Inside Rally

Sebastien Loeb has a 1min 20.3sec overnight advantage after a crushing victory in the final stage of the opening leg of Rallye Monte-Carlo.

The nine-time world champion, competing in the first of just four scheduled outings this year in a Citroen DS3, was quickest by 34.4sec from Citroen Total Abu Dhabi team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. But even the 38-year-old French master found conditions on SS4 difficult, despite a full set of studded tyres.

“There was less snow than this morning. But near the end, while the road looked dry, it’s freezing again and I lost and grip and some confidence. I had a few small moments….I’m happy to be at the end of the day,” said Loeb.

Hirvonen was frustrated with pretty much everything, but his speed was still sufficient to propel him from sixth midway through the leg into third tonight. “I was too cautious, but when I try to push harder I go wide. I really hate these conditions. I really, really hate to drive like this but at least I’m here,” said the 32-year-old Finn.

Sebastien Ogier is the meat in the Citroen sandwich in second overall. The Volkswagen Polo R driver was fourth fastest, 53.7sec slower than Loeb, but offered no clues as to where the time went. “We did our best but it wasn’t easy in there.  There was a lot of mud,” he said.

Dani Sordo lies fourth, the Spaniard reporting no major issues in Burzet en route to sixth fastest time in a Citroen DS3. Fifth on the stage and fifth overall is Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn picked up a front right puncture on his Volkswagen Polo R about 5km from the stage finish, and lost 30sec. He is 31sec behind Dani Sordo.

Mads Ostberg was unhappy with the day, but the Norwegian could be pleased after setting third fastest time in his Fiesta RS. “It was very tricky. In some places there was ice where we didn’t have it marked in our notes. In others we had ice marked and there was none.  We’re doing the best we can, but I’m disappointed,” admitted the Qatar M-Sport driver.

Worse was to come when his car stopped on the liaison section after the final stage with an electrical sensor problem. Team engineers provided advice on the telephone as Ostberg worked to solve the problem but he eventually checked in 11 minutes late, and is likely to receive a 1m50s time penalty.

In trouble on the final stage were Qatar World Rally Team duo Thierry Neuville and Juho Hanninen. Neuville retired after ripping the front left wheel from his Fiesta RS and with Rally 2 in operation here, the Belgian’s rally is over. In an unfortunate coincidence, the spot he stopped at was just 1.5kms away from where he retired last year.

Hanninen spun 4km from the finish and lost more time reversing back and forth to turn round in the particularly narrow roads. He lies eighth.

source: WRC.com

Loeb takes lead of Rally Monte Carlo after setting fastest time through on SS2.

The second stage of the 2013 Monte Carlo Rally is the 30.3km Burzet-St Martial stage. Loeb in one of the 4 rallies his doing this year is battling it out with his ex-team mate and Rival Ogier but this time went quicker than the younger Frenchman.

Stage Conditions: Full Snow.
SS2 Results:
1. Loeb
2. Ogier 6.7
3. Sordo 39.6
4. Hanninen 44.7
5. Neuville 53.3
6. Hirvonen 54.2
7 Bouffier 56.9
8. Ostberg 1:09.5
9. Novikov 1:09.9
10. Latvala 1:25.6

Sebastien Ogier has won the First stage of The 2013 Monte Carlo Rally.

Photo:D.Darrall

It is the first stage VW have competed on in the WRC and on that stage Ogier took VolksWagens first WRC stage win. Showing that the Polo R WRC is right on the pace at the start of their Rallt campaign.

Stage conditions were dry
SS1 results:
1.Ogier
2. Loeb +3.7
3. Sordo + 20.2
4. Hirvonen + 20.7
5. Novikov + 29.9
6. Hanninen +31.9
7. Neuville + 33.3
8. Latvala + 33.6
9. Bouffier + 38.3
10. Ostberg + 48.8

What the drivers said in a press conference ahead of the start of Monte Carlo Rally

Sebastien Loeb, who is only contesting 4 rounds of this seasons WRC.

“For sure it a bit different, but I feel happy about that. I spent a long time thinking about retiring, now I make the decision and I have other plans – and I am excited about those plans also. It’s exciting to be here at the Monte-Carlo Rally, it’s a nice rally from which I have good memories and it’s my co-driver’s home rally. It’s important to start this one, but the situation is not the same. I am just here…

“The goal is not the same, but the preparation for the rally is the same. On the recce, everything was really serious. If I am able fight for victory, I will try to do it. But if not, it’s not as bad as in the past. I am here for fun and in the conditions… it will be fun. I have never done the rally with a lot of snow, it’s always been one stage or half a stage, but usually more like a tarmac rally. At the moment, it’s not like this, the conditions will be tricky. On the shakedown, I think we were lucky it was in the field, because I think some time everybody went in the field somewhere! But tomorrow, it is not in the field, tomorrow we have walls, rocks and ditches. Let’s see what we can do.”

Q: Who do u think will win the championship this year?

“I wouldn’t put my money on anybody – but it’s exciting! [The champion] Will be another one and, for sure, it’s going to be interesting to see Jari-Matti and Mikko. I am looking forward to seeing what happens.”

Photo: D.Darrall

Jari-Matti Latvala who is now driving for VW

“It was a great feeling to get out there in the Polo R WRC for the first time this morning. I feel right at home in the team. Everyone is working very passionately and is determined to succeed. The weather conditions were not easy today, and I expect the situation to deteriorate further over the coming days. “

“The Rally Monte Carlo is renowned for its fluctuating weather – with asphalt, snow, ice and mud, you can potentially face every possible surface except gravel. As such, the tyre selection will be difficult: if you make the right decision, you can suddenly find yourself up front. At the same time, the wrong decision can soon see you lose a lot of time and positions.”

Sébastien Ogier, who has been testing and developing the VW Polo last year:

“This morning we didn’t learn anything, the condition was changing all the time. It’s too early to talk about victory, we will do our best. Last year I pushed as hard as possible to see what is possible and we are interested to see the times. But I really need to finish this event. The team needs me to finish and it’s going to be difficult with this condition.”

Q: Are you disappointed Sébastien Loeb is retiring and you won’t have the chance to fight with him on each event?

“We have to respect his choice. He has won so many rallies. We have to understand. It would have been great to fight like two years ago, but it’s not like this, it’s a few events. We won’t have to focus about him. We want to fight for the victories and the Championship. At the moment I don’t know about my car, I just want to focus on my race and not anybody else.”

Mads Ostberg, who is now the lead driver of the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team.

“I have been working many years as a privateer and now I reached one of my main goals. But now I need to prove that I deserve the seat. We need to show that I can perform well and give some good results to the team. Some challenges are bigger than others. Like this one…”

“I am ready for the challenge, but you need a different approach for this rally. If you have been to this event before then you come with a different approach and you know how to drive slow enough to get through the rally. Anything can happen here – it’s easy to do a mistake. We will try and stay focused.

Q: As part of a manufacturer team you can take advantage of a full test programme before events, something you have not experienced in the past. How much will this benefit you and how has testing gone so far?

“For this one, it’s difficult to know. But for the next rallies we can do better preparation [than last year] and this will definitely help us. I am happy to do a lot of testing, to get the chance to drive the car on snow on tarmac tyres and things like that. It’s been good to do a couple of days in France, getting used to everything – now I need to start the rally.”

Q: It is the start of the season and every driver will be aiming for the title; is that your plan and what will it take to achieve that?

“The main ambition for me… I’m not starting with the main goal of winning the Championship. I need to start and get some good results early on, but we will have a new champion. Mikko [Hirvonen] is the only guy in the same seat this year, everybody else been changing and we have Volkswagen coming with two good drivers. But nobody really knows. I feel ready to push hard on the events I have done before and be careful on the new events, but it’s going to be a very open season.”