86. Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2018
24. 1. – 28. 1. 2018, Gap - Monaco • asphalt - snow 388.59 km • total distance including road sections - 1642.40 km • Other years
Info
SS17
"It's been a difficult weekend. Often in Monte you have to face hard conditions, but this has been extremely difficult. I've never struggled with the tyres choices so much, but in the end we win and I'm super happy. I need to thank the team for another good start to the season. Everyone did mistakes this weekend - I did too. I made a few less."
"Really happy. It's such a big relief to start the season like this. There's always some excitement when you switch teams and I had no idea what to expect. Here it has been a great relief. The team and the car are amazing. My gravel crew did the best job - thanks."
"Really, really good to be here. Last time out in Australia wasn't great. I have had a lot of pressure on my shoulders since then. Finally I can take that off."
"I lost the rear on the gravel part and couldn't catch it. We went wide and had no chance to put the reverse on. I can't even describe my disappointment."
"A horrendous weekend for us. An absolute nightmare. I can't get a feeling with the car. When its good we have to put everything on the line - it's not good enough."
went off, continue
"We gave it everything. I knew it would be difficult on this stage with what we had. The damage was done on the first one this morning. Disappointed."
"We have done a good rally. Obviously a shame about my mistake on Thursday, but that's Monte. Everybody makes mistakes. Without getting stuck and getting the puncture a podium would have been possible."
"It was amazing. I am not a young driver but I learned so much this one weekend. Amazing. We are lucky because I lost first gear before this stage warming the tyres! Looking forward to getting back in this fantastic car."
"A bit of a frustrating weekend. Even now we went into a cut and I stalled in a hairpin - on the Power Stage! Some good speed at times, but we struggled with our road position yesterday. Onwards and upwards from here."
"I think my tyres were good. We went very slowly on the other stages to save them here. An okay stage. A lot of gravel in there, so I expect conditions to be a bit faster car by car, but we had a good run."
SS16
"My soft tyres weren't really optimal for this stage. Let's see on the next."
"We don't have the right tyres for the Power Stage. There are many drivers on the softs and our super softs are going to suffer a lot there. The plan for us is finish the rally and win it. Happy so far but still 14km to go. There were no easy moments in this rally."
"More or less the same as this morning. Still very hard but we had a clean run."
"It's been a tough Sunday but everything is going according to plan. Not too bad but of course you have to be very careful."
"Straight into a snow bank and I had to reverse. The pace note was correct. I don't know what happened - we just went straight on. Now my super-soft tyres are finished. I'll have to use the studs I think."
"Crazy conditions, full black ice. I felt more comfortable on the slicks than on the studs. Okay, I have no idea of my time. We don't know. 'All Live' means nothing for the crews, but the whole world knows!"
"The stage was okay but not perfect. We tried, but it looks like Thierry is pushing hard now. Let's see."
went off on the same place as Bouffier, but only small delay
"Really tricky conditions but better than this morning. Same for all of us now on the tyres I think. I tried to drive fast."
"Very bad - I had information the corner was not frozen but it was. The car is fine. There were not many spectators around - it took time."
"The road is more polished now. In some places the grip is better but in others it's shiny like glass."
went off, continue
SS15
"I tried to drive at an okay pace to see how it is. An okay stage, a lot of gravel about but we can go faster."
"No mistake, but I had to stop briefly near the finish, a spectator had set off a flare and I couldn't see through the smoke."
"Not taking any kind of risks on this stage, just ticking off all the corners before the Power Stage."
"No problems. Just coming safely through. We did well on the previous stage so we didn't need to push too hard here."
"A hellish stage. This rally never ceases to amaze me. Black ice on loose gravel? Just trying to stay on the road to be honest."
"We have I didn't have a great stage, quite a bit of understeer - it's knocking my confidence."
"I was surprised by how good my time was in the first one. This one was more tricky than I expected, the gravel was very slippery. I'm not so sure about my rhythm, but it wasn't so bad."
"I was very slow, it was not easy to find the right pace. Very narrow and slippery. Not great driving but we are here."
"Really tricky. A lot more wet and damp than I imagined. I thought the soft tyres would be good - in fact the super-soft would have been better. A lot of gravel and frost in places."
SS14
"Others can push if they want but I'm not so keen to - not in these conditions."
"More icy than we thought it would be. Luckily we went with the safe tyre option."
"We had the ice marked on the downhill but there was black ice on the uphill too."
"Very tricky. I think the weather has turned colder since the gravel crews went through - conditions have changed. We'll only know whether the tyres were correct at the end of the rally."
"Incredibly slippery. I'm not sure if my tyres were correct - whether the studs made much difference on the descent."
"There was ice in the last 7km and I had no information in my notes."
"I tried to drive clean and save my tyres. The frost started to get worse and worse. Tricky on the descent."
spin
SS13
"New WRC cars are so powerful they pull lots more dirt onto the road in the slow corners. Its really noticeable with the 2017 cars. I have to be cautious but at the same time follow their lines."
"There was a lot of gravel here and not so much to gain. It's all about the Power Stage now, and that means we have to get through today. No risks."
"That means it's all going to plan. I wanted to be 30 seconds ahead tonight. It was very dirty in there, maybe my tyres were not the perfect choice. I was a bit on the limit."
"In the dirty places the tyres was good but in the dry they were overheating a bit. It's difficult to have the perfect tyre in this stage."
"Good. I mean, it's easier now that when we did the stage on Thursday. I was trying to use what I learned."
"For sure there is more and more mud on the road. It will get slower and slower I think. Sometimes the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't see so clearly."
"I had a good stage but I stalled in a hairpin and lost one or two secs there. There is more and more mud being pulled out. Let's see how the other guys do - Lappi is the important one."
"Good fun on this stage. It's unbelievable, going from driving so slowly earlier to now this."
"It was okay, but there's a lot of dirt on the road already after just two cars. It would have been easy to trip up. A good stage but slippery in places."
"I tried to do a good stage. I'm on the super-softs, I'm not sure it was the right choice though - okay, it's a compromise."
"It was nice to have a clean road. I really, really enjoyed it. A good feeling in the car, but I wasn't committed enough in a couple of places. If I was in a fight, I reckon it's a stage for soft tyres, but I did my best to make the stage as messy as possible. Let's see how they get on."
SS12
"The stage before was quite good. This was more difficult on the winter tyres but we are learning and will be faster here next year."
His Skoda fitted with studded tyres all round. "The safe option. With our lead we stay on the safe side."
"I think now we are finished with the snow."
"Nothing special let's say, not trying, a consistent run, I'm not pushing."
"Good. I was trying. After the puncture on the previous stage, I was trying really hard. A good run."
"Very slippery at the end. The mud was a problem here - not the ice."
"With Esapekka Lappi's puncture we're up to 4th, but he's not far behind. We lost a bit in here."
"We have two studded and two snow tyres. The studs were very slippery in the mud. We have good fun."
"Just before the start the intercom packed up and I reckon I only heard 40 per cent of the pace notes. Okay, it's a stage I know, and I've been doing my homework, but I didn't get much information about the conditions. I just had to drive as I saw it."
"I pushed a bit more in this one, but there was a lot of gravel and the road was very slippery. I enjoyed it though - the first enjoyable one today."
"Pretty hairy on this mix of tyres, but we're making progress up the leaderboard. Incredibly slippery and grimy at the end."
SS11
"Now it's much better than the morning. We don't need to hurry up, but we can still enjoy the drive."
"I have no idea. This was a lucky place where we went off - I'm happy we went off there. Tricky with the black top - it's so, so hard."
"Not good news about Esapekka. I;m sorry for him. Conditions are less tricky now. You can push more."
went of same place as Neuville
"We lost about eight seconds."
changing wheel
went of same place as Neuville
"I was a little surprised - not the best feeling in there. We were quite clean, tried to stay in the ruts. We had some studs on the car but in these conditions we didn't need them."
went of same place as Neuville
"We went into a field under braking - huge aquaplaning. I know I wasn't the first. A small spin earlier as well, we went backwards when we touched the snow."
"I enjoyed that one. Tricky in places, a bit of fog, I could only see 30 or 40m ahead on the 1km straight. Really good fun."
went off on a field
spin
SS10
stops after flying finish (SS9)
"It was always my dream to drive Rallye Monte-Carlo, but in these conditions I'm not sure I'm enjoying it"
"It was really difficult on the first stage. We are leading and the gap is so big - it's difficult to drive like this and get to the finish. It's crazy. Not easy."
"An okay drive. Apart from the Power Stage I don't have much to go for. Just driving to what feels right."
"Yes, backing off a little more, it's never fun in the slush. Happy so far, but I'm sure the afternoon will be difficult again."
"The stage was a lot better than the one before but it seems we have a problem with our dampers. They are solid. We need to check them in service."
"This was a bit better. Melting down a bit. The previous one was not on this planet. This is why the Monte is such a legendary rally."
"This was easier. The downhill part was open, not so much snow and ice. The first stage was like Turinin in 2013
"Tricky. I tried my best and I'm still trying to be very careful. With big gaps in front and behind I'm just trying to managing it. But even that's not easy."
"A bit better, we are in a typical Monte-Carlo Rally for sure. The car is good fun to drive."
"A bit better than expected to be honest. The snow had gone from the downhill section. An okay stage."
"Much easier than the first one. A good stage. A shame the battle with Evans isn't closer. We continue - the day is long and many surprises still to come."
"A big contrast between conditions here and the slush at the start. I was aquaplaning on top of the slush. Hats off to my ice note crew."
SS9
"At least we finished the stage, but I'm not happy. There are some things we need to change about my driving."
"I had a big moment near the start. In the slush I was driving at recce speed. The car was doing nothing."
"This is proper Monte-Carlo. Really difficult conditions. We spun three times in a straight line!"
"One of the worst stages in my career. So much slush, it was super tricky, I was watching the lines in the road and they were going everywhere - I passed Sordo in a ditch."
"No chance to push at all. A few places you try you are out immediately. I didn't enjoy the spins and things - definitely not enjoyable."
"I think you can really win a lot of time on this stage if you want to try, but for me it's not about that, I really didn't want to crash, it's so easy to. I guess it was quite slow but it's okay."
"I'm relieved to be here. Snow can be nice, but this was not nice at all. Melting, soft snow, slush. Go wide and you don't know where you're going to end up."
"I have no idea how this time will compare. In these conditions it's the most challenging. I had one spin, which cost about 12sec."
"No spin, I drive very safe, I did my best."
"I lost the rear in the braking. It was safer to let it spin. You never know in these conditions - there were lines everywhere. I tried to stay in the cleanest one possible and be smart."
"Holy God, that was pretty incredible. A track the width of a tyre in the road and the moment you get off it, it's over. I'm a bit of a snowplow this morning."
"Horrible conditions - I tried to keep it steady and be efficient. I think it's getting better for the cars behind."
went off
spin
spin
SS8
"Happy to be at the end. The hardest rally I have done."
"Apart from the middle stage we enjoyed a good pace. We know where we have to be with the tyres now and have found a lovely rhythm."
"It was disappointing to see the other guys hit problems today. It was a good battle with Eric [Camilli] but I've been in this sport a long time and sometimes this is rallying. Since I saw Eric in trouble I've been taking it easier - a little more careful."
"Still difficult, but a couple of good times. Not that bad, safe, no mistakes. Now I need a good rest ahead of tomorrow."
"It's nice to see that even with the same speed I can fight for some positions. Okay, maybe I'm getting there. I need to do a good step if I want to fight for victories in the future but for now I'm quite pleased with the performance."
"An encouraging day, building confidence."
"Much better grip than the previous stage but still difficult."
"The car feels perfect, it's great to be here in this position and fighting."
"The car was working really nicely, I tried to use all the road, keep it smooth and clean. Where can I finish? I don't know. In some stages we have caught 30 sec so anything is possible."
"It's been difficult for sure, but we are here and still in the leading position. Without the spin I would be a minute in the lead, but to be leading I have to be happy. Tomorrow I will need to be good."
SS7
lost wheel
Lost four minutes when he thought he had a puncture. He stopped and waited for the car behind to pass before getting underway again.
"Really heavy rain, so a lot of aquaplaning, lots of mud and poor visibility. It got a bit better, but I needed to be careful on the blacktop - it's like ice."
"A lot of blacktop, sliding, aquaplaning. A demanding stage. We drive safe."
"It's getting more tricky. A lot of water flowing like rivers. The road is extremely slippery. It's tricky but we are here."
"Really tricky. The car and the tyres are working well but in the position I'm in I didn't want to do anything stupid. I need to wait for somebody else to make a mistake."
"A difficult stage and I lost time because the windscreen was fogged. I couldn't see the inside of the corners."
"I spin again in a hairpin and got stuck in a ditch. We lost about 30 seconds I think. Very difficult conditions."
"The feeling inside the car was really good. I got a lot of confidence from what was going on. Some slippery sections but for the majority the grip was incredible."
"On Tarmac good grip but on blacktop no grip and in standing water no grip."
"Very tricky. A lot of mud. In these conditions I have a lot of room to improve. I don't yet have full confidence."
"Horrible conditions. Aquaplaning, a lot of mud, and fog on the side windows meant I couldn't see the cuts. I tried my best. Couldn't do much more."
Off into a ditch at 25km; restarted with spectators' help
SS6
Slid wide and went off at 3.5km. Retired for the day.
"It started to rain shortly before the start, so the full stage was damp for us. When I saw that Eric [Camilli] had stopped, I slowed down."
"We got a taste of this one earlier and my gravel crew did a good job, so it wasn't so bad. For me, it felt okay."
"Very difficult conditions, but more fun. Things are tricky and we have to be more concentrated."
"The car feels better but it's incredibly tricky. I didn't get a clean run earlier here, but this was not so bad."
"There's mud on the road but not enough rain to wash it away."
"Now it's really raining and in this mix of tyres I had to take it a little bit careful."
"The stage was full damp for us everywhere, dry as we expected. Not ideal for us."
"Feeling better than this morning. I'm a bit happier with the car. In some places the rain has made it very slippery, in others it is still dry. It's 50
"A little concerned about managing my tyres this weekend."
SS5
"I got a stone between the bleed nipple and the rim on the first stage and that broke it. We had three brakes for the next stage and now I have nothing. I can barely stop. Not nice."
"This was the cleanest stage on the loop. A bit more damp, more enjoyable than the previous one, which was a nightmare. Craig has a problem, he was slow to leave the line and let us past very well, so thanks a lot."
"I can't be happy after our problems and the puncture today, but we are back in the top ten and now I think maybe top five is possible. The rally is still very long."
"Not so happy with my drive on this one, the conditions were much drier than we thought. Not the best for these super soft tyres, so we were a bit on the safe side - but overall not a bad loop."
SS4
retired for today, alternator problem
accident
"Safe, but it's crazy with the dirt. They [the drivers ahead] are cutting like hell."
"Still no brakes. I've lost the rears completely now."
"It's okay, but we made a mistake in the service with our tyres. A misunderstanding. We had the wrong ones for the previous stage and now we have two hard tyres at the front."
"The stage was okay, but I don't know what the best tyre choice was. Mine overheated a bit towards the end, it was hard to find a rhythm."
"I think I was a bit wrong with the tyres. I expected more humidity, still, there was a bit of damp which helped the super softs to survive. My lead is okay, but in one stage you can lose a lot here, so even this gap isn't really much."
SS3
"Better than last night, at least we can see the road today. My soft tyre choice was good I think."
"I went straight on at a junction and had to turn around. Not so good. A very dirty road. Tricky."
"Quite steady. Lots of dirt in the road. Many surprises and you need to react immediately."
"No brakes. I hit a stone in the road and something is broken. I had literally nothing for about 10km."
"Okay, not bad, but a lot more greasy and damp than I expected. A lot of mud on the road. Whether we got the [4S&2SS] tyre choice right I don't know."
"Not so bad but I struggled a little in the middle in the damp. I didn't push too hard. We take three soft tyres and two super softs, I don't know if its a good choice."
"Generally okay but not perfect. Slippery, difficult but okay."
"Everything is okay, but it's difficult to say how the stage was. In some places quite slippy and I didn't get the best feeling in the car - too much understeer."
"The middle section was damp as expected. Very tough but okay, we are here."
"No idea. 10km before the end we got a slow puncture alarm. We continued, which was the right decision. After what happened yesterday it doesn't really matter so much."
"Only a short road section, so we have to go, but everything is okay. An okay stage for us. Some very greasy sections, but okay."
SS2
"Very tricky for sure, but the car is amazing. Great fun. I tried to drive a bit better. You have to be clean here, with this power you can go wide easily."
"That was okay, but there is a lot of gravel being pulled out on the road. I'm quite happy though - happy to be second to Seb."
"We are on a mission! No mistakes - that was the target. The pace is not the best but it's not so easy to drive on this dirt. This has always been the challenge for me. I need to build my confidence step by step."
"The conditions are perfect but we made a mess. I didn't have enough time before the stage to get the set-up right. I have three bar in the front tyres - and I had a spin in here."
"A stupid mistake in the first one. A stupid spin. I had a choice to handbrake but I chose to stop and reverse and backed into a ditch. Okay, that's behind me now. A long rally to go."
"We only have one spare so I was being careful here, not aggressive in the cuts. Not feeling happy on throttle, I had a half spin here on throttle. We can resolves that but not a great start."
"It's been a really challenging start. We played a gamble here with three super soft tyres. Sometimes you have to do that."
"This one was much more like Tarmac. Massive understeer on the previous one. I was struggling a lot. We managed to improve a bit here. A lot to learn."
SS1
"A puncture in a deep cut - I was just following the lines. After that we lost the brakes. I had to drive slowly to the finish. Not the start we hoped for."
"Three spins in the stage and a gearbox problem but we survived."
"I think my pace was not fast enough to get a spin! My car was amazing but it's very difficult for me. I have lots of flat out sections in my notes which are not flat out in this car! In some paces I was not driving so well, but I'm happy to be here."
"Quite difficult. Okay on the Tarmac, but on the ice and in the dirty sections in the cuts I was very, very careful."
"It was an okay stage. Difficult to know how much to push. I lost my brakes towards the end - so not the best confidence in the downhill section!"
"The Tarmac section itself is okay but I have a few things to learn about the surface. The ice I took very slowly, I don't know the fastest way there. To minimise the mistakes there is the way. I'm pretty satisfied. I don't care about the time. Personally, an okay start."
"A disaster - I got stick in the snow. Not in a bank but we couldn't move. Spectators helped us back out. Difficult."
"I got stuck in a ditch. Really simple - caught a patch of ice. I had to wait for spectators and lost a minute - minute and a half. It's a long rally, we'll keep going, but it's not a good start."
"We got a puncture about 12km in. We had to stop and change it. A bit of drama too on the ice too. A disastrous start."
"It's not bad, but I don't think I did a very good time."
"Difficult. I spun twice and stalled twice. I think I lost 20 seconds, something like this. Difficult. I saw Neuville - I caught him in an icy section."
"I got stuck on a snow bank. I pulled the handbrake but locked all four wheels and went off wide. There were only a few people around so it took time to get back again. It's part of the game."
"At the beginning of the ice we went out into a bank at like 10kph and I had to reverse. It was very tough."
"We lost time in a spin on the ice. We knew it would be tricky - no surprise that so many drivers have had problems!"
off road
spin