Neuville makes the difference at Monte-Carlo

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) a tiré son épingle du jeu parmi les pilotes qui étaient aux avant-postes au soir de la première étape du Rally Monte Carlo. With two scratches achieved during the last stages of the morning of the second day, where the crews relied on studded tires, the Belgian consolidated his lead. The vice-world champion mainly benefited from the errors of his opponents.

“I felt very good in the car, commented Thierry Neuville. I received a lot of information and the conditions offered a lot of grip. »

Sébastien Ogier (Ford) a notamment perdu du temps dans l’ES3 en se retrouvant bloqué dans un fossé. L’ancien pilote Volkswagen a pu remonter en 3e position, mais le pensionnaire de M-Sport accuse une minute de retard sur le leader et pointe à près d’une demi-minute d’Ott Tänak (Ford), good 2nd after his scratch signed on the first course of the morning.

Kris Meeke (Citroën) also made a mistake, but the Northern Irishman had to dismount on SS4 after damaging his left front suspension. After Stéphane Lefebvre went off the road on the first day forcing him to go through Rally 2, Craig Breen represents the best hopes of the French manufacturer while the Irishman occupies 6th place in a DS 3 WRC.

Toyota Gazoo Racing a aussi souffert avec l’arrêt de Juho Hänninen dans l’ES5 alors que le Finlandais évoluait sur le podium provisoire avant d’endommager sa Yaris WRC sur une sortie de route. L’équipe finlandaise compte désormais sur Jari-Matti Latvala, remonté au 4e rang à 22 secondes de son ancien coéquipier Sébastien Ogier, qui précède Dani Sordo (Hyundai) d’une vingtaine de secondes. L’Espagnol ne dispose que de 11 secondes d’avance sur Craig Breen.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) remains at the head of WRC 2 with almost two minutes ahead of Bryan Bouffier (Ford) who gained a position in SS5 following the puncture of Jan Kopecky (Skoda). The Czech completes the provisional podium, 2 seconds behind the Frenchman. Éric Camilli (Ford) and Quentin Gilbert (DS 3 R5) complete the top five in the category. Yoann Bonato (DS 3 R5) retired due to engine failure.

Hayden Paddon did not restart in Rally 2. Hyundai Motorsport has decided to withdraw the #20 i4 WRC following the exit of the road of the New Zealander who fatally injured a spectator.

The second stage will resume from 14:33 p.m. with the second passage from Agnières-en-Dévoluy – Le Motty.