Sébastien Ogier went back in the lead of Rally Monte Carlo after Thierry Neuville’s dramatic problems at the last Saturday stage. The Frenchman has a 47.1sec lead in front of his M-Sport teammate Ott Tänak. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) is third, more than 2:20min behind Ogier.
Sébastien had his own problems during the day. He was on the limit all Saturday and once went into a field, while later touched a bank.
“It’s certainly not easy out there. The conditions are really slippery and we were probably a little bit too cautious. There is still some work to do before we are completely comfortable – but we are still here”, the Frenchman said after the morning loop.
“Thierry has driven a great rally, with fantastic speed. To drive the whole of Monte Carlo in these conditions at that speed is a hard challenge. This is a rally where you need luck. I wished him no bad luck, he did a great job,” he added later, quoted by wrc.com.
Sébastien Ogier: “Thierry has driven a great rally, with fantastic speed”
Neuville tried to make repairs and reached the finish but lost more than 30 minutes and went 15th in the standings.
“Sorry for @thierryneuville. He was doing a great rally on fabulous speed. We got some luck, did some small mistakes. You need margin on MC”
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) 21 January 2017
Commiserations to @thierryneuville, @nicolasgilsoul, @HMSGOfficial – you guys put in a fine performance this weekend #WRC #RallyeMonteCarlo
— M-Sport (@MSportLtd) 21 January 2017
Meanwhile Tänak’s new gearbox had started to select gears on its own. He also had power steering problems at the same time, but still finished in front of Latvala.
The Finn now has a chance to give Toyota a podium in the first rally after the team’s return in the WRC.
We are so happy to be at the top three at the end of Monte Saturday! Let’s hear what @JariMattiWRC has to say. #WRC #RAMC #Toyota #YarisWRC pic.twitter.com/RLLqpLhpJA
— TGR_WRC (@TGR_WRC) 21 January 2017
Standings after Saturday’s stages:
| 1. | S. Ogier | J. Ingrassia | Ford Fiesta WRC | 3:26:10.7 |
| 2. | O. Tanak | M. Jarveoja | Ford Fiesta WRC | +47.1sec |
| 3. | J. M. Latvala | M. Anttila | Toyota Yaris WRC | +2:20.6min |
| 4. | C. Breen | S. Martin | Citroën DS3 WRC | +3:47.3 |
| 5. | D. Sordo | M. Martí | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | +4:03.2 |
| 6. | E. Evans | D. Barritt | Ford Fiesta WRC | +7:27.2 |
| 7. | A. Mikkelsen | A. Jaeger | Škoda Fabia R5 | +9:15.2 |
| 8. | J. Kopecky | P. Dresler | Škoda Fabia R5 | +12:34.4 |
