FORUM8 ACI Rally Monza 2021
18. 11. – 21. 11. 2021, Autodromo Nazionale Monza • Automobile Club Italia • asphalt 253.18 km • total distance including road sections - 679.62 km • Other years
Info
SS16
"It's been a pretty okay year, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed right now. You always look to the places you could have done better, but I have to say a really special thank you to this team. A special mention also to Kalle. He sacrificed his weekend so that me and Seb could go at it this weekend."
"I am really happy to have the podium. It's amazing to finish with these cars on the podium. Today was quite a relaxed day - I had a good gap with Thierry and I didn't want to make a mistake. I hope next year will be even more fun."
"I just wanted to enjoy that last one and I actually did. I've had some incredible years with this car and Hyundai and I am looking forward to the new adventure with the new cars. We will definitely keep good memories of this last generation."
"I stalled twice. I don't know why. It hasn't stalled the whole weekend and now twice! I lost easily eight or ten seconds. Anyway, the driving felt amazing and the car was good on the last stage. Elliott [Edmondson] did a great job the whole weekend and I am very pleased. It's a nice preparation for what's coming next year."
2x stalled
"I was struggling a lot at the beginning, but step by step I was able to improve the pace. It was quite tricky to jump in a new car, especially at this rally, but a big thanks to the team. They did a great job."
"I can only say thanks to the team and to those who fixed the car. I was able to drive the last stage of the season. I am so sorry about my stupid mistake, and without these people I could not be here this season. A lot of things happened this season, but I hope everything goes well for the championship and the other guys."
"It's hard to put into words how good these cars are, but the next generation is really exciting. This generation was something special and we are going to miss them."
"A big congratulations and thank you to the team. It was a great year, an amazing car and I think we really showed this year that we are with an amazing team."
Made 2x donuts for spectators
"Emotional. I can only say thanks to the team. It was amazing to drive the car this year and I am really happy to take the experience at this high level."
"I feel good. It's nice to finish and also give maybe the championship to the team."
"The feeling is good. Of course, if you look at the stage times we are not where we want to be. We still have a lot of work to do. I don't know what I will be doing next year, but hopefully I will be driving something."
SS15
Stalled
"I was driving safe. I was a bit on the safe side but it was a clean stage. When you are here, you take it.
"I locked up the brakes and couldn't get the car turned and went into the bales and stalled. We had another stall later on too. Not a great stage."
2x stalled
"I had a good clean run. Just a few little mistakes, but in general I was quite happy with my stage."
Spin
"It's getting better stage by stage. It was quite tricky."
Hit a chicane - lost wheel
"I had a spin in the stage. I was trying my absolute best but I was a bit too hot through the gravel and just spun it. I tried."
"Because why not? I can not say anything about that."
Spin
Hit a bale
"It was just difficult for us. We had the lines for the other direction and there was not a good line for us. We are sweeping the road a bit and even on the straights we were moving."
SS14
"I didn't expect it. It's very easy here to hit something."
"Trying to do what we can. It's difficult - first time on the crossed [tyres] for me and it was a bit strange in some places, but I think it was the right choice."
"It's okay. I didn't want to take any risks. Soft tyres would have been better for this stage, but my car was quite good."
"I tried a different tyre choice than Dani. It was working fine at the beginning but at the end I got a bit of understeer and lost some time. At least we tried."
"It was just to try something new. I touched one barrier on the chicane and I was very lucky I didn't get a puncture. It was an interesting choice [of tyre] and a bit different."
"That's more than I expected. The last few days I have made stupid mistakes on the track, so I was a bit careful. That was a clean run so it's good."
"It felt pretty okay, but it could have been better. I was careful on the brakings, but the driving is better now on the chicanes."
"I gave it everything I could in there - there was nothing more I could do. We're trying our best."
"Last day - we have to still finish in style. It's an important day for the team, so let's hope for the best."
"It was really nice to drive the circuit fully Tarmac. I can improve, but I don't want to make mistakes and just want to have a clean drive."
SS13
"It can't be better. It's a good feeling. We didn't make any huge mistakes and I think our pace has got better and better with every stage."
"It was okay to be honest, but the vision is very difficult. In a few places I braked way too early because you just can't see where you're going."
"[Winning the rally] is not the plan. In this stage I struggled in the first pass and in this one I had a bit different tyre choice and I don't know if that helped me make a difference."
"I had a very clean stage. As long as Dani is not doing any mistakes it will be impossible to catch him. I am enjoying the drive and I tried to benefit from the last stages with these cars."
"It was okay. The gravel part was a little bit more clean. I didn't push so much because I don't want to make any mistakes now. Everything is possible, but a gap of 20sec tomorrow should normally be okay."
"I was fed up with myself earlier, so I went flat-out now. The gravel was very good and I was on the limit in many places. It's nice."
"It feels better, but I think I made a mistake myself. Not as big as the first one, but I think I maybe put too much pressure on myself. Let's see tomorrow - I will try to push as hard as I can."
"What's the gap now, 7.7? Three stages, that sounds do-able. We'll see what we can do."
"I am struggling with the braking points and the driving didn't feel very good on this stage."
"It was okay. The conditions are still quite good, so it was interesting to try the different tyres. Let's see what we can do tomorrow - today was again just a cruising day but it's fun in the car anyway."
"It was interesting on the circuit. It has definitely changed. Unfortunately it wasn't the perfect day for me, but to have the confidence was good."
SS12
"It was a pretty okay run. Not perfect everywhere and I touched a barrier ever so slightly in one place. I had a bit of a funny feeling after that, but generally it was okay."
"Not really [a good run]. I struggled, but it's all okay."
"The conditions are quite tricky in places, so if you are a little bit careful you can lose quite a lot of time. It's hard to make a big difference in there."
"It's not a lot. The stage was nice. In the gravel part maybe I lost a little bit of time, but I tried to do my best."
"The first two corners I missed completely - I braked too late. I have to work, that's it. I can take some more risks on braking on the gravel and I was a bit too sideways maybe in some places."
"We lost more than 4sec for sure. We went off the track section and made a bit of a mistake."
"I stalled and lost a couple of seconds. It's a bit annoying because that would have closed the gap, but the feeling is better this afternoon."
"It was better than yesterday, but not good. There is quite a lot to improve on and I need to work on these type of stages."
"The conditions look quite nice. In the beginning the gravel and everything is quite compacted. All good."
"It was interesting. I need to find a way to be fast and find a good set-up on the car. I went straight on at the first braking [point] and with the cold tyres it wasn't easy at the beginning."
SS11
"That's a great time from Seb. It felt quite good for me but I was struggling a bit towards the end. The car was moving around quite a bit and it was all getting quite hot."
"It's enjoyable to drive. The car is nice. I was fighting a bit more with the balance in this one, but it's all good. The mountain stages are just beautiful here and we had a lot of fun for sure."
"I could really feel the aero in that stage. In all the small bumps I had to lift off and you are also stressing the tyres a lot more. I had to really reduce the speed in the last 5km. The faster you go, the more difficult it is."
"It was difficult because I was trying to be really clean and not brake too late. I was feeling at the end the tyres were moving a little bit, but the car is working very well now."
"The tyres were very bad compared to the first run. I drove very, very, very clean and very slow. I had to really take care of my tyres because they were on the limit before this stage."
"It's getting better and better and the car is working quite well. On this stage I was pushing a little bit too much in some sections and lost a bit of time. Of course, I have a lot of things to improve, but it's getting better."
"Just not had the brakes all morning. It was a little bit better than the first pass but we ran out of grip."
"I touched the outside wall and after that I was taking it a bit carefully. I'm getting a better feeling now with this car."
"It's a bit sad that we couldn't finish in style with normal pushing feeling, but I tried to enjoy even if we are not fast. It's okay."
"There are no tyres any more on the rear - it is crazy. The last 8km it was really difficult. I was enjoying my last proper stage with the car, and now we go back onto the circuit. It was good fun."
SS10
"I think, to be honest, it felt like a good run. We were smooth, but obviously not quite fast enough."
"I am enjoying driving the car. I know that for you, it looks like a battle, but I keep focussing on my drive only."
"I didn't have a big push in there because I have no aerodynamics in the front. The front is very loose and my tyres are really worn - I think all the Hyundais are struggling with tyre wear for the second loop."
"It was okay. The car was working quite well so I am happy. The tyres are a little bit used from the first loop. For the rest, it's okay.
"I could have been much faster, but I have to take care of tyres and try different driving styles. There are a lot of things to learn at the moment, but it's good fun and the times are surprisingly fast."
"Slightly better now compared to this morning. I don't know, especially in this stage, I don't feel very good on the hairpins and there are a lot of hairpins! Maybe it's something I can improve, but I'm not so sure."
"We've tried everything we can do. Slightly better than the stage before, but still halfway through the stage, I don't have a [brake] pedal. It's quite difficult."
"We are just enjoying it. The conditions are really nice now - good grip and a clean stage. I can enjoy the driving now, so it's all good."
"It's completely different, The grip is higher but it's much easier to lose the tyres and the brakes are also working quite hard. We are trying to manage our tyres. We used them too much this morning, so we need to play with that now and finish the loop."
SS9
"It felt like a pretty good stage to be honest. Everything was working quite okay so it was a bit better than the first one. We're trying."
"All good. Like I say, I am happy with focussing on myself and let's see how the gap is evolving."
"Very early on, I lost the rear. I did some set-up changes before the stage and with the tyres not 100 per cent warm I started to slide. I was so close to making the corner but I didn't. I lost the time re-starting the car basically."
"I have a feeling like I have a lot of understeer. I can't push like I want to - it's all the time floating and I don't get the feeling with the front. It's difficult, but we will try to keep pushing and try to do better."
"This one was absolutely terrible. My worst stage all weekend. I did a really bad job and I lost a lot of grip now. I think I stiffened [the car] up too much - the car is floating, and the tyres are overheating."
"All good, but I am losing grip quite a lot in this stage and I know the reason. It's going in the right direction."
"No brakes from pretty much 3km into the stage. It's hard to manage but we'll see what we can do now."
"It was nice with really good grip. It's quite slow, but the plan is like this."
"It was really nice. There were plenty of spectators and compared to last year it was really nice. Good fun!"
Accident - continued with damaged front of car
SS8
Lost wheel
"It wasn't the best stage. I struggled for grip and seemed to be sliding a lot more than expected. We can chat about it now, but maybe I just need to be a bit more patient."
"It was a new stage, so I was also not really on it. I enjoyed driving the car, but I don't want to go too full risk. Not a perfect stage, but a clean one."
"I tried. I hope we can catch back some time - we are only 20sec behind. A similar feeling to yesterday to be honest, but hopefully with set-up changes the performance is going to be better."
"It's a nice stage. It’s a new stage, and it was very fast at the beginning but a little slippery at the end. It's quite okay."
"Definitely satisfying. Not a perfect run - the car was a bit too soft, but it's okay. It was a fun stage, but it's not easy to trust the notes 100 per cent. The guys behind me will be much faster, definitely."
"I don't know why, I didn't feel so well about grip. I was careful but it could be better, so let's see."
"It's beautiful. We have a small problem with the brakes, but everything's good. It's nothing we can't fix."
"It was a bit cleaner, so it was a bit easier."
"The first part is really nice. The conditions are good, so I can enjoy the driving. The pace is not so high, but it's still enjoyable in the car."
"It was a really nice stage. Really flowing and really nice to drive. I didn't take the pace at the beginning, but towards the end it was a little bit better."
SS7
"It's been a nice day for me. We had a very consistent first day, but there is still a long rally. Tomorrow we have almost 80km of mountain stages and there is a lot of time to gain or lose. On the circuit, we are fine with the pace and I am quite happy about it."
"It’s been a little bit up and down. I pushed the braking a bit too much in this one. It's been a good day - just a shame about the puncture, but that's how it is."
"It's been a very strong day. This stage was not good - I braked too early in the chicanes and I couldn't get temperature in the hard tyres. Otherwise, it's okay. I have been trying hard and it's been quite close. I am happy, anyway."
"It's been a tricky day for us, but the car is working well. I need to get better confidence in many places where we are losing a bit of time."
"It was good. I don't think there's much more I can do than that. An enjoyable day, and the same again tomorrow. It's been good fun."
"We made a small change in the direction of my car [to how it was] in Catalunya. Already when I finished the stage, I told my co-driver it's much better. It's a small change, but it's a big change."
"End of the day, it's good to have a good stage time. In the dark it's not so easy, but it's okay. I will try to improve tomorrow morning on the mountain stages. I had a not so good feeling this morning, but okay, everything is going well."
"It's really important, but it's not the easiest job to do. We are here, and tomorrow is a new day. Let's try to enjoy a bit of driving and try to improve."
"Satisfied with our performance in the car, but we struggled to find more speed. We don't know why, because the feeling is good. That's very strange, and it makes it really difficult to improve for tomorrow."
"This stage is not easy. Especially coming straight into these chicanes with quite cold tyres, it's not really nice in the dark. It's been a good day around the track, but of course we have some work to do for the mountain stages tomorrow."
"It's been a good start to the rally. I think we had a good drive in the mountains. This afternoon I had some little issues and I didn't take any risks in there with the chicanes, but it's all good."
SS6
hit a concrete block
"I have no idea. I didn't hit anything. It was just after the gravel part, we came onto the Tarmac and suddenly we had vibration. It must have happened on the gravel."
"I did a very silly mistake and I had to put it in reverse. After that, we improved our pace because our time is better compared to the first loop."
"It felt similar. A bit slippery to begin with, but it was certainly feeling more precise towards the end. It didn't feel as good as the first one but it's okay."
"I don't know what tyres the others have, but with these tyres I can't do more. Thierry has another choice, but I did well, so I'm happy."
"No issues, but at the end of the stage I had no grip for some reason. It's okay."
changed a puncture
"It's quite okay. Many of the places are a bit cleaner, so that's nice. Of course the gravel sections are a bit rutted, but overall it's quite enjoyable."
"It was a good stage, but I got caught a little biut in the grass in the exit of a tight hairpin and I was spinning the wheels. Obviously the speed isn't there as it should, so we are trying different things on the car to see if we can do something."
"It felt quite okay. It's always difficult to know if you're pushing too much or not enough. It felt fine, but it's so difficult to know."
"We had an issue on the first pass - a brake issue. The car stayed on the brakes for the whole stage. This one was okay and it was more consistent for me."
SS5
"Not perfect. I was very careful on many brakings. I missed one corner with a half spin - I flicked it up too much on the gravel and lost time."
"Okay. I was just struggling under braking and losing time there I believe."
"It seems okay. There's a bit of movement, but I felt like I had a good run in there. I did the best I could."
"It was a little bit better feeling. Some places are a bit slippery, but it's better than this morning. We have a lot of stages in the circuit, so we need to try and keep a good rhythm here."
"I am very frustrated about the stall. One stall is still okay - there's a long way to go. I will try to finish without stalling on the next run."
"There are a lot of leaves on the Tarmac, so I would say the trickiest places are the dirty Tarmac. The gravel and the circuit is okay because I know what's coming."
"I have a problem with my gearbox, so I was constantly losing some time. I kept calm and we went to the finish, so luckily we have service now."
stalled
"It's very difficult to know how to apply yourself. Do you brake late or early? It's such a lottery in a way. The conditions seem to be okay but it's very difficult to know."
"Extremely slippery for me. I expected that starting first it would not be so good. An okay stage, but very slippery in places."
SS4
"It's better conditions and the fog is much less, but still there is some. I was not sure in some sections, but we are going to the track now and we will see what we can do."
"It's getting drier in some places, but there are still quite a lot of fog up in the hills. On the last downhill I started to lose the bite from the brakes, so I was a bit more careful again."
"I gave it everything. Everything feels good, so I don't know where we lose the time. When it's getting slippery, we are losing time. We need to work it out, but if I could gain one second in this time here, there would be a lot of risks."
"Mostly okay. Difficult at the start with cold tyres, but that will be the same for everyone. It's not bad, but it's obviously not quite where we wanted to be."
"It was not really a moment, but something you don't expect on asphalt! I am happy because this was the target at the start of this rally - to enjoy - and so far it's working."
SS3
"It's getting a little bit better now."
"Better than this morning. We're getting used to each other quickly and Jonas was spot on in there all the way through."
Rolled
"My car is going very bad. A lot of understeer and I don't have a lot of precision. You can't push."
"It's getting better and I am trying to find the confidence. This morning was quite difficult and maybe I backed off too much."
"The second pass is a bit more comfortable when I know what’s coming. I tried to keep pace on the clean Tarmac, but on the tricky places I have to be a bit more cautious."
"I gave it all in this stage. I can't do anything more. I was really on the edge and I am trying. I have nothing to lose - we are going to push, but it seems like we are missing grip because in the last part of the stage again we lost some time."
"It felt quite okay, but obviously Seb was very quick in there this morning also. He's obviously got something in there, but it didn't feel so bad."
"It is a bit easier than this morning. Still some greasy sections, but another clean stage."
SS2
"I thought I was going to lose a minute or something because of the fog. I took it very steady on the damp places and I was too careful, but I know where the time is missing from the other guys."
"It's a good experience for us, but the tyres started to move a lot. We will try to do something with our spare wheel."
"I completely lost my rhythm in the middle of the stage. I felt like I dropped a lot of time in there."
"Really bad. It was really difficult in the middle of the stage and I drove very badly in the fog."
"It's quite horrible in the car to be honest. When you can not push to the limit, it's really hard. We just have to drive through for the team points and be there if something happens."
"It felt quite okay at the end. There was a bit of fog going up the hill so it was quite tricky, but it's all okay."
"I don't know. I am pushing quite hard, but on the downhill I was struggling with the brakes. Maybe it's the second spare wheel, I don't know. The car was working fine on the test and we thought it was good."
"I am not too bad. It was tricky on the top with the fog, so I was a bit careful in there, but otherwise it was a clean stage."
SS1
"It's okay. I took it very easy, it's surprisingly slippery. I have to work a bit on the car to get it a bit more safe on the slippery bits, but it's okay."
"I was just too careful on the slippery places..."
"I have quite a lot of movement in the dry. I had a clean drive, but the gap is quite big. It probably wasn't the best tyre choice, but at least it's a safe tyre choice."
"It was really good. I love that stage, but a lot of leaves have been pulled on and it's really slippery in places. I felt like I drove well in there."
"Slippery... some places are very tricky. It's really quite complicated and it looks like Toyota was really fast."
"It was very slippery in some places, but some places have quite good grip. I was very careful, but it's okay."
"Our only plan this weekend is to finish the rally. There is nothing for me to push for. "
"I had a good stage, but the leaves are coming on the road and maybe that's why it's getting more slippery. I had a good feeling."
"Quite okay. I didn't think it was too bad to be honest, but I'm surprised to lose so much."
"There is fog near the end and a bit of dampness, so it's a bit slippery at the end. An okay stage for us - no drama."