The shakedown verdict at Monte-Carlo

If the route is not really representative of the course, Evgeny Novikov still made a good impression by signing the scratch ahead of Armindo Araujo and Sébastien Loeb. The crews seem ready to start the event.

Published on 17/01/2012 à 12:14

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The four kilometers of the route proposed this morning for the shakedown of Rally Monte-Carlo was located near the city of Valencia. Although the roads taken did not really correspond to the nature of the tracks that the crews will face this week, Evgeny Novikov (Ford) still stood out by setting the scratch time in 2'13"0. The Russian is two tenths ahead of the Mini JCW WRC of Armindo Araujo and by five tenths the Citroën DS3 WRC of Sébastien Loeb. Petter Solberg (Ford) fails nine tenths behind the reference time while Thierry Neuville (Citroën) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) share fifth place with a time of 2’14”0.

Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) finished in seventh position, posting a time of 2’14”7. the Finn is two tenths ahead of the Mini JCW WRC of Dani Sordo, who apparently experienced the start of a fire on a passage. Ott Tänak (Ford) took ninth place with a time of 2’16”3. Sébastien Ogier manages to put his Skoda Fabia S2000 in the top ten with a time of 2’17”0. The Frenchman is ahead of the Fiesta RS WRC of Henning Solberg and François Delecour and the Mini JCW WRC of Pierre Campana.

The serious things begin tomorrow with the first stage of four special stages making a total of 134,7 km timed. Will the crews set off from 9:03 a.m. on the 36,87km Moulinon special? Antraigues.

Discover in your AUTOhebdo magazine, on newsstands tomorrow, our WRC Guide 2012 of 38 pages, including an exclusive interview with Sébastien Loeb.