Monte-Carlo: Ogier by one breath ahead of Neuville

The second passage of the second stage of Rally Monte-Carlo again saw the rankings evolve depending on tire strategies, with some drivers relying more on studded tires than slicks.

Sébastien Ogier (Citroën) made its experience speak for itself by taking the scratch in SS6. The six-time champion WRC took control of the event in the following special, even if Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) est parvenu à réduire l’écart à 2 secondes en en reprenant une douzaine au nouveau leader sur le dernier parcours de la journée.

“We didn’t make the best choice of tires. I expect conditions to be even more complicated tomorrow. We can quickly find ourselves with big gaps in Monte-Carlo. The fight is close in any case now. We can't be on the limit all the time, maybe we need to be a little more careful than usual here.", commented the new leader.

Thierry Neuville could regret his mistake made in the first SS of the afternoon where he lost seconds by handfuls by going wide in a loophole.

“We were perhaps a little too optimistic this morning with the tires. We’ll see how we can take Ogier back.”, declared the vice-world champion.

Back on the provisional podium by taking advantage of a good tire strategy in SS7, Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai) a cédé du temps sur le dernier parcours du jour et a chuté à la 5e place derrière Andreas Mikkelsen (Hyundai) et Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). Le nonuple champion WRC reste en lutte pour le podium puisqu’il pointe à moins d’une seconde du Finlandais, mais l’Alsacien a reconnu qu’il ne jouait “no more victory”.

Elfyn Evans (M-Sport) a profité des faits de course pour remonter en 6e position avec une bonne avance sur Ott Tänak. The Toyota drivers were not successful in SS7 since the Estonian suffered a puncture while in 3rd place, while his teammate Kris Meeke completely broke a rim (a weakness criticized by the drivers). The Northern Irishman finds himself in 8th place, last ranked in the WRC.

While running in 7th place just behind Jari-Matti Latvala, Esapekka Lappi (Citroën) broke his left front suspension in SS6 and had to throw in the towel for this stage. Pontus Tidemand (M-Sport) also stopped in the special.

Yoann Bonato (Citroën) remains well established at the head of WRC 2 ahead of his compatriot Adrien fourmaux (Ford), still threatened by Guillaume de Mevius (Citroën) who is 7 seconds behind the FFSA driver.

The third stage of the Monte-Carlo Rally will begin this Saturday from 8:48 a.m. The event can be followed live with our live text.