The Monte Carlo Rally gods dealt their hand once again this morning, turning the leaderboard upside down in just one dramatic stage, and elevating Abarth driver Toni Gardemeister into second place when all hopes of a podium for Abarth seemed lost.

The Monte Carlo Rally gods dealt their hand once again this morning, turning the leaderboard upside down in just one dramatic stage, and elevating Abarth driver Toni Gardemeister into second place when all hopes of a podium for Abarth seemed lost. And all just as the final showdown in the darkness on the legendary 'Cols' looms into sight.

The third day of action got off to an unexpected start following two separate accidents for Skoda's Juho Hanninen and Peugeot's Kris Meeke. Hanninen, who led the rally until he picked up a puncture yesterday, crashed out on the first corner of an icy SS10. Meeke smashed his car up just a few corners later, delaying Freddy Loix who consequently lost his second place. Both drivers had big impacts and were lucky to walk away unscathed.

There was just one stage on the schedule this morning before the rally's final four stages, to be fought out over the legendary 'Cols' tonight, took place. And the morning's upheavals promotes Gardemeister from an overnight fifth place - up to second - in just one stage. He is now 1 minute and 50.5 seconds adrift of the rally leader Sebastien Ogier (Peugeot). Surviving factory Abarth drivers, Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alén, are promoted up to sixth and seventh places respectively, while the privateer Grande Punto Abarth driver Julien Maurin squeezes himself into the points paying positions for the first time, while the another private Abarth entry, that of Olivier Burri, is into the top-10.

As the crews enter the closing stages of the Monte Carlo Rally, they are all looking forward to the epic Col de Turini tests: the signature stage of the event, which has not been run at night for more than 10 years. This time, however, drivers and spectators will get the chance to truly re-live the legend of the Monte Carlo Rally, thanks to four runs through these unique stages held in the dark.

As Jean-Pierre Nicolas, the IRC’s Motorsport Development and the 1978 winner of the Monte Carlo Rally and now the IRC’s Motorsport Development Manager pointed out: “These are legendary stages, which have built the reputation of Monte Carlo. Thousands of spectators come to watch on them, which makes for a magical atmosphere. And this is exactly the sort of spirit and atmosphere that the IRC tries to recapture.”

Didier Auriol, the former Lancia factory driver who started the Monte Carlo Rally two days ago but crashed out on the opening stage, added: “Turini is certainly the part of the Monte Carlo Rally that I know best, along with most people. It is always best when it is covered in snow, as in recent years it has actually been dry and then it is not the same.”

The good news for the drivers and spectators on tonight’s Turini stages is the fact that overnight snowfall means that there should be a thick covering on the stages. The first Turini stage, Sospel-La Bollene Vesubie (SS11), starts at 19:40. Stage 12, Lantosque-Luceram, begins at 20:33. Following a service halt in Monaco, the crews then attack SS13 (identical to SS11) at 23:15 before entering the final SS14 at 00:08. The first car enters service in Monaco at 01:20 before parc ferme at 01:30.

SS11/13 Col de Braus-La Bollene Vesubie (34.68km) 19:40/23:15

A recent landslide meant that this stage was changed from the original route a couple of weeks ago, making it in fact slightly longer than was first planned. The first part of the stage is shady and under cover, meaning that there is likely to be a lot of ice. This is a stage that is extremely hard on the cars, mainly because of the heavy braking involved on the descent towards La Bollene. If heavy snow falls, as seems to be the case, most crews will be opting for studded tyres in order to gain the maximum amount of traction and grip. As the tyre technician points out: “It’s a very tricky stag," says rally leader Sebastien Ogier. "Even if the weather is largely dry, we still risk finding some icy patches on the higher parts of the stage, which approach 1600 metres. The change of route means that the stage is more twisty than it was before, so the tyres will be more stressed as a result.”

SS12/14 Lantosque-Luceram (19.13km) 20:33/00:08

The stage gets underway at the bottom of a valley, before climbing rapidly up towards Loda, with a steep ravine on the right. From Loda to the Col St Roch the road is narrow and there is a risk of heavy snow. At the top of the Col, the road forks right for one of the most well-known descents in the history of rallying towards Luceram, with its famous fast roads punctuated by hairpins. As the tyre technician points out: “The tyres will have already suffered on the previous stage, and once more the final part of this stage consists of a descent with heavy braking," comments Ogier. "This cycle of starting and stopping will work the tyres even harder. Given that temperatures are likely to be low at this point, we will most likely be using soft tyres.”

Monte Carlo Rally, overall results after SS10:

1 Ogier 3h03m10.2s
2 Gardemeister +1m50.5s
3 Loix +2m49.6s
4 Sarrazin +3m59.6s
5 Kopecky +4m34.5s
6 Basso +6m14.7s
7 Alen +10m11.5s
8 Maurin +13m13.1s
9 Wittmann +13m28.7s
10 Burri +13m33.8s