Monte-Carlo Rally 2017
15h
The first crews have already set off in the 38,94km from Asprès-Les-Corps – Chaillol. Neuville was the fastest there this morning with a time of 25'41″9.
15h
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) achieved a new scratch by completing SS6 of the Monte-Carlo Rally (Agnières-en-Devoluy – Le Motty), 24,63km long, in 18'09''6 while all the WRC crews wore Michelin left with 6 studded tires. The Belgian was still ahead of Ott Tänak (Ford) by 6”5 while Sébastien Ogier (Ford) was ranked 13s behind. Craig Breen (DS 3) followed at 15s, taking 7s from Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) and Dani Sordo (Hyundai), the Finn having stalled in a hairpin.
Thierry Neuville now has a 38s lead over Ott Tänak while Sébastien Ogier is more than a minute behind the leader. Jari-Matti Latvala and Dani Sordo still complete the top five, but Craig Breen is back to within 4s of the Spaniard.
15h
Lefebvre had the worst time behind Evans, 27 seconds behind Neuville.
14h
Evans remains invisible at the start of the rally. The M-Sport driver finished 1'21 behind Neuville's provisional scratch.
14h
With his valiant DS 3 WRC, Breen signs the 4th provisional time, 2″4 behind Ogier and ahead of Latvala by 7s. The Citroën driver came back to within 4s of Sordo’s 5th place.
14h
Latvala once again encountered a mechanical problem with his Toyota. The Finn had fuel problems on the link and stalled in a hairpin while being distracted.
14h
Tänak is the closest to Neuville with 6″5 behind. The Estonian is still ahead of his teammate Ogier by more than 6s and now has a 34s lead over the Frenchman in the general classification.
14h
Latvala finished 3 tenths ahead of Sordo and found himself half a minute behind Ogier in the general classification.
14h
Sordo sets the 3rd time, almost 23 seconds behind his teammate. The Spaniard is now more than 2 minutes behind the leader in the general classification. “It’s very slippery with snow, ice and puddles. We try to do our best but the times are not keeping up. »
14h
Neuville improves Ogier's time by another 13 seconds with a time of 18'09″6. “It's better to be behind because we have the traces, but it's still very difficult. »
14h
Ogier improves Tänak's time by almost a minute this morning with a time of 18'22″8. “It’s less complicated than this morning when I had to clean the road. »
14h
The first drivers set off on the special.
14h
The M-Sport drivers are well placed with Tänak in 2nd position ahead of Ogier.
Tänak: “The car is working well, it really stands out compared to last year. The conditions are difficult and it's hard to really know where we are, but we seem to be doing well. The second pass should be even more complicated, but everything is working fine so far. »
Ogier: “We didn't want to start this way, but 3rd place isn't too bad. We slipped on an icy section and got stuck in a ditch. I don't really know what happened but we dropped 40s. It's even harder being 1st on the road. I'm not completely satisfied with my settings yet. »
14h
All WRC crews wearing Michelin will once again start with 6 studded tires.
14h
The second stage will resume from 14:33 p.m. with the second passage from Agnières-en-Dévoluy – Le Motty. Tänak signed the scratch this morning by completing the 24,63km in 19'17″8.
