Thierry Neuville wins the Monte-Carlo Rally shakedown

3,35 km of dry profile road were on the program this Wednesday near Gap for the shakedown of the Rally Monte-Carlo 2018, opening round of the World Rally Championship. A traditional special test which saw Hyundai Motorsport rise to the forefront.

It was on his first visit that the Belgian Thierry Neuville a fait la différence, en établissant la référence du jour en 2’00″2, un petit dixième devant son équipier Dani Sordo. Les deux pensionnaires de l’écurie coréenne précèdent la première Toyota Yaris WRC byOtt Tänak, half a second behind Neuville, when Kris Meeke (Citroën) improved on his third pass to move up to fourth position, seven tenths behind.

Andreas Mikkelsen places the third Hyundai i20 Coupe in the top 5, eight tenths ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota), sixth at 1″, with a personal best time set on his fourth attempt.

Sébastien Ogier se montre le meilleur représentant du M-Sport Ford WRT in 2'01'6 just ahead of his teammate Elfyn Evans, ranked eighth at 1″9. Craig Breen (Citroën), Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) complete the top 10 with the same time achieved in 2'02″9, 2″7 behind Thierry Neuville's reference.

Co-driven by Xavier Panseri, following the unavailability of Jérôme Degout, injured during reconnaissance, Bryan Bouffier ranks 11th with the third Fiesta M-Sport Ford at 6″1.

In WRC-2, Eric Camilli (Ford Fiesta R5) is provisionally the fastest in 2'13″9.

Shakedown ranking Monte-Carlo Rally 2018:

1. Thierry Neuville – Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe) – 2’00″2
2. Dani Sordo – Carlos Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe) – 2’00″3, at 0″1
3. Ott Tänak – Martin Jarveoja (Toyota Yaris) – 2’00″7, at 0″5
4. Kris Meeke – Paul Nagle (Citroën C3) – 2’00″9, at 0″7
5. Andreas Mikkelsen – Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe) – 2’01″0, at 0″8
6. Jari-Matti Latvala – Mikka Anttila (Toyotra Yaris) – 2’01″5, at 1″3
7. Sébastien Ogier – Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta) – 2’01″6, at 1″4
8. Elfyn Evans – Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta) – 2’02″1, at 1″9
9. Craig Breen – Scott Martin (Citroën C3) – 2’02″9, at 2″7
10. Esapekka Lappi – Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris) – 2’02″9, at 2″7
11. Bryan Bouffier – Xavier Panseri (Ford Fiesta) – 2’06″3, at 6″1