Sebastien Loeb continues on target to claim the first World Rally
Championship victory of the 2008 season for Citroen in the Monte Carlo
Rally. The team was hoping for a first and second from their two drivers
but it all fell apart when Dani Sordo retired on stage eleven. The
Citroen squad now places all their Monte Carlo Casino chips on Loeb for
the final leg of the rally tomorrow.
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Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Mikko Hirvonen for BP-Ford moved up to second overall. Ford also lost
their second driver when Jari-Matti Latvala damaged his suspension on
a stone in the afternoon. The teams duked it out last year over the
manufacturers' title. With both Sordo and Latvala sidelined, the rivals
will be starting out the new season with little advantage over the
other.
Loeb was first car on the route today, starting well before the sun came
out. The going was challenging, ice and fog were the dominate conditions
for the first two stages. By the third test the roads cleared up and
the World Champ settled into a brisk pace, able to afford cautious
driving when necessary. He went on to take four out of six stage wins,
only losing to Sordo on the first stage and Atkinson on stage thirteen.
Loeb's C4 now leads the field by a romping two minutes.
"There must be a better way to start a day than having to tackle such
selective stages as Lalouvesc and Saint Bonnet le Froid," quipped
Loeb. "As the sun came up, there were still patches of ice about, and
even thick fog on SS10. It's tough to loosen up completely when the
conditions are like that. The first two stages kept us on our toes but
the morning's last test was more straightforward and we tried to push
hard in order to get a clearer picture of the way the Pirelli PZero tyre
reacts on this sort of terrain.
"This afternoon, I drove especially carefully on Saint Bonnet which was
still damp. I'm glad the northern stages of this year's Monte Carlo
Rally are behind us. We now head south for the last five tests which
could still cause an upset or two," he added.
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Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen. Photo by xpb.cc.
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Hirvonen intended to challenge for second place in his Focus. Looking
at the stage times in which Sordo was active it appears the Finn would
have had a very steep up-hill battle to get it. Not that it matters
now, Sordo was quick but can't go anywhere without a healthy car. What
matters is that Loeb's cushion of points is drastically reduced to what
will clearly be his new rival, so long as Hirvonen keeps the position
to the end. It shouldn't be too hard; he is almost a full minute up on
Atkinson.
"When I woke up this morning I was hoping that I could take second,
but I didn't think it would happen like that," said Hirvonen. "Dani's
retirement really helped me and I want to keep this position now because
the two extra points for second would be good. I hoped to be closer to
Loeb's pace but that wasn't possible here. I was happy with Pirelli's
tyres, they worked well in the cold, dry conditions.
"There are still four more stages to come tomorrow so I will try to keep
the car on the road and take no risks because I have a good lead over
Atkinson in third," continued Hirvonen. "I don't have huge experience of
tomorrow's stages and I can expect anything on the Col de Turini. There
is usually snow, ice or fog at the top and it is dry then black ice will
be a concern, so it will be a tricky day."
Subaru should be quite happy with Atkinson, en route to equal his best
finish to date. The Australian was strong in Monte Carlo last year as
well, finishing fourth after beating Hirvonen on the final stage of the
event. For now it looks doubtful Atkinson will be able to trump the Ford
driver again. Instead, he'll be looking over his shoulder at Stobart's
Francois Duval who is only twenty seconds behind.
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Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot. Photo by Subaru World Rally Team.
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"We were pushing today, and it was so tough! It's a bigger gap than I
had here last year but the adrenaline and pressure is just the same,"
said a pumped-up Atkinson. "Some say that SS10 is the most dangerous stage
as it's so fast and flowing, but I love it. I won the stage last year
and on the second pass today I was pushing to increase the gap over
Duval. I had a good feeling through there, but I was still buzzing
half an hour afterwards. It's great to be in third, but we have some
difficult stages tomorrow, especially the Col de Turini. It's a stage
that can be dry until you start and then spectators put snow on the
road which just makes it so hard to know what to expect going into each
corner. Duval knows it a little better than I do, so it's going to be
a challenge but for sure I want third and we'll be pushing hard to the
end."
He might not have to push that hard for third after all. Duval talked
about his day and plans for the final leg, "Today has went well and my
feeling of the car has improved a lot and the slower stages feel really
good; I think we can still improve on the fast sections. We are getting
more used to the car every stage but I still think we need to be careful
tomorrow. The gap ahead to Atkinson is too much for me to catch as the
conditions on the stages tomorrow are likely to be tricky, especially if
you are pushing."
The team with the highest-ranked second driver is Subaru: Petter Solberg
is comfortably in fifth with gaps on either side of him. Solberg
isn't exactly a second driver but for this rally Atkinson is leading
the charge for the Japanese team. A few more events will need to be
completed before it's clear whether Atkinson has the hot shoes in the
team or not.
The teams have already packed up their gear and made the four-hour drive
to Monaco for the final leg. Four stages will be run in the foothills
of the Alps, including two tests on the famous Col de Turini. The teams
will only be able to have two remote services between the runs. Then the
WRC will head into Monaco proper for the final stage, a super special
using part of the F1 street-circuit.
The biggest challenge in leg three will be keeping the cars from
sustaining any major damage without access to proper service the entire
leg. As Loeb said, "an upset or two," might be in the cards for tomorrow
