Monte-Carlo Rally 2019
21h
The stages follow one another but are not the same in Monte-Carlo. In slight difficulty in SS1 on Thursday evening, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) raised the bar with the best time of the second special. The Belgian left Sébastien Ogier by 11″ and Ott Tänak by 12″5.
In great form in the first timed sector, Kris Meeke (Toyota) had to drive seven kilometers with a flat front right tire. He conceded 1'01″3 and fell to seventh place in the general classification.
The Briton is not the only victim of the evening. Sébastien Loeb (Hyundai), handicapped by his late position on the road, lost 44″5 “because of a poor choice of tires”.
Find the summary of Thursday's evening on AUTOhebdo.fr and the rest of the live text from Friday morning at 9 a.m.!
21h
General classification after SS2:
#WRC O/A after SS2 / Day 1: Tänak Ogier +9.1 Neuville +14.3 Lappi +45.2 Latvala +46.4 Evans +48.2 Meeke +53.8 Loeb +55.2 Mikkelsen +59.6 Tidemand +1:41.1#RallyMonteCarlo
— Rallysupport (@RallysupportNL) January 24, 2019
21h
Pontus Tidemand finishes the WRC wave with the 10th time, 1'01″4 behind Thierry Neuville.
21h
Kris Meeke actually concedes 1'01″3 in SS2 to Thierry Neuville.
21h
Meeke: “I don’t know how it happened. I continued for seven or eight miles with this puncture. Yet I felt good! Everything remains possible. “
21h
Kris Meeke loses around thirty seconds in the last sector! The Toyota had a flat tire on the right front wheel!
21h
Loeb: “It was difficult. We didn't make the right choice of tires. I did my best but not easy in these conditions. I wish I had other tires. The feeling is there, however. »
21h
Sébastien Loeb loses big in SS2: he drops 44″5 on Thierry Neuville!
21h
Sébastien Loeb loses 32″ at the penultimate intermediate point!
21h
Sébastien Loeb is in difficulty. He loses 23″5 at the third intermediate point!
21h
Evans: “It’s very difficult to judge whether you’re doing good or bad. » The Welshman lost 28″4 to Thierry Neuville.
21h
Andreas Mikkelsen finished with 35″1 lost on Thierry Neuville. He is already a minute behind overall!
21h
Neuville regains 11'' on SS2 at Ogier. “It’s not enough, we wanted to take more. However, it seemed to be the right choice (of studless tires). Not bad. »
21h
After five cars, Thierry Neuville has the best time of SS2 with 11″ ahead of Sébastien Ogier. Ott Tänak sets the 3rd time at 12″5. The gaps are larger behind: Jari-Matti Latvala is 4th at 23″5 and Esapekka Lappi 5th at 25″.
20h
Ott Tänak loses 1″4 on Thierry Neuville at intermediate 2.
20h
At the first intermediate point, Thierry Neuville is 4″ faster than Sébastien Ogier. The gap is reduced to 1″9 in favor of the Belgian at intermediate point 2.
20h
As a reminder, Ott Tänak, first leader in 2019, remains on two consecutive podiums at Monte-Carlo, but has never collected the winner's trophy.
20h
Thierry Neuville sets off. He is the only one to run on super soft tires, without studs.
20h
Sébastien Ogier is the first to tackle SS2.
20h
WRC 2 started well for the French with the best time from Yoann Bonato ahead of Nicolas Ciamin in SS1.
