The first day of the Monte Carlo Rally - opening round of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship - was held on very slippery roads. It was very easy for the drivers to leave the road and crash. At this game, eight-time rally champion Sebastien Loeb, driving a Citroen DS3 WRC) proved to be the best.
In Special Stage 1, Loeb and Dani Sordo (MINI JCW WRC) made the difference over the rest of the field. At the end the stage, the two were separated by just one second. Behind them, Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford), were third and fourth, 14.9s and 22.2s down respectively.
In SS2, Latvala played big and won. Despite the fact that the road was icy at places, he gambled on running on super soft tires. At the end, he beat Loeb's time by 52.7s! The Finn took the lead of the event with a 30-second cushion over Loeb.
However, catastrophe struck Latvala on SS4. He left the road and rolled his Fiesta. Driver and co-driver were not injured but were force into retirement.
Facing huge brake problems, Hirvonen kept losing time on Latvala and was then two minutes down on his teammate Loeb. “I broke a brake rotor when I hit a wall,” said Hirvonen.
Mighty impressive since SS1 was youngster Thierry Neuville (Citroen DS3) who was force to retire after he also hit a wall. Sebastien Ogier, Loeb's teammate last year, drove brilliantly in his smaller and less powerful Skoda Fabia S2000, finishing the day in fourth place overall.
So Sebastien Loeb lead the standings at the end of SS2, 1m04s in front of Dani Sordo and 1m05 ahead of Petter Solberg (Ford Fiesta WRC).
Overall standings after SS4:
1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen DS3
2. Dani Sordo, MINI JCW, at 1m04
3. Petter Solberg, Ford Fiesta, at 1m05
4. Sebastien Ogier, Skoda Fabia S2000, at 2m21
5. Evgeny Novikov (Ford Fiesta) at 2m26
6. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen DS3) at 2m30
In Special Stage 1, Loeb and Dani Sordo (MINI JCW WRC) made the difference over the rest of the field. At the end the stage, the two were separated by just one second. Behind them, Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford), were third and fourth, 14.9s and 22.2s down respectively.
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| Petter Solberg, Ford Fiesta WRC (Photo: Ford) |
In SS2, Latvala played big and won. Despite the fact that the road was icy at places, he gambled on running on super soft tires. At the end, he beat Loeb's time by 52.7s! The Finn took the lead of the event with a 30-second cushion over Loeb.
However, catastrophe struck Latvala on SS4. He left the road and rolled his Fiesta. Driver and co-driver were not injured but were force into retirement.
Facing huge brake problems, Hirvonen kept losing time on Latvala and was then two minutes down on his teammate Loeb. “I broke a brake rotor when I hit a wall,” said Hirvonen.
Mighty impressive since SS1 was youngster Thierry Neuville (Citroen DS3) who was force to retire after he also hit a wall. Sebastien Ogier, Loeb's teammate last year, drove brilliantly in his smaller and less powerful Skoda Fabia S2000, finishing the day in fourth place overall.
So Sebastien Loeb lead the standings at the end of SS2, 1m04s in front of Dani Sordo and 1m05 ahead of Petter Solberg (Ford Fiesta WRC).
Overall standings after SS4:
1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen DS3
2. Dani Sordo, MINI JCW, at 1m04
3. Petter Solberg, Ford Fiesta, at 1m05
4. Sebastien Ogier, Skoda Fabia S2000, at 2m21
5. Evgeny Novikov (Ford Fiesta) at 2m26
6. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen DS3) at 2m30