Rovanperä fastest in shakedown at Monza

The trial run of Rally of Monza (Italy), contested at the start of the evening on the circuit near Milan, will not mark the minds of the crews of the World Rally Championship (WRC). This Thursday, November 18, the short 4,21 km course did not present any major difficulty because it was traced only within the Temple of Speed.

In the fog and on an asphalt road as winding as a gymkhana, Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) showed himself to be in the best shape. The Finn, author of two successes this season at only 20 years old, was ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) by three tenths on the occasion of its third passage.

Only Gus Greensmith (M-Sport Ford), extended as holder with the Ford Puma hybrid in 2022, pushed the zeal to a fifth try.

Leader in the general classification, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) settles for eighth fastest time (+3''7), while his only rival for the title Elfyn Evans (Toyota) reassures itself with the fourth mark (+1”3).

We had a good recce and shakedown went ok tonight @AciRallyMonza – just looking forward to getting things started tomorrow #EE33 @TGR_WRC pic.twitter.com/3cU17JVWRI

— Elfyn Evans (@ElfynEvans) November 18, 2021

Aboard Rally2, Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda, WRC3) beat Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda, WRC2) and the returning Jari Huttunen (Ford, WRC2). In the running for the WRC3 title, Yohann Rossel (Citroën) is sixth.

Events will accelerate more quickly on Friday from 7:31 a.m., with the first special stage of the event (Gerosa 1, 10,96 km). The final of the 2021 WRC season will be followed on our site in live text.

Shakedown ranking: