Stage report

M-Sport: Midday quotes on day 3 at Rallye Monte-Carlo

Mikko Hirvonen: "There was a lot of loose snow and slush going up Turini."

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen, M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC

Photo by: XPB Images

Mikko Hirvonen (6th) said: “It’s tricky out there. There was a lot of loose snow and slush going up Turini. Then once we passed the Col [on SS12] there was a lot of standing water. It was the same for the next stage – with so much running water the car was aquaplaning even on snow tyres. OK, it’s not quite as bad as last year, but it’s still difficult. It’s so fast, and if you move off the line even slightly, it’s not nice. I’m not sure of the others, but I’m certainly not a massive fan of these conditions!”

Elfyn Evans (7th) said: “It’s been difficult and I was definitely too cautious. Perhaps not on the snow because everyone else had slowed down, but certainly up until then I could have pushed a lot harder. Let’s wait and see what happens this afternoon. We’ve still got the goal of finishing the rally very much in mind and we don’t want to make a mistake at this late stage. There’s still two hard stages to go and I think we need to keep that attitude for the remainder of the rally.”

ADDITIONAL M-SPORT CREWS

Bryan Bouffier (2nd) said: “If we manage to finish like this I think it would be perfect. The Turini was really great for spectators. OK, it’s maybe not as easy for us to find a good feeling in conditions like that, but I think those watching had a really good feeling!

“We made a small mistake on the last stage – I was surprised by the amount of water going into one corner, slid wide and hit something – but it wasn’t a big drama. Now, we just need to stay focussed and concentrated for the final loop. It might not seem like many kilometres, but on these fast stages with challenging conditions there is still a long way to go.”