (105 timed kilometers), on the heights of Gap.
“It was a good stage,” smiled Neuville when he was told at the stage end that he had just taken 4.6 seconds off Evans, while waiting to find out that he was also going to claw back 3.5 seconds from Ogier. The two Toyota drivers are not out of reach yet, and as we have not yet reached the halfway point of the rally (17 stages on the menu), Hyundai can still have high hopes for this weekend.
SS7 was a very technical stage, with lots of hairpins, tight sections over bridges and through villages. The road was dry, but very dirty, with a lot of mud spread by dozens of competitors since this morning. “It was a bit dirty at the end, there was a lot of dirt and stones. Maybe I wasn’t brave enough in the narrowest and dirtiest sections,” admitted Evans.
Ogier quicker than Evans
“There’s nothing special to report, apart from the fact that we’re starting to be able to fight on equal terms with the other drivers,” summed up Ogier. He was happy to see that his main rivals were finally on the same footing, faced with a road as dirty as his own. And another challenge is becoming more and more crucial: to start managing the quota of soft tyres cleverly, by using super-soft tyres from time to time, in preparation for what promises to be a very turbulent weekend.
There was one beaming driver at the end of SS7, Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai), back in Rally1 after four seasons of purgatory in WRC2, since the end of 2019: “It’s getting better and better and I have to adapt to the speeds you can reach in corners with these cars. It’s not so much the hybrid system, it’s mainly the aero. It’s great to be able to get back into a bit of a rhythm on the stages”.
Fourmaux delighted with his Friday
Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford), also returning to Rally1 this year, also enjoyed Friday’s action: “I love driving and it’s great to have so many different stages in the same loop. We had everything today, dirt, ice and changing conditions. It’s Monte Carlo and that’s what we love”.
The WRC2 drivers also love the Monte Carlo Rally. After SS7, Spain’s Pepe Lopez (Skoda Fabia RS) took over the category lead from Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën C3), by just four seconds. And Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3), the 2021 WRC3 champion, remains in the hunt, less than two seconds behind Gryazin. With just one stage left before returning to Gap for a good night’s sleep.
The three main players on the 92nd edition of the Monte-Carlo Rally are all on equal terms: two stage wins each. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who had already set the fastest time on SS3 early this morning, was again the fastest on SS6 early this afternoon. But he was only a second and a half ahead of Seb Ogier, who had just set two fastest times (SS4, SS5). His Toyota team-mate, Elfyn Evans, is still the overall leader, having totally dominated Thursday evening (SS1, SS2).
This was the 6th special stage of this rally, as a second run of 16.68km between the ski resort of Saint-Léger-Les-Mélèzes and the village of La Bâtie-Neuve. It was much quicker, as the ice had melted, and the gap was just 1.6s between Neuville and Ogier, and 2.6s between the Belgian Hyundai driver and Evans.
“I’ve always been quick on this stage, it’s beautiful, but it’s difficult to know how far you can push the tyres (so as not to overheat them), but I think we set a good time,” said Neuville, still in contention for a win, while Tänak has dropped back a little, over a minute behind the leader. Still the same leader though, Evans, but whose margin for error has shrunk to less than ten seconds, chased by Ogier.
Under the eyes of his former great rival, the “other Seb” Loeb, who was present at the side of the road as a simple spectator, Ogier once again defended himself well: “We’re trying not to hit the tyres too much, and for the moment it’s been a pretty good day”, said the local hero, still in striking distance of his Welsh team-mate.
A big fight also in WRC2
The situation is totally clear in the Top 8: the four leaders at the front, i.e. two Toyota drivers (Evans, Ogier) ahead of two Hyundai drivers (Neuville, Tänak), and the other four further back: Fourmaux, 12 seconds behind the Estonian, Mikkelsen, Munster and Katsuta, much further back. The Japanese driver lost five minutes this morning in a ditch on SS3, in the same curve as Tänak.
In WRC2, the battle is also raging, with twice more car manufacturers represented (6) than in Rally1 and quite a great mix of enthusiasm and experience. A third of the way through the rally, the WRC2 leader is Russia’s Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën C3), competing under a Bulgarian licence, ahead of Spain’s Pepe Lopez (Skoda Fabia RS) and France’s Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3), who was crowned in WRC3 at the end of the 2021 season. All grouped within 5 secondes, and only two stages to go before returning to Gap on Friday evening…
On Thursday, just before the start of the 92nd Monte Carlo Rally on the Place du Casino, some of the Principality’s schoolchildren from a number of Monegasque establishments were lucky enough to have a visit from some very special ‘teachers’: around fifteen WRC drivers and co-drivers!
Some fifteen drivers and co-drivers from the WRC and WRC2 came to École des Révoires, Cours Saint-Maur, Collège Charles III and Collège FANB. As was the case last year with the Formula E drivers, the kings of modern rallying were able to talk freely with their students for the day, taking part in a question-and-answer session followed by a proper autograph session.
All three top teams were represented, including Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT (with Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, and Andreas Mikkelsen), Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT (Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta) and the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, represented by Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux and Luxemburg’s Grégoire Munster.
There were also a number of WRC2 headliners, including Oliver Solberg (son of 2003 world champion Petter), Nicolas Ciamin, Stéphane Lefebvre, Yohan Rossel, Chris Ingram, Nikolay Gryazin and Sami Pajari. It was an unforgettable moment for the students, aged 9 to 14.
They all got to meet their heroes, and the luckiest among them were also able to get up close and personal with the cars used by the rally professionals. It was an unforgettable moment for the children and teenagers, which was extended a few hours later by the official start of the 92nd Monte-Carlo Rally, on Casino Square.
Two fastest times in a row for Sébastien Ogier on Friday morning, in SS4 and then SS5 between La Bréole and Selonnet (18.31km). The local hero made the most of this first loop of stages to move up to 2nd in the overall standings, 10.7 seconds behind Elfyn Evans, his Toyota team-mate. The 92nd Monte-Carlo Rally is well underway and suspense is total. For the 3rd place on the podium as well, since Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford) is driving faster and faster…
“It looks like I’m still alive. I’ve had a complicated week but I’m going to do my best. I’ll talk about it after the rally…” said a particularly emotional Seb Ogier at the end of this special stage, which marked the return to the impressive driving style which brought him eight world titles.
Faced with Ogier in maestro mode, the rally leader is still Evans, but he is now just ten seconds ahead of his French team-mate, 40 since December 17. His favourite number, the one he also carries as a race number on his black Yaris. Beaten by Ogier by 11.2 seconds on SS5, the Welshman was not confident: “There’s very little grip in the icy sections, and a lot more in the dry sections,” summed up the reigning vice-world champion.
Fourmaux raises his game
In addition to Ogier’s, the most successful performance of the stage came from M-Sport Ford driver Adrien Fourmaux, who set the 3rd fastest time just behind Evans, six-tenths only behind the Welshman. “We had a good set-up and some very good notes, so I felt good and enjoyed myself without taking too many risks. I’m happy,” said the Frenchman, back in Rally 1 after a season in WRC2.
On the Hyundai side, Ott Tänak found a good rhythm again and did better than his team-mate Thierry Neuville, on this stage, to make up for his small mistake on SS3. “I had a lot of mentions of icy conditions in my notes and I was too cautious. It’s complicated to take more risks when the co-driver’s notes say that there’s black ice everywhere”, regretted the Belgian at the stop point. He is now 3rd overall, 24.5 seconds behind Ogier, but anything is still possible on the remaining 12 stages until Sunday morning.
After the midday break in the Gap service park, a second loop is scheduled for this afternoon, with a second pass in the same three stages (SS6 to SS8). One thing is certain: they will be less slippery than in the morning version.
Last year’s winner waited until mid-morning on Friday to set his first fastest time of the 92ndMonte-Carlo Rally: best time for Sébastien Ogier in his black Toyota Yaris on the first pass of the day between Champcella and Saint-Clément (17.87km), to come within just three seconds of Neuville, who lost a handful of seconds in a spin.
“I think it’s difficult to go faster with this starting position (the same as Thursday evening, based on the 2023 championship standings), but in this stage there was a little less dirt on the road,” reacted the eight-time world champion after the 693rd fastest time of his WRC career.
“I don’t understand. I lost the rear, suddenly. I was surprised,” said Neuville, who chose the right spot for his spin: a dry, flat field in which he didn’t lose too much time. He reversed and started again, losing 9 seconds to Ogier, just when the Belgian driver could aim for a second fastest time in a row.
Evans stays ahead
The rally leader is still Elfyn Evans (Toyota), who has switched to management mode. He still holds a 18.8-second lead over Neuville going into SS5, the last of the first loop, and 21.9 seconds over Ogier. “The grip was very low in some places. It wasn’t easy and maybe I was too careful,” admitted the Welshman.
The route of SS4 was varied, dry on the whole, and the numerous spectators were very disciplined, well protected by the ACM marshals and hundreds of metres of tape. Behind Ogier and Evans, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) regained his confidence after his small mistake on SS3. With the 3rd fastest time, he moved back to 4th overall, ahead of Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport Ford), the Frenchman happy with his new set-up. But the Estonian, the 2019 world champion, found the road “dirty”, which encouraged him to drive “clean”.
In the chasing pack, the battle continued to rage between three supporting roles in this suspenseful play: Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota), Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) and Grégoire Munster (M-Sport Ford), very close in performance at the end of this SS4. A really superb stage, from start to finish.
After a short night in Gap, the 67 remaining competitors of the 92nd Monte-Carlo Rally set off on Friday morning on a slippery and tricky special stage between Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes and La Bâtie-Neuve (SS3, 16.68km). The first laurels of the day went to Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who set his first fastest time of the rally, and the first damage was done to three members of the Top 8: Tänak, Katsuta and Munster, who all crashed out in the same corner.
You had to be wide awake this morning on Col de Moissière (1574m), as the road was very slippery on SS3. “On some portions of ice, there was no grip at all, so I was very careful. We’ve sorted out our problem from last night, so it’s going better,” explained Neuville at La Bâtie Neuve, after a long descent that was much drier than the ascent to the pass.
The Belgian, who won in Monaco in 2020, was 5.3 seconds quicker than rally leader Elfyn Evans (Toyota) in that stage, and the third fastest time on SS3 was set by Sébastien Ogier, 6.6 seconds behind Neuville. “It was OK, but I was more bothered by the dirt on the road than by the icy patches,” said the title holder, wide awake but very cautious on his home turf. “I was careful because the road conditions were very mixed,” also admitted Evans. He is well aware of the number of points to be taken in this opening round of WRC 2024, since he sometimes has a tendency to squander opportunities.
Tänak, Katsuta and Munster trapped
Three drivers were trapped in the same place, going too wide on a long right-hand curve in the forest, where the layer of ice was thin but very effective. Starting on soft tyres, they all ended up in the ditch, more or less deeply. And the spectators intervened to get them out of it, once the green light on their car was on to avoid electrocution.
Ott Tänak, the 2019 world champion, took his 150th WRC start on Thursday (19 wins, 46 podiums, 356 fastest times, half of them with Martin Jarveoja in the right seat). He lost 41.9 seconds to Neuville in the process, and Grégoire Munster, the new M-Sport Ford driver, lost a full minute. The biggest loss was for Takamoto Katsuta, stuck in the ditch for five minutes. “It’s entirely my fault”, admitted the Japanese Toyota driver before setting off again, well harnessed, towards the sunny descent of SS3.
With 5 more stages on the menu this Friday, M-Sport’s Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux has moved up one place in the overall standings. He is 4th before SS4, with a three-second lead over Tänak…
Two fastest times in two stages, 15 seconds clear of the quickest Hyundai driver in the overall standings: in the middle of the night, on narrow roads, in front of thousands of delighted fans, reigning world vice-champion Elfyn Evans (Toyota) took control of the 92nd Rallye Monte-Carlo on Thursday evening.
After putting Ott Tänak 5.2 seconds back in SS1, Evans punished the other Hyundai top driver, Thierry Neuville, in SS2: a 6.8-second gap on the Belgian on the 25.1km Bayons-Bréziers stage, and therefore a 15-second margin in the overall standings, at the end of a long evening of rallying. The public was out in force. There were campfires, fireworks, flags in abundance and lots of people lining the roads of the Alpes de Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes departments.
“There were portions where things went better than in others. I have no idea how the others are going to cope”, said Evans at the stop point of SS2. One more time, he had dominated the stage, head and shoulders, in his superb black Yaris.
One Hyundai driver after another. Ott Tänak, the 2019 world champion, had even more throttle problems than in SS1, so he lost out big time: 17.6 seconds down on Evans, while Neuville limited the damage rather well. “I had a small problem, so I was careful” summed up the Belgian as he emerged rather relieved from this tricky first evening.
It was also an evening that cost Andreas Mikkelsen dearly, as he returned to Hyundai in the Rally1 category that he left at the end of 2019, with a 6th place at Rally GB: “I need to get used to this (hybrid) car, it keeps accelerating when I enter the corners. And at the start of this stage, I stalled because the procedure is a bit complicated,” said the Norwegian.
Ogier on the provisional podium
“It was OK, but it’s difficult to go as fast as the frontrunners because the road is dirty,” explained Seb Ogier at the stop-off point on SS2. The eight-time world champion, who turned 40 in December, put his experience to good use throughout the evening, on roads that he knows very well. He will start Friday’s long day (6 stages) in 3rd place overall, 21.6 seconds behind Evans, ahead of Tänak (4th) and Adrien Fourmaux (5th). On his return to Rally1, the young Frenchman did much better than Mikkelsen and, above all, enjoyed himself without damaging anything on his Ford Puma.
“We may have gone a bit too far with the set-up. In the second stage, the road was even dirtier than in the first. I’m still learning how this car behaves”, Fourmaux summed up. He is in a waiting position, behind four major players of the WRC, as a big day of rallying looms on Friday in the Hautes-Alpes.
There will be two loops of three stages, totalling 105km of timed sections, and there could be a few surprises on the way, early in the morning: “Maybe there will be a bit of ice on the road on Friday morning,” warned the M-Sport driver.
World Rally Championship three-time runner-up Elfyn Evans struck a blow from the outset by setting the fastest time in the first special stage of the 92nd Rally Monte-Carlo on Thursday evening between Thoard and Saint-Geniez (SS1, 21.01km).
Equipped with four soft tyres and two spare wheels in the boot of his Toyota Yaris, the Welshman started first, thanks to his world ranking at the end of last year. He took advantage of an ultra-clean road, dry from start to finish, to set a time of 12:12.9 on this special stage run in the opposite direction to the 2022 edition, via the famous Col de Fontbelle, at an altitude of 1,300 metres. “It was surprising to have such a high level of grip at the start of the rally. I don’t know if I managed to make the most of it, but overall it went well”, commented the Toyota driver.
The best resistance to Evans came from the most capped driver in the Hyundai camp. Estonia’s Ott Tänak, the 2019 world champion, lost just 5.2 seconds to the Welshman, thanks to having set off, like his team-mate Thierry Neuville, with just one spare wheel in the boot, to save a little weight. And although he encountered some problems with his main pedal sometimes staying in full throttle, which is always annoying.
Ogier ten seconds behind Evans on a dirty road
“It was the right solution,” said Neuville at the stop, not too disappointed at having lost 8.3 seconds to Evans because he wanted above all to avoid overheating, and therefore damaging his soft tyres, before attacking the next stage, 25km long between Bayons and Bréziers. The Belgian, who won here in 2020, knows that Rally Monte-Carlo is always “a very long event” and that it’s important not to get carried away early. He will have plenty of other opportunities to shine, throughout the 17 special stages until Sunday morning’s grand finale.
Last but not least, Sébastien Ogier, the ultimate favourite, lost 9.8 seconds to his team-mate Evans, with a very simple explanation: “The road was very dirty, so the first on the road (Evans) really had a big advantage”, summed up the eight-time world champion, winner of the 2023 edition. “I was expecting it, so I’m not surprised,” added the driver from the Hautes-Alpes, before setting off towards his native region.
The other Frenchman competing in Rally1, Adrien Fourmaux, was delighted with the first stage of his comeback to the top category. “There were lots of spectators and lights, and I love driving at night,” said Adrien Fourmaux, on whom rest the main hopes of M-Sport. But he had to slow down in places at the wheel of his Ford Puma: “The road was so dirty that in some bends I couldn’t see the trajectory, there was dirt and stones everywhere, so I had to slow down”. But that didn’t stop him from setting the 5th fastest time on the stage, 16.2 seconds behind Evans. Quite a good start.
HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco was present on Casino Square, on Thursday, for the official start of the 92nd Monte-Carlo Rally. Following the withdrawal this morning of an Italian crew’s VW Polo GTI, the 69 competitors then set off for a long road section (over 200 km) to the first two special stages, scheduled this evening between Alpes de Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes.
“It’s never easy at night, so we will need to be vigilant, even if there’s no snow. The rally won’t be easy though and there will be a lot of pitfalls, as usual”, said Sébastien Ogier, the eight-time world rally champion, on the starting podium, after a discreet exchange of words with HSH Prince Albert II. His Toyota Yaris, now in a superb matt black livery, will carry his lucky number, 17. The driver from the Hautes-Alpes is aiming for a 10th success in the Principality, having last year taken the all-time record for Rallye Monte-Carlo victories to 9 (the same number as Seb Loeb’s world titles…).
Two special stages on Thursday night
As it does every year, Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) pulled out all the stops and invited a number of VIPs to this top-of-the-range start ceremony. They watched a parade of 70 superb rally cars, in slow motion and, for the eight hybrid cars in the top category (Rally 1), in a relative eco-friendly silence: three Toyota Yaris, three Hyundai i20s and two Ford Pumas entered by Malcolm Wilson’s British M-Sport team.
As this is the year of the big return to Gap, everyone set off on a long road section (over 200 km) heading to a couple of very tricky special stages: Thoard-Saint Geniez (SS1, 21km) from 8.35pm, very close to Digne-les-Bains, then Bayons-Bréziers (SS2, 25km), closer to Gap, from 10pm for the first cars. And a little later for the private competitors, expected until 3am in the new service park in Gap.
The night will be short before a potentially strenuous Friday, with the start set for 8am for two loops of three special stages (SS3 to SS5, then SS6 to SS8, totalling 105km of timed sections). And that means a dozen hours of fierce battling at every level of the overall standings. This is the 92nd Rally Monte-Carlo and, once again, it’s going to be a great show!
Review the Ceremony
There are only two World Champions entered in this 92nd Rally Monte-Carlo, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) and Sébastien Ogier (Toyota). And it was the Estonian, crowned in 2019, before Covid, who set the fastest time in the shakedown on Wednesday afternoon in the hills above Gap. In his very first timed run of the 2024 season, he clocked a time of 2:00.4 over 3.28km of a small, dry road, but which quickly became smeared with dirt, with most of the competitors generously taking the apex in the fastest corners. Three years have passed since the 2021 edition, run behind closed doors and with masks because of Covid-19, when Monte-Carlo competitors last took advantage of this shakedown to fine-tune their rally cars.
On his first run, Tänak did barely better than Elfyn Evans (Toyota) over the 3km shakedown. It was just by one tenth of a second, the weather was good and daylight was only beginning to fade. Behind Tänak and the 2:00.5 clocked by the Welshman, 2nd at the end of last season, 3rd place in this shakedown went to another Hyundai driver, Thierry Neuville (2:01.2), two tenths quicker than Ogier (2:01.4). And for the places of honour in this full-scale set-up session, the third Toyota driver, Takamoto Katsuta, was ahead of the third Hyundai driver, Andreas Mikkelsen, back in the top class after several seasons in WRC2.
Ogier, the eight-time world champion, is in search of a 10th win on Sunday in the Principality, while Tänak has never managed to succeed in this very special rally. On Thursday evening, serious business will begin, with two special stages (SS1, SS2) starting at 20h00 in the Alpes de Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes departments. This will happen after the ritual and very official start, on Casino Square in Monte-Carlo. You will be able to follow it live from 4:45 pm, local time, on the Facebook and YouTube pages of Automobile Club de Monaco.
