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The second stage saw disaster strike Olivier
Marty and Thomas Roux: they ran out of fuel
and were forced to push the car five
kilometers to the stage finish which cost
the pair 12m59s and dropped them way down
the order to 42nd overall. |
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Toni Gardemeister's
78th Rallye Monte Carlo challenge crumbled on the
opening day as the Abarth driver lost time by running dry weather tyres on the rain-hit opening
brace of stages and when he overshot a left-hander on the second run and clouted a
stone wall. Damage to the private Astra Racing-run Abarth Grande Punto S2000 was miraculously limited to a scuffed front-right bumper and
Gardemeister was able to continue and aim for a top-six finish.
The Finn was
sixth fastest through SS1 but fitted dry weather tyres when
the surface was slippery and as a result he dropped 30.8
seconds to the stage winner. "We had a problem with the tyre
choice, it wasn't good, hope it will be fine at next stage,"
reported Gardemeister. On SS2 he had the same grip problem,
dropping 44.7 seconds after setting the seventh fastest time
overall, sliding the Abarth driver down one slot to seventh
place. "Really really bad, in one corner we went of the
road," reported Gardemeister. However he was glad to have
survived a potentially rally-ending moment on this stage
where he missed a turn and hit a wall, escaping with only
minor damage.
On the third
stage, the penultimate test of the bay, Gardemeister dropped
31.8 seconds after going through ninth fastest. "We were
pushing hard, but the times just aren't coming," the
downcast Finn said, however with rival Sébastien Ogier
dropping two minutes after damaging a wheel the Abarth
driver was promoted up the order one place to sixth.
Gardemeister's Abarth Grande Punto is a 2008-build car which
is owned by the Spanish private d'Ambra team.
First used by
Italian driver Alessio Pisi on the Rally delle Valli
Imperiesi
in 2008, most recently the Super 2000 machine was campaigned
last year on selected IRC rounds by Pisi and Frenchman
Olivier Burri. The final stage of the day saw Gardemeister
continue to struggle for pace, losing 1m26.4s after setting
the eighth-quickest time. "No problem, maybe wrong tyre
combination, I thought we could perform better, but there is
no chance," said the Finn. It all added up to leave
Gardemeister seventh overall, 2m43.2s off the rally leader
going into today's, six-stage, second-leg.
The two private
Abarth Grande Puntos in the rally, both with French crews
onboard, had a difficult day. On the second stage disaster
struck Olivier Marty and Thomas Roux, they ran out of fuel
and were forced to push the car five kilometers to the stage
finish which cost the pair 12m59s and dropped them way down
the order to 42nd overall. The second stage also saw the
retirement of the third and final Abarth Grande Punto in the
rally, that of Renaud Poutot and Lionel Currat. By the end
of the day however Marty and Roux had worked their way back
up to an overnight 35th place. Meanwhile Martin Rada and
Joroslav Jugas were ran strongly all day and ended the leg
in 40th place in their Alfa 147 TS.
Meanwhile at the
front Mikko Hirvonen capped an impressive competition debut for the M-Sport Fiesta
Super 2000 by completing the opening leg with a
41.9-second lead over reigning Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Kris
Meeke.
Hirvonen, from Finland, went fastest on yesterday morning’s first stage from
Burzet to Lachamp Raphael and was never headed at the top of the leaderboard
thereafter. He was quickest again when the 27.27-kilometre run was repeated in
the afternoon and was able to extend his advantage after Peugeot 207 driver
Stephane Sarrazin suffered a puncture on stage four and slipped down the order.
The French driver’s delay promoted Meeke into second place. The Briton adopted a
cautious approach and drove without error throughout the day in his efforts to
begin his title defence with a points finish, having crashed out of this event
last season. Meeke felt he could have been closer to the leader but for a
confidence-denting moment on the second stage when he locked up at high speed
braking for a left-hand corner.
Juho Hanninen heads the works Skoda Motorsport challenge after lead driver Jan
Kopecky lost more than three minutes with a front-right puncture close to the
start of the first stage. Hanninen reported a few scares in the thick fog that
descended on a 12-kilometre section of the second stage from St Pierreville to
Antraigues, but otherwise enjoyed a trouble-free day. Kopecky recovered to hold
12th overnight.
Nicolas Vouilloz, on a one-off drive with the Skoda squad, holds fourth overall
after the first day of competition. He spent the morning acclimatising to the
Fabia S2000 and admitted his choice of tyres had been too conservative.
Last year’s Monte Carlo winner Sébastien Ogier had closed to within 4.9 seconds
of leader Hirvonen after two stages but his hopes of a top finish evaporated
when he went off the road on the third stage on a patch of snow and damaged his
front-right wheel, losing 1m30s in the process. He fought back with the quickest
time on the final stage of the day to complete the leg 1m51s adrift of Hirvonen
in fifth overall.
Peugeot Portugal driver Bruno Magalhaes said he was satisfied with how his Monte
Carlo debut had gone so far as he adapted to driving on slippery asphalt for the
first time. He lies sixth overnight, one place ahead of Gardemeister.
Sarrazin, who had complained of a loss of engine power on the first stage,
reached the overnight halt in Valence in eight, clearly frustrated that his bid
for victory had suffered a serious blow due to his puncture, which added almost
three minutes to his total time.
Austria’s Franz Wittmann spent the morning stages adapting to his Peugeot 207,
which he was using for the first time in the IRC. He improved his pace in the
afternoon and completed the first leg in ninth but said he still lacked
confidence.
Briton Guy Wilks lies tenth overnight in the Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia. With
seldom experience of driving his car on asphalt, Wilks used the day to gather
more mileage in the car and experiment with different settings. He reckoned his
choice of tyres hadn’t been ideal for the conditions, while a spin on the final
stage of the day cost him 20 seconds.
Leading Clio R3 European Trophy runner Mathieu Arzeno, from France, tops the IRC
2WD Cup in 13th overall with Italian Matteo Gamba second and Belgium’s Kris
Princen third.
Of the 58 starters, 46 crews returned to the service in Valence following a
tough day of competition in the French Ardeche region. Today’s action is due
to get underway with the 25.30-kilometre stage from Labatie D’Andaure to St
Pierre Sur Doux.
78th
Rallye Monte Carlo, provisional positions after Leg 1
1 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Fiesta S2000
1h34m01.8s
2 Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle Peugeot 207 S2000 +41.9s
3 Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000
+1m04.4s
4 Nicolas Vouilloz/Benjamin Veillas Skoda Fabia S2000
+1m20.3s
5 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia Peugeot 207 S2000
+1m51.1s
6 Bruno Magalhaes/Carlos Magalhaes Peugeot 207 S2000
+2m28.1s
7 Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen Abarth Grande Punto
S2000 +2m43.2s
8 Stephane Sarrazin/Jacques Julien Renucci Peugeot 207
S2000 +3m15.8s
9 Franz Wittmann/Klaus Wicha Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m44.1s
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