Key figures and itinerary of the 2018 Rallye Monte Carlo.
17 timed stages covering a total of 388,59 km
4 types of Michelin tyres: snow tyre (Pilot Alpin A41), snow tyre with studs (Pilot Alpin A41 CL), soft tyre (Pilot Sport S6) and super soft tyre (Pilot Sport SS6). Both Pilot Sport S6 and Pilot Sport SS6 are brand-new ones.
Lights on! ?#RallyeMonteCarlo ?? #WRC pic.twitter.com/bECgPa7en0
— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) January 24, 2018
At Monte Carlo, the crew and their ice/snow crews must have a perfectly developed understanding
The ice/snow crews run through the stages around two hours before the WRC crews, armed with a copy of their pace notes in order to make any corrections. The changes can be substantial on these stages if, for example, it has snowed between recce and the start of the stage. The road conditions also tend to change a lot between the first and second pass on a stage. The difficulty for the ice/snow crews, therefore, involves having the same view of the road as the crew would have, and also keeping the same, specific language as the crew. Which is why an incredible amount of trust and knowledge of one another is called for. Craig Breen has been working with Mikko Hirvonen (with co-driver Andy Hayes) since 2016 whilst Kris Meeke has used the services of Stephen Whitford and Derek Brannigan since 2014 and 2009 respectively.
Didier Clément, Citroen Technical Coordinator and Customer Racing Manager, recalls…
“I remember when we won here in 2012 with Sébastien [Loeb] and Daniel [Elena]. They only really secured the win on the third leg, due to making the right call on tyres, as is often the case at Monte-Carlo. That day, we had to contest the Saint Jean en Royans stage, which was mostly damp or wet, and then Cimetière de Vassieux, where there was snow and ice on the stage. So we needed soft-compound slicks for the first stage and studded tyres for the next one.”
“But Seb was worried about losing a lot of time on Saint Jean en Royans by going with a mix of these two types of compound. Right up until a minute before the start, there were only two soft-compound slicks on the car and two studded tyres in the boot. But our analysis showed that we had to give preference to Cimetière de Vassieux, by going with four studded tyres. He let me choose the two missing tyres, which were, of course, two studded tyres. He produced an incredible performance on Saint Jean en Royans, losing only sixteen seconds with his inappropriate tyre set-up, before securing overall victory on the following stage thanks to his four studded tyres.”
Rallye Monte Carlo schedule (GMT+1)
Thursday, 25 January
5.50pm: Start day 1 (Monaco – Place du Casino)
9.43pm: SS 1 – Thoard – Sisteron (36,69 km)
10.51pm: SS 2 – Bayons – Bréziers 1 (25,49 km)
11.56pm: Flexi Service A (Gap – 48′)
Friday, 26 January
8.00am: Start day 2 and Service B (Gap – 18′)
8.51am: SS 3 – Vitrolles – Oze 1 (26,72 km)
10.04am: SS 4 – Roussieux – Eygalayes 1 (30,54 km)
11.37am: SS 5 – Vaumeilh – Claret 1 (15,18 km)
12.52pm: Service C (Gap – 33′)
1.58pm: SS 6 – Vitrolles – Oze 2 (26,72 km)
3.11pm: SS 7 – Roussieux – Eygalayes 2 (30,54 km)
4.44pm: SS 8 – Vaumeilh – Claret 2 (15,18 km)
5.49pm: Flexi Service D (Gap – 48′)
Saturday, 27 January
6.57am: Start day 3 and Service E (Gap – 18′)
8.08am: SS 9 – Agnières en Devoluy – Corps 1 (29,16 km)
9.16am: SS 10 – St Léger les Mélèzes – La Batie Neuve 1 (16,87 km)
10.31am: Service F (Gap – 33′)
11.57am: SS 11 – Agnières en Devoluy – Corps 2 (29,16 km)
1.08pm: SS 12 – St Léger les Mélèzes – La Batie Neuve 2 (16,87 km)
2.23pm: Service G (Gap – 33′)
4.09pm: SS 13 – Bayons – Bréziers 2 (25,49 km)
5.29pm: Service H (Gap – 48′)
10.17pm: Parc ferme (Monaco)
Sunday, 28 January
6.49am: Start day 4
8.32am: SS 14 – La Bollène Vésubie – Peira Cava 1 (18,41 km)
9.08am: SS 15 – La Cabanette – Col de Braus 1 (13,58 km)
10.55am: SS 16 – La Bollène Vésubie – Peira Cava 2 (18,41 km)
12.18pm: SS 17 – La Cabanette – Col de Braus 2 (13,58 km)
1.58pm: Parc ferme (Monaco)
3.00pm: Prize giving (Place du Palais Princier – Monaco)
