Oliver Solberg remains in control of Rally Monte Carlo with a lead of more than a minute, as the wintry conditions worsened at the World Rally Championship season opener on Saturday morning.
Overnight snow showers meant crews faced conditions more akin to Rally Sweden than Monte Carlo, and despite initially losing time, Solberg fought back to restore his lead to 1m02.8s over Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. Reigning world champion and Monte master Sebastien Ogier continued to hold third, albeit 1m13.1s from the lead.
Crews fitted studded tyres but were reduced to a crawl through the day’s opening stage [SS10 La Breole/Bellaffaire 1] that was blanketed in snow and ice.
Ogier managed to cope with the conditions the best, completing the 29.93km test with an effort that was enough for a stage win, his third on the bounce following Friday’s night’s charge. Ogier was 3.5s quicker than Evans which brought the gap to the Welsh driver, sitting in second, down to 3.0s.
Rally leader Solberg dropped 20.5s after admitting that he failed to prepare his studded tyres sufficiently before the test. The Toyota’s driver lead was cut to 51.4s over Evans with Ogier, conceding his chances of catching Solberg were slim.
“Top spot is too far, but we have to do our best to fight for the podium like this,” said Ogier.
It was a Toyota 1-2-3-4 in the stage as Takamoto Katsuta posted the third-fastest time to move into the top 10 after a mistake instigated a power steering failure on Friday.
Conditions rapidly improved in the final stage of the loop, which was a repeat of the stage that was red-flagged on Thursday night.
Those at the top of the road order faced snow and icy patches but by the time Solberg came through much of the ice had melted. The rally leader took advantage of the conditions, while rivals Evans and Ogier struggled, resulting in a fifth stage win of the rally. Solberg was 11.4s faster than Evans, while Ogier dropped 18.7s.
"The studs are working now, it's a bit easier. I felt a little more comfortable here now," said Solberg.
Evans added: "It was very, very difficult, initially you come to some ice and snow which is bad enough, but when you come to the slush it's just a lottery. Towards the end the gravel crew had it full black ice, but it has evolved so much. I wasn't brave enough to ignore what they said.”
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux was the third fastest Rally1 crew in the stage as the Frenchman ended the loop in fourth overall and ahead of his fifth-placed team-mate Thierry Neuville.
Rally1 debutant Jon Armstrong continued to hold sixth for M-Sport-Ford despite suffering a slow puncture caused by clipping a bridge in stage 10. Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon, also competing in a Rally1 car for the first time, headed to midday service in seventh.
“It is getting harder and harder. I know we have to finish and that makes it even harder. I think [co-driver] John [Kennard] can drive better, maybe he can hop in this thing on the next stage,” said Paddon.
The top 10 was completed by WRC2 leader Leo Rossel, Katsuta and Lancia’s Nikolay Gryazin. Crews will tackle two more stages including a blast around a section of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit this evening.
