85. Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2017
18. 1. – 22. 1. 2017, Gap - Monaco • asphalt - snow 382.65 km - (cancelled 26.75 km) • total distance including road sections - 1411.85 km • Other years
Info
SS17
"To win with MSport at the 1st race after 1 month of preparation is amazing! Thank you so much to the team, you deserve this victory"
"It's amazing. First time on a rally and to finish second is amazing. I'm really grateful to the team. They have done a fantastic effort and really deserve it. And I'm in a rally car made in Finland too!"
"You know, it was tough work. Until today we did everything... I have to go..."
"That stage was unbelievable. It was a dreadful rally for me but I'm pleased to take some important points for Hyundai."
"That was unbelievable. So slippery I could barely get stopped at the stop line, horrific conditions. It's been quite a good weekend. We've done some really good speed when the conditions were tricky. Bring on Sweden!"
"This was rallying at its cruelest - our snow tyres were in the boot and not in the car! We were like Bambi on ice. Tricky. Okay, on Friday I didn't think the rally would be as good as this - so much was new. Everything has come together so, so quickly."
"We had two slicks here - so it was tricky on the last part. I'm very happy for Skoda - congratulations guys. In the car we did a good job, I'm happy with that. I hope to be a Word Rally Car, that's where I belong. It is difficult but we are trying to find some solutions."
"Really happy to be here. We have a cross tyre choice here and I was driving very slowly just to get to the finish."
"Really difficult with the soft tyre. It was very slippery at the finish. After the Col it was horrible. It was a difficult week for us, okay one fastest time this morning, but for this rally it was more important to take experience of the car."
"I pushed very hard in these tricky conditions. When I saw the snow coming I knew it would be hard. I know Juho had the snow tyres and we were quicker. I think we were the men to beat this week. I must thank the team, they have built an incredible car. I think it's promising.
"It was really tricky, I had snow tyres but in some places it was icy, and it was hard to see where exactly. Not an easy stage if you need to push. A lot of positives to take from the rally. The team has done some great work."
SS15
"We will get to the end," is all he says before leaving the stop control. His fiesta is still firing on just two cylinders.
"No risk on the driving now, but for the mechanical side there's nothing I can do. It's a shame for Ott. I hope he can finish at least on the podium - that would be more than deserved. I really enjoy this car on the smooth roads."
"I knew this dry stage would be hard on the tyres. I've never been so gentle on my tyres before. I tried to do everything to save them. I didn't use the handbrake."
"I just need a bit more power! I tried to manage my tyres. Then on way down, like the Jamaican bobsleigh team, we just rolled with it and did our best."
"It was okay, but I didn't do very well. Slow at the beginning."
"We decided on the super soft tyres but in the dry ascent that meant the car was moving about a lot."
Late (5 min) at TC
"Terrible stage. My tyres were completely overheated mid-stage. I drove very carefully."
SS14
He´s on the move.
The car is parked close to the end of the stage. The bonnet is up and Ott and his co-driver are working on the engine.
"I enjoy. I think the time is good. I can't do more. I'm at home and I was flat out everywhere."
Stopped on the road section
"No risks. A clean run."
"Quite good but when I see the times of the other guys it's not."
"Okay, safe. We have nothing to lose. We just try to keep this pace. I don't know if I'm doing any more WRC 2 events this year so I try to enjoy every minute."
"I'm not so surprised on this combination of snow tyres and slicks. It's quite interesting to drive on the dry Tarmac. Some snow would be good..."
"On the safe side now, we have a big gap which we try to conserve. Just smiling and trying to enjoy life."
He pulls to a stop and puts his head in his hands, "I spin in one hairpin and lose six seconds."
"Okay for us, obviously now just try and cruise to the finish."
"Good I tried to be easy on the super soft tyres. I need them for the next stage. The car felt good."
"I don't know - we have only two cylinders."
"Bone dry. I tried my best, but tight corners and uphill sections in this type of car mean I'm praying for snow from the high heavens."
problems with the engine
"Really fun. Completely dry. Really good to drive in these conditions. We expect there might be some snow on the Col de Turini later so we have some snow tyres just in case..."
"We've compromised a bit with our tyre choice here. We are not sure what's going to happen later, hopefully we'll get it right for the Power Stage, but it wasn't perfect here."
"A good stage for us. The guys have fixed it. I enjoyed the stage but you have to be careful. For sure now I am looking ahead to the Power Stage and trying get some points."
SS13
“At the exit of a slow corner, the rear of the car went wide and hit something”
"I tried to push, I do my maximum. The conditions are better, Happy to finish this 3rd day :) "
"The road was far from clean. Okay, no snow, but a lot of pollution pulled out. It's good to explore the car in these more consistent conditions."
"A good day. We are happy to be here at the finish."
"I had a puncture on the second or third corner. I drove for a while before we stopped to change it."
"It was very disappointing to see Thierry off the road. I feel so sorry for him. He's done such a good rally, he deserved it. I'm gutted for him."
puncture
"Difficult. I tried to push. I stalled in a hairpin and lost 5 or 6 seconds. I tried but difficult to find the limit after just one pass of this stage."
"Let's see but I'm sorry for Thierry - he was doing such a good job, with fabulous speed so far. We got some luck this weekend, some small mistake in here too, I touched a bank again, but nothing special."
rear-left suspension damage
"Really tricky. Not too happy with the car - a lot of understeer. Not so easy in the dirty places."
"Quite pleased with the time but it looks like Elfyn Evans is flying."
"Power steering gone. It went in a corner - flat out in sixth - I went straight off, unbelievable. Very lucky. I cannot drive like this"
"A bit of fun. A bit of enjoyment to get back on this sort of surface. I think we can be quite pleased with the day."
"This is some stage. The time doesn't really matter at this point in the game, but when you get this car on dry tarmac - boy-oh-boy. This is what it's all about."
SS12
« On a toujours pas réussi à réparer la direction assistée. On continue à avancer. »
« On s’est fait quelques frayeurs car par endroit il y a beaucoup de terre pas indiquée sur nos notes apportées par les concurrents qui passent avant nous. »
« On a endommagé le radiateur dans la onze ; il a fallu s’arrêter au milieu pour mettre de l’eau et des œufs dans le radiateur. »
« On a roulé vraiment très calme car on s’est fait une belle chaleur dans la douze. »
« Je pensais avoir bien roulé dans celle-là mais quand j’ai vu mon temps à l’arrivée j’ai déchanté. »
« On a fait un petit tête à queue pas méchant puis parfait jusqu’à l’arrivé. »
« Apres notre excursion dans un trou dans lequel on est resté plus de trois minutes, j’ai un peu baissé le rythme dans celle-là. »
« On est vraiment contents d’être là avec tous les problèmes technique qui se sont accumulés depuis le début du rallye. »
« La position que j’occupe actuellement au classement me satisfait et comme j’ai un peu de marge sur les concurrents je prends mon temps. »
« Dans l’ensemble, on s’est fait plaisir dans les parties rapides. Par contre il y a quelques endroits assez piégeux parce que la route est devenue « sale »…»
"A clean run. No punctures this time. Good information from the ice crew."
"We are enjoying. We drove with four studs just to be on the safe side. All going to plan."
"A difficult day for us. A power-steering problem earlier. Now we try to find a good set-up."
"I have the snow tyres this afternoon. This morning we were on slicks. It was the safe choice. We have a good lead, but we have to be clever."
"We knew it was an open area but I wasn't expecting so much dirt on the road. On the winter tyre we understeered. Okay, I could take a risk there because I knew it was only a field on the outside. I had to try and do a bit more here."
"We managed to fix them between the stages and this one was a lot easier to drive." "Na přejezdu jsme opravili naše problémy a teď už to bylo dobré."
"The afternoon has been better than the morning. I pushed maybe too hard in here - there were a few mistakes."
"The balance wasn't great - I prefer it when we have two-and-two."
"Getting the ice note info was difficult again, Scott was changing pace notes 10sec before we started. The drier the road gets the harder it is to fight with these guys. For me it's all about building experience - and wondering what it would be like to drive a 2017 car here."
"Conditions are better now but still tricky in places. Really difficult to read the road and read the grip. Difficult, but really enjoyable."
SS11
Front-right puncture 5km before the finish.
"The snow is melting quite a lot now. It's an interesting stage, you have a bit of everything in there."
"Better than this morning. The set-up is good."
"I'm not comfortable but that's where we are at the moment."
"It was okay but the tyres were moving a lot more, especially at the beginning. Higher temperatures I think. I might have pushed them over the limit."
"I'm very sorry, I take zero risks."
"Much better conditions in the lines this time."
"Cautious again. I have a big gap now and I want the win. I have to keep safe and stay concentrated."
"It was okay. A little bit wide on one left-hander. The grip is changing all the time."
"We adjusted the [differential ] pre-load and my driving. Last time here I started too fast and aggressive. Now I calm down on the Tarmac section and went better on the ice. I am happy with the stage."
"I think it was a good stage. I was happy with the rhythm, okay I needed some time to find that. This one was a good stage I think. My car is working fine."
"I tried to be smoother. We had mud on the windscreen and I couldn't clear it. With the sun in front the visibility was bad."
"A little bit happier with the road. More clear areas with good grip. I enjoy a bit more."
"We have a very sick car, we have to go. It is changing gear all the time by itself. Power steering too."
"More black stuff this time, unfortunately. What can I do? When it's bone dry I can't do anything. I shouldn't really be looking at the times of the other guys."
SS10
"We had a problem and had to stop and do some repairs."
"We had a spin near the finish."
"I'm too slow today. I need to come back."
"We are being very safe and careful. We have a really good gap. The win is ours to lose."
"I lost power-steering near the start. The car was difficult to drive. Okay, now we have a service."
"I had some understeer near the start so I had to slow the rhythm."
"It was okay but I was quite cautious in the icy sections. Its okay, not so bad."
"We still have some gear shift issues. Like yesterday, struggling with the downshifts."
stopped
"Very disappointed. It is not going as I wanted. I don't know what is wrong but I thought I was driving well on this stage."
"Very fast. On these tyres in normal conditions it would have been nice, in some corners I was too cautious."
"Unfortunately we had a problem with our phone between the stages so I couldn't speak to our gravel note crew. A network problem I think. I didn't get the ice notes for the last five kilometres. Frustrating."
"This one was really tricky. Frost under the trees and sunshine changing the situation all the time. We have a cross tyre choice here - so it was interesting in places!"
SS9
stopped
Front-right puncture 10km before the finish
"Really cautious in there. The last 15 - 20 km it was proper Sunday speed. Really careful."
puncture
"Good to be back but I was hesitating in here. When that happens it's easy to lose a lot of time."
"I went a little wide and hit a barrier. It's okay, in these icy conditions the aero isn't so important."
"Quite okay at the start but on the snow part I had a front-right puncture."
"Okay, not a massive difference but I had a clean run. No surprises for us, good information from our ice crew. l am committed and confident. The car is working really well. I've never had a car like this for the first rally in a season. It's enjoyable."
"I tried to save the tyres at the beginning. Its tricky on the ice. I'm happy to be here again. No easier than yesterday."
"I tried to be nice but in the ice it's very slippery. Very hard conditions."
"I think I made a mistake here. I pushed too hard in the beginning on the dry Tarmac and I killed the studs before the ice."
"Like yesterday really bad conditions. The first section, on just Tarmac, was okay. After, on the ice, it was difficult to drive. On this surface it is impossible for me to get confidence."
"Far more difficult than yesterday. So tricky and narrow, no room for error. I struggled a little, I was not committed enough to my ice notes."
"That's a surprise, but okay, I'll take it. The ice felt really slow again. More fluffy snow - less hard packed - and that suits us better. "
SS8
accident and hit a tree
out of road
accident, already in the same corner
overshoot the corner where Crugnola, Latvala and Neuville did their mistakes
overshoot in the same corner as Latvala
"I'm disappointed because we found a good rhythm and then, in one corner there was some delay with the pace note. Okay, this guy is my team-mate - we are a team. We need to work together and get a good rhythm with the notes all the time."
"So difficult in the slippery conditions. I'm happy to get to the finish."
"A difficult day but I really enjoy this stage. Okay, it was difficult with the ice on the top, but we had a laugh on the way down - I love that section."
"No drama for me. I'm happy. Conditions are tricky but we are here. I'm enjoying myself. A really good day."
out of road in the same corner as Latvala
"I spun in a very, very icy corner and had to reverse. We lost 10 sec there. Later on another hairpin I had a half spin. I think I lost about 20 seconds in today."
"A really bad day. For me it's impossible to drive the car in stages like this, with the ice and the grip changing all the time."
"We had a problem with the engine - we lost turbo boost. I stalled the engine a hairpin and did not press the reset button. It was not working properly. We drove for about 500 metres before we reset the system."
"It's been a tough day for sure. Tough conditions and the afternoon was not any easier. We had a better feeling with the car in the afternoon. Some improvement. Step-by-step."
SS7
"In an icy corner my co-driver was a little bit late with a note."
"I got a rear-left puncture. It's a shame. Maybe I slide and hit a rock. That can happen. What can we do?"
"Better, cleaner than the first pass and easier to drive. There is still some slush in places - and that is worse than ice. No mistakes though. Pleased to be here."
"A little better. I hope to improve the rhythm on the next stage. A good day for us."
"Still the same, the grip is incredibly low, but hey, we're still here and still learning."
stojí
downshifting issue
"I'm pleased. This was the first stage today when I was focused only on the driving. No other issues. I'm really pleased with the car - it has lots of performance and a lot of potential."
stopped
"Really slippery everywhere. Not nice to drive. Sometimes there's grip, sometimes none. It's not easy to build the confidence when it's like this. I'm happy to be at the finish."
"The stage was okay but to be honest my pace notes had too much snow and ice. The road was cleaner that I expected. I dropped too much."
"It's definitely a hard job to drive with the slush now. I do what I can, but in very wet snow it is incredibly slippery and I was aquaplaning. We did what we could. We made some small adjustments in service - the car feels better."
SS6
« Contrairement aux prévisions la six était plus difficile que la trois. J’ai fait une raquette et un raille, heureusement sans rien toucher ! »
« On continue à avoir des problèmes de motricité avec notre Fiat qui manque de poids sur le train arrière. »
« J’ai du mal à comprendre les notes données par mes ouvreurs parce que je n’ai jamais été dans le rythme. »
« On a été plus rapide que ce matin mais il fallut faire attention aux plaques de boue et de glace. »
« On a crevé de l’avant droit en tapant un peu fort sur une pierre qu’on avait pas vu. »
« On a eu quelques passages acrobatiques mais dans l’ensemble ça s’est bien passé ! »
« Une belle spéciale ! Dommage qu’on ait pris une corde qui nous a couté une crevaison à l’arrière droit. »
"We punctured the front right tyre hitting a rock we hadn’t seen"
"Okay. A much cleaner road than before but still very easy to make a mistake. The car is working well."
"I have a slow puncture on the front right. I finished very carefully."
"Okay, I'm just trying to come back to get second place in WRC 2."
"A bit more experience, a bit better grip, so the deficit is less but it's still tricky out there."
"Hats off to [my ice-crew driver] Mikko Hirvonen. Everything he's saying is spot on. Okay, a couple of squeaky bum moments in there - but that's how this rally is."
"The road was cleaner this time. It's melted since our ice crew went through - so we are finding things out for ourselves. I think we had a clean run, though, and that's the most important thing."
"We had a problem with the fuel on the road section. I was a bit stressed when I started the stage and I stalled on a hairpin."
"The road is really really slippery like before. There is snow, ice and water together. It is difficult to find the grip. We try to do our best but we're not quick enough."
"We are cleaning a bit the line for the cars behind. Overall, this was more tricky than the first pass - difficult to know how much speed to carry."
"A little better than this morning but there is some slush around which is hard to handle. I think it will clear, so being first car is no so easy. A better feeling for me this time."
SS5
« On a eu quelques passages acrobatiques mais dans l’ensemble ça s’est bien passé ! »
“La voiture manqué de puissance mais on y va pour les spectateurs.”
“La spéciale est vraiment bien mais l’épingle de la descente doit être prise avec beaucoup de prudence et toute la partie boisée est semblable à un ring de glace. »
“J’étais trop lent, je sais que c’était de ma faute et pas celle de la voiture.”
« Je n’étais pas à l’aise et je me sentais comme si je n’avais pas de puissance mais tout mis l’un dans
l’autre notre temps n’est pas si mauvais.”
« La transmission est en surchauffe. On a dû mettre de l’eau sur la différentielle depuis l’habitacle »
“On a touché un rail de sécurité, il n’y a pas trop de dégâts. Mais notre temps est vraiment mauvais
maintenant. »
“On a fait un tête à queue et on a perdu beaucoup de temps.”
« On a réussi à stabiliser la voiture mais la descente a été compliquée surtout en freinage. »
« Nous avons des problèmes électriques et mécaniques. »
« Nous avons malheureusement perdu du temps à cause d’un problème électrique. Pour l’instant, on a assez bien conduit. »
« On ne s’en sort pas trop mal. J’ai eu un bon feeling avec la voiture mais il ne faut pas que je m’emporte. »
« C’est toujours très délicat de diriger la Porsche dans ces conditions. Je fais en sorte de rester sur la
route. »
« C’est la première fois que je conduis avec des clous and je me suis fait quelques frayeurs dans la
descente. »
« La voiture subit des problèmes de moteur. Il s’éteint aléatoirement et nous avons du mal à le faire
redémarrer. »
puncture
puncture
"The car undergoes engine problems. It randomly shuts down and has trouble starting back again."
"It's my home rally but I don't like these conditions. I know I can push more, but I don't have a good feeling. It's strange.'
"It's strange. We hit some stones on the left-side and I thought we might get a puncture. But we were okay and then we felt the front right go down."
"We dialled ourselves in quite well I think. Careful in the tricky conditions early on, then we increased the pace and now we are comfortable. I'm very satisfied with the car - but it's very different to what I'm used to."
front-right puncture
"Hanninen is parked up by the road. It was not a problem for us. For me, this was the best stage of the morning, the confidence is coming."
"Conditions were more mixed here, there was more Tarmac. We tried to push a bit harder. It was better."
"A lot cleaner than the previous stage - where I spun twice. Conditions here make it a bit more level with the cars - but on the tarmac they [the 2017-spec cars] are getting away from me."
stopped
"It's okay. "The rhythm is improving - more consistent now ."
"Better now we have more tarmac on the road - but it's not been easy. We pushed the car out of parc ferme when it didn't start this morning - the team only got it going with two minute to spare. We have a misfire in the engine and the wrong set-up."
"We stalled the engine on an hairpin and lost some seconds. It's not a great time."
"It was OK - there less ice than in the recce so my pace notes were a bit too slow in the final part."
"More or less the same conditions. Okay, it's been a difficult morning but we are here - and that's not the case for everybody. It's not the best, but we keep going."
SS4
« On venait du Canada pour avoir un beau Monte-Carlo on est servi ! It’s a lot of fun ! »
« Apres la très mauvaise journée d’hier, on récupère un peu de confiance et j’ai doublé deux concurrents
dans cette spéciale. »
« Je commence à m’habituer avec la conduite pneus clous. J’arrive à freiner plus tard et à ré accéléré plus
tôt en sortie de virages. J’espère qu’il y aura encore du verglas. »
« La spéciale se résume à tètes à queues arrêts tètes à queues arrêts du début à la fin. »
« Ca patine beaucoup. Je sens bien qu’il me manque deux roues motrices pour dépasser les 30km
« Ca a été du sport pourtant je n’ai pas roulé vite mais ai fait trois têtes à queues. »
« On a une alerte sur l’ordinateur de la voiture on va vite appeler l’assistance pour voir ce qui se passe. »
"We don’t have any grip;I believe the spectators can run faster than we drive."
"We went off road straight in a snowbank. The car is not really damaged but is more and more slippery."
"The feeling was good on this stage but I don't understand the time, the grip was better here than the previous stage"
"Okay. A nice stage. In a few places the snow is melting but I cannot complain."
"Still on the safe side - just exploring the car."
"I have no direct experience in these conditions. Struggling for grip. Not so nice."
"Okay. Not an easy stage, the grip was changing a lot. It's difficult to find and keep the rhythm. I'm quite happy though. The car is still good."
"It's been difficult for sure. Just a lot less grip on the ice than I expected. Still, could be worse..."
"Conditions was even worse that the previous stage. Obviously Kris has gone off. It's so, so simple to make a mistake so I'm trying to keep it neat and tidy. Taking it easy. I'm happy to get to the end."
front-left suspension damage
"My suspension is too stiff. We had a problem with the engine this morning - it didn't start. The team engineers fixed in service but that meant there wasn't enough time to adjust the suspension."
"Very, very slippery. Difficult conditions. Hard to read the road. No drama. We drive safely."
"The grip is not that good. Very tricky. I stalled the engine on a hairpin near the end. I tried to be as clean as possible. Not much grip near the end - probably the studs had gone."
"Pretty slippy once again, but at least no mistakes from me in this one. The road is a mix of everything. The problem is when there is snow - the thin layer is very, very slippy. I'm not happy with everything on the car at the moment."
SS3
puncture
“We had a small hit at the rear left axle, it punctured the tyre and welost a lot of time.”
"The Fiat 124 Abarth is a great car but the rear axle is too light
to drive correctly on the snow."
Retired because of a mechanical problem
"We made a small hit because of a slight mistake. Our rear left axle was opened. The rest of the day will be complicated."
"We are very disappointed. We are going to have to retire. Our engine has broken down.”
"Different conditions to the recce. A lot of ice and I'm a little afraid after last year. I'm trying to find my confidence. Not easy for me."
"I didn't have so much experience in this snow and ice. I took it cautiously, lots more tricky stages to come."
"Really, really difficult. Just sliding around on the safe side. No risk."
"All is okay today. I've never driven in these conditions. I take zero risks. The car is perfect."
"Nothing. It's just the grip I have. I went in the ditch once but that was just 10 seconds."
"Okay. Nothing special. I lost some time passing Evans. Otherwise okay."
"Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like it in my life. I just tried to keep it neat and tidy. Trying to learn with every kilometres and see how we go."
"I can't believe after all that there's only a few seconds in it! It's a lottery. Some places are sheet ice - you lose a lot there. The snow's not so bad. It's easy to lose a minute here and not know why. So it's good."
"Really tricky - some bad moments. Some radio interference too, we could people in our team talking, and that was distracting."
"I'm sure we lost one minute near the end. There was a section of Tarmac but you can't use it - it's so cold the tyres have no heat in them."
stopped
"Some places it felt not much faster than the recce. Not great at all. It's difficult to learn the grip on the surface. It's changing. We are really slow, no?"
"It was okay, some places a bit wide but I enjoyed the stage even though it was very slippery. I have a good balance with the car. It feels great."
"It happened in a junction. Very, very icy. I pulled the handbrake but the car never turned. It was very slow - 10kph. Super tricky. First on the road is a disaster. I think it will get quicker. Not the start we wanted today."
was in a ditch
WRC TV crew report his car in a ditch after 2.5km. He's out of the ditch and underway again.
SS2
out of road
“We are having a huge problem with the clutch. It bothered us all along the stage especially in the uphill of the turnstiles”
“The engine is broken. I think this is the end of the adventure for us.”
We made a small hit at the front left which caused a transmission problem, perhaps because of the gearbox.
puncture
puncture
“Safely through, no risks! Starting with cold tyres, caught up with another driver on stage.”
"Alright start but had a spin in a hairpin."
out of road
accident
"Bad stage. Big problems with the brakes’ pedal. Impossible to brake hard. Hope better tomorrow."
"I'm in a race of my own here but I'm happy with that stage to be honest."
"Very tricky, struggling for rhythm. We are through. Car is nice.. have to find the rhythm."
"Happy to be safely through. Starting Monte-Carlo by night is always tricky. A bit of gravel on surface, but not a bad stage. No problem"
"It was better than I expected. I wasn't completely on the pace but the car felt good."
"It was OK. The car was maybe moving a bit too much."
SS1
"It's always difficult to find the limit in those conditions. I was a bit safe on tyre choice & driving, I hope the time won't be too bad"
accident