EVANS DOMINANCE IN MONTE OPENING STAGES
Source: Red Bull Content Pool
January 26th, 2024
Welshman Elfyn Evans and Co-driver Scott Martin have started their 2024 season in perfect fashion, winning the first two stages of the Monte Carlo Rally on Thursday night to hold the lead over the Hyundai of Thierry Neuville.
Evans commanded the Rally1 field through the opening two stages of the event, sealing over five seconds on every competitor as the first driver on stage. Using four soft tyres, Evans was able to gain on the chasing Hyundai’s running a single supersoft tyre, aiming to save for later in the weekend.
The opening two stages of the rally provided dry and fast running for competitors, with high levels of grip provided, contrasting the conditions to previous years that have seen night stages of Thoard and Bayons in a traitorous damp and slippery climate for competitors.
“The grip was really high in there, I wasn’t sure if I had used enough of it to be honest, it’s tricky to start with such high grip to start, but no problems,“ said the rally leader.
Thierry Neuville managed to overtake returning teammate Ott Tanak in the second stage as the Estonian struggled with the Hyundai I20’s engine mapping, dropping to fourth behind the second Toyota of Sebastien Ogier. Nine-time Monte Carlo winner Ogier dropped 10 seconds alone on the opening challenge as the effects of drivers ahead cut, bringing substantial amounts of dirt onto the road.
“It’s kind of expected, there was so many cuts full of gravel for us on the road already,“ said the Frenchman.
Ogier will start the second day of the rally from fourth on the road and must gain back the 20-second disadvantage to teammate Evans to claim a mind-boggling 10th Monte Carlo Victory in 2024.
Takamoto Katsuta took a more cautious approach to his more experienced teammates, dropping to 46 seconds behind the rally leader after the two stages, falling to sixth overall without issue. Adrian Fourmoux led the M-Sport charge in his return to Rally1 machinery with a fifth place overall, comfortably ahead of rookie teammate Gregoire Munster, as the young Frenchman aims for a solid finish on home soil.
Munster survived his first two stages of Monte Carlo to lie seventh overall as he continues to learn the M-Sport Puma after only testing during the snowy conditions which contrasted the opening challenges. Andreas Mikkelsen rounded out the Rally1 runners in his Hyundai I20, after suffering the same mapping issues that Ott Tanak in the opening stages.
”Was not easy, really struggling with the engine mapping, every time I go to a slower speed, the car starts to accelerate… It was not easy to cope with this, because it was very annoying” said the Norwegian on his return to the WRC Class.
The new points system comes into effect this weekend as points are going to be handed to drivers on Saturday and Sunday along with the power stage, if they’re able to finish the event. This system will see the Top 10 runners get points on Saturday night ranging from 18 for first, and one point for 10th and further points provided on Sunday for the first seven runners in a bid to spice up Sunday finishes for lower positions, while the final Wolf Power Stage stays to provide an extra points to the top five fastest runners.
Source: Red Bull Content Pool
Pepe Lopez leads the WRC2 class after the first stages in his first outing with the Skoda R5, holding a 14-second lead over Nikolay Gryazin.
The Spaniard had a scorching pace in the opening test with a nine-second advantage over experienced Yohan Russel, continuing in the second stage to lead that rally after the first day.
Young Fin Sami Pajari led the brand-new Toyota Yaris R5 to fourth in class but sits nearly half a minute behind Lopez despite finishing third and fourth respectively in the stages.
”Thank you Toyota for a good car… It’s really nice to drive, I love it! But still many places I could go much faster,” said the 22 year-old.
Chris Ingram in the Skoda R5 got his season underway a little too early as he collected a 10-second jump start penalty during the opening stage, but dropped to eighth in class.
Source: Red Bull Content Pool
