Ogier and Evans alone in the world at Monza, Fourmaux in a barrel

In this first loop of Rally from Monza (Italy), the nature of the event could not be more obvious. On one side there are the duelists for the coronation Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans (Toyota), and on the other the rest of the competitors.

This Friday, November 19, during the four special stages in the mountains of Lombardy, the Frenchman and the Welshman evolved a notch above their comrades. The Gapençais, in the running for an eighth title alongside his long-time co-driver Julien Ingrassia, started by striking a big blow in the opening special.

On a wet road made slippery by dead leaves, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin reacted during Costa Valle Imagna, an extremely dangerous special stage because it was contested on a pass (ascent + descent) and in thick fog. Nevertheless, Ogier-Ingrassia added a lot on the following two stages and increased their margin to 6”5.

« The plan was to have fun, that's what's happening so it's all good, declared the seven-time world champion When you're having fun, you usually go fast. It's good to see the times fall. It's a good start, it's less complicated than last year even if there are still a few tricky sections in the undergrowth. We feel that the car is working. It feels good to start with a set-up that works. »

The Toyota Gazoo Racing residents are helped by their teammate Kalle Rovanperä. The 21-year-old Finn is respecting his employer's order to ride in order to secure the Manufacturers' title and will have no other ambitions this weekend.

On the side of Hyundai, we rack our brains. Thierry Neuville was hoping to take advantage of cool weather conditions and a lack of grip to take advantage of his i20 Coupe WRC, but the Belgian steadily lost ground. Dani Sordo is not doing any better despite his knowledge of the field.

Worse still for Hyundai Motorsport, the official drivers are threatened by rookie Oliver Solberg. Entered in a private car of the, the son of Petter Solberg (2003 WRC champion) is only around ten seconds behind while he must learn to work with a new co-driver Elliott Edmonson.

On the other hand, on the side of M-Sport Ford, Richard Millener can no longer count on Adrien fourmaux and Alexandre Coria. The French rolled off in SS4 after taking the gamble of putting on soft tires, then a mix of soft and hard, which no one else did in Rally1. If the men are unharmed, the same cannot be said for their Ford Fiesta, straddling a safety rail and quite damaged. Their objective will now be to repair the car for the next day.

Bit of an accident for @AdrienFourmaux 🇫🇷 and @AlexandreCoria 🇫🇷 this morning.
Not how we wanted to start @acirallymonza 🇮🇹 that's rallying and the crew is ok 👍. Time to get the Fiesta WRC back to service and see if we can restart tomorrow 💪.#MSPORTERS #FordPerformance #WRC pic.twitter.com/9xxYXVrfmq

- M-Sport (@MSportLtd) November 19, 2021

In WRC3, the duel for the title between Frenchman Yohann Rossel (Citroën) and Pole Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda) is currently going in favor of the first named. The Saintéloc Racing resident is 6”6 ahead of his rival at the head of the category and even threatens the WRC2 leader, the recently crowned Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda).

The second loop of the day will start at 13:45 p.m. Three stages will take place within the Monza circuit.