Monte-Carlo – SS4: Rovanperä tames the black ice, Evans takes the lead

• A Monte Carlo without ice is not a real Monte Carlo! And this Friday morning, the black ice was there. In wet and cool conditions, the Rally1 drivers had to be careful and almost all chose to start with four studded tires on SS4. Over the course of the stages, the road became dry and therefore faster. Kalle Rovanperä took full advantage of his best starting position (7th at the start) to set his first scratch of the weekend in 11'38″3 on the Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne special, 18,68 km long.
• The Finn mainly benefited from better track conditions in the first few kilometres, which were icy when the first cars passed. Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans, the first two to set off, logically lost time by opening the road. The Welshman, however, beat the Belgian and took control of the Rally Monte Carlo by eight tenths. Nevertheless, the gaps have narrowed overall, since the Top 5 are only 16 seconds apart! Sébastien Ogier et Adrien fourmaux have therefore made up time on the leaders and are respectively 4 and 16 seconds behind Elfyn Evans.
• Like Kalle Rovanperä, Grégoire Munster and Sami Pajari had the most advantage in this special, starting among the last in the Rally1 category. The Belgian-Luxembourger set the 2nd fastest time in this special, just 1″4 behind the Finn and is now less than 30 seconds behind the leaders. The driver Toyota, he set the 3rd time 3″6 behind his compatriot.

WRC – Rally Monte-Carlo
ES4 – Ranking

General ranking after ES4

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