Loeb keeps lead; Ogier in 2nd after Day 2

Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb has maintained his advantage at the head of the Rallye Monte-Carlo leaderboard, the Frenchman claiming two stage wins to marginally extend his advantage over second-placed Sébastien Ogier. After a trouble-free drive, Dani Sordo has climbed from fourth into third, according to an FIA press release.

Today’s second day of competition took the crews over two loops of three identical stages in the north Ardeche and also Haute Loire region. The 132.50 competitive kilometres provided another day of challenging conditions and crews had to contend with plummeting temperatures, biting winds, deep snow and hard-packed ice in the stages.

Volkswagen’s Sébastien Ogier once again kicked the day off with fastest time and it was to be his only scratch time as conditions in the stages began to favour those running further down the field. Evgeny Novikov set fantastic times in the following two stages, winning both to climb from sixth to fourth by the mid-day service. The Russian maintained his pace over the second run and is less than 20 seconds adrift of Sordo in third position. Loeb came into his own this afternoon, the Frenchman in a better position at the front of the running order as stages became more rutted after the first passage of cars. Fifth place is held by Mikko Hirvonen, the Finn running without problems but unable to match the pace of the leaders. He has dropped from third to fifth tonight. Similarly, Jari-Matti Latvala never quite got into the groove, the Finn always preferring consistent road conditions. He overnights sixth. Juho Hänninen notched up his first-ever WRC stage victory this afternoon, winning stage nine. He has moved up the leaderboard from ninth to seventh overall this evening.

Wolfsburg (17 January 2013). Impressive outing at the classic: Volkswagen once again made a good impression on day two of the Rally Monte Carlo. With the Polo R WRC making its competitive debut, Volkswagen duo Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (F/F) added a second stage win and currently lie second overall after just over half the distance. Ogier and Ingrassia had previously won the very first stage of this year’s “Monte” on Wednesday. Having overcome extremely challenging conditions, with snow, ice and strong winds dominating the second leg of the rally, their team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) are sixth at the end of day two. In total, Volkswagen picked up five top-three results over the course of Thursday’s six special stages.

Tyre selection plays a major role at the Rally Monte Carlo. The extremely icy conditions at the 2013 event are making spiked tyres a hot commodity: no more than 20 are available for each car. As such, the teams are constantly faced with a strategic issue: how best to use the spikes. The question that just keeps on raising its ugly head is: when is the right time to use used material and when should they switch to new rubber? The closing stages of the “Monte” – including Saturday night’s classic on the Col de Turini – will reveal who played their cards right and used their tyres correctly.

Quotes, day two of the Rally Monte Carlo

Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director
“The ‘Monte’ is our first rally with the Polo R WRC, and it is fantastic to see how well the team is already working with the car, and how smooth the processes have been from the word go during our services. This is just as important as the stage times themselves. We are obviously pleased that the cars have had absolutely no problems so far, and that the drivers have largely been returning to the service area with nothing more than a few scratches on their cars, despite the difficult conditions. All in all, the performance of the team at the halfway point has been absolutely excellent. What makes it all the nicer is that Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala have repeatedly been able to reward the good preparation and the great work put in by the mechanics at the rally in the form of top times. The guys have earned it.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #7
“I tried a softer car set-up on the first three special stages of the day. Unfortunately that resulted in some edgy and inaccurate handling. On top of that, we picked up a puncture on the very first stage this morning after hitting a stone that we were unable to avoid at a very narrow point on the route. In doing so I stalled the engine briefly. That explains the lost time. After that we found a better rhythm. I have had an idea how we can adapt the set-up to better suit my driving style tomorrow.”

Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #8
“Today’s conditions on the ‘Monte’ were even more difficult than yesterday. The fact that once again won the first stage of the day in so much wind, ice and drifting snow was another welcome surprise. Although we took a cautious approach, we still had a spin in a left-hander on the second stage of the day. Despite that, the rally has been perfect for us so far. It will be even more perfect when we reach the finish on Saturday evening. Until then I will be concentrating solely on myself. Nobody should place too much value in the fact that we were in the top group again today: only when we get to the Rally Portugal will we be able to make reliable statements about how competitive we really are with the Polo R WRC.”

And then there was …

… Ogier’s spy on ice, Nicolas Vouilloz, who has been providing Volkswagen with the latest information on the conditions out on the special stages throughout the Rally Monte Carlo. What does he have in common with Sébastien Ogier? The love of adrenalin sports: Vouilloz is a ten-time downhill world champion, five-time World Cup winner and four-time European champion on his mountain bike. As if that were not enough, he has also started out on a second career: Vouilloz won the drivers’ title in the 2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).

Rallye Monte-Carlo – Unofficial Results after Day 2