Reactions after the first stages of the WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo
Toyota
Ott Tänak (1st)
“It was a tough start to the rally tonight, as we were expecting. There were some extremely tricky and changeable conditions on the first stage, but I had a really good feeling in the car. It was still quite easy to feel the grip changes and this gave me good confidence. The second one was mostly dry asphalt which was a challenge with a mix of tyres, but we had a good run. Overall I still think our tyre choice was the right one. Tomorrow will be a long day and we will be expecting more of the usual Monte challenges.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (5th)
“It was very challenging conditions this evening, in the darkness with a mix of ice and damp patches. When the conditions are difficult like this the time differences can be quite big. In the first stage I lost a lot of time as I wasn’t that confident. I didn’t have those type of conditions in my test, so I was missing the feeling. But we got through and that’s the most important thing. Tomorrow is another day and things can change very quickly in this event, so we need to be patient.”
Kris Meeke (7th)
“It was a tricky start to the rally with changing conditions, but I felt really confident with the car, I had a good feeling. On the second stage it was drier but it still felt nice to drive. Then for some reason we got a puncture. I don’t believe we hit anything. But we can’t let that get us down so early on a Rallye Monte-Carlo. I’m enjoying it and I’m confident in the car, so let’s see what the rest of the weekend brings.”
Citroen
Sébastien Ogier (2nd)
“For my first two stages in the C3 WRC, clearly I’m pleased with the outcome, especially in these conditions. Perhaps I was bit too cautious on the first stage, but it’s difficult to really go for it when you are driving a new car competitively for the first time. But I certainly produced a decent time with the studded tyres on the second stage. I think that I made an intelligent start to the rally.”
Esapekka Lappi (4th)
“It was easy to make a mistake on tonight’s opening two stages, especially on SS1. I probably thought about that prospect a little too much and ended up being too cautious. We played it safe on the set-up as well. It was perhaps a little too soft. However, the confidence gradually came on SS2 and although there are already big gaps between the crews, I’m right in the mix, especially as there’s still a long way to go and plenty of things can happen yet!”
Hyundai
Thierry Neuville (3rd)
“We have started our season with the right mentality, trying to find our own direction and going with our feelings. The tyre choice this evening was a compromise. With the information we had, we felt we made a good choice, and at the end it was OK. I was perhaps expecting to gain more time on the second stage in the dry conditions but we didn’t, which was a shame. But it’s not too bad considering it’s so early in the rally. We will see what the weather does tomorrow and aim to stay in the fight for the win.”
Sébastien Loeb (8th)
“It has been good to make our debut as a Hyundai Motorsport crew, even if it was a tricky start. The opening has not been too bad, even if it is not easy to start in the night and in icy conditions. The first stage went OK but we didn’t select the best tyres for the second one and we suffered as a result of that. We perhaps underestimated the performance gap between the slick tyres and four snow tyres. We made it to the end and that’s the most important thing. Tomorrow, our aim is to get into a good rhythm on the slicks and take it from there.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (9th)
“A typically tricky start to Rallye Monte-Carlo! In the opening stage, about 1km from the finish, I thought the stage had ended and I started to back off. It was a silly mistake that cost us time. Other than that we just took things cautiously. The second stage was completely dry and we were on four winter tyres: we were sliding everywhere. We could have opted for crossed tyres but I don’t have much experience with this car in such conditions. We did the best we could.”
M-Sport
Elfyn Evans (6th) said:
“It’s been a typical start to Rallye Monte-Carlo with some really challenging conditions. We could have gone harder for sure, and I was kicking myself in a few places, but we delivered a clean run and are in a reasonably good position going into tomorrow – which is always the most important thing.”
Pontus Tidemand (10th) said:
“This car is amazing to drive, so I have to be clever and stop myself from pushing too hard! I really want to take the maximum, but I have to be careful as I need the experience from this rally and want to learn as much as I can.”
WRC2-Pro top 3
Yoann Bonato (Citroen)
https://www.facebook.com/YoannBonatoOfficiel/videos/2201092736873179/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBja7BIEHRTLeQNxr90AUfWGQVSr-n4u3BOd5zcMsvvKc97qHQs5apgDmjlECOrn1GlH2GnU6LSdgaeYun2goTzltFnLXjCnwSLBtm5VLNHT2nVo7HG-vdCyqfIVImnxzSSeZHosSuGPQzRrIc-7pXxymG7FhOE7DGoZSd39QbVE0G5jYxq1yM4nTgyIQJSa6WA8F5EFWVivAuEB6qCQQnpfUmeM0-_NguTcm1ma4JnmAp724gfegj1FK5gxf9WTQBUBVsBZ_BZj1nvLJYfENHp24MlEDDJ9wHXykO2NZblUb6YT5dETMRTj8CXC-PFXxdXd58CcEqeV4KQ-q6MfMQQeZMUDA&__tn__=-R
Nicolas Ciamin (VW)
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Guillaume de Mevuis (Citroen)
https://www.facebook.com/GuillaumeDeMevius/photos/a.283118458523885/1162633573905698/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDyrE63dAOcIAqDZIGi-53xLztYOyU7ciZJp0L4rIMMFQ6IjHTGqv-tUMAhPw0Es3QSLrS9Mx5Vo6X42Jp3lIpO4dhxlBUwCXQDloFaU5wMz4ccul-SOJ2C3nPpYTaS10adksxeHnhsBhnnO3bfP0H-ysnnQNTxT6rlnRJF2ANkQb3o0i3in8jvesUfO-Kxly7EC3NuML9gdOm9UyC_dJWRKx4B3tmdhBT7ScRC6kY_rNGRmYzz7McM8ecGG7xM8I–ouG0CtQnABpwwBzf4Hnylmk2zqU3EfVSyNOHh_bCTa2OkmoSG17Tsgn-fB_4q_DHH-Z-USY_L5IqKIgLoMJo6Q&__tn__=-R
