Ogier and Loeb dominate Monte-Carlo night

Le Rally Monte-Carlo 2022 began with two night specials, not the least of which, with the passage through the legendary Col du Turini this Thursday, January 20. This mecca of world rallying certainly brought back good memories for the two giants of the WRC what are Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) and Sébastien Loeb (Ford), which dominated the competition.

The eight-time world champion signed the first two fastest times for a hybrid car in the discipline. It was especially in the SS1 that the Gapençais, associated for the first time with Benjamin Veillas, crushed his opponents, distancing the Hyundai byOtt Tänak and Thierry Neuville about twenty seconds.

A dream start for the reigning champion and his new co-driver in the dark of the opening stage! 🤩@SebOgier #ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris # Rally1 #WRC #RallyMonteCarlo pic.twitter.com/pAdlGgtZzv

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) January 20, 2022

Only Sébastien Loeb, who is also associated with a new co-driver (Isabelle Galmiche), had the strength to keep up with the infernal pace of his compatriot. At 47 years old, and barely a week after taking second place in the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, the veteran of the set still has the gniac!

In SS1, the Alsatian had kindly explained to Isabelle Galmiche that she had not had the right rate of speech for the notes, sometimes too fast, sometimes too late compared to the progress of the Ford Puma. A small timing problem which was corrected an hour later in the Col du Turini.

" We have fun ! It was very hard on the tires this ES, I overheated the rubber before halfway through the special. But I think we did a great special. During the previous one, I was careful on the icy passages. Isabelle didn't struggle with the grades, that's good! »

M-Sport Ford is smiling as he heads into the Monaco service park. The English team places the youngsters Adrien fourmaux-Alexandre Coria and Gus Greensmith-Jonas Andersson in fourth and fifth place overall, between the favorites for the title, Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (Toyota) and Thierry Neuville-Martin Wydaeghe (Hyundai).

Some more good results at the end of SS2 🇲🇨🏔👊
🥈 @SebastienLoeb
4️⃣ @AdrienFourmaux
5️⃣ @GreensmithGus
7️⃣ @Craig_Breen #MSPORTERS #FordPerformance #WRC pic.twitter.com/T1K9GfE4Fs

- M-Sport (@MSportLtd) January 20, 2022

The official Hyundais are in a bad position. The South Korean brand chose mixed tire combinations (super soft and soft) and did not play much at the start of the 2022 WRC season. However, both Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak made faces at the second stop point. “I have no confidence in the car”, justified Thierry Neuville. “There is a long list of mechanical issues to resolve”, revealed his Estonian teammate.

In WRC2, it is once again a Frenchman who leads the way. The Nice Eric Camilli won both special stages, and took advantage of an accident by Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda, 2nd in SS1) to gain a margin overall.

The Monte-Carlo Rally will resume on Friday January 21 from 9:14 a.m. and can be followed in live text on AUTOhebdo.fr.