[WRC]: Sebastian Ogier wins again. Review of the Rally Monte Carlo 2019.
Hello my dear friends! So, yesterday the first stage of the World Rally Championship came to an end. The opening of the new season, as usual, took place in Monte Carlo from the most prestigious stage of the rally.
In the new season, the current champion Sebastian Ogier moved behind the wheel of the Citroen C3 and was again the leader. One gets the impression that the Frenchman no matter what car to speak, he will always be the first. Well, okay, this is just the beginning.
On Friday, all day long, drivers used contrasting tires in mixed conditions of snow, ice and asphalt, which ensured good passing of narrow spin. However, not everything was so smooth, Ogier and Neuville fought for leadership in the early stages, until the Belgian rider turned over and lost 20 seconds. But having won the final test, the pilot of the Hyundai teams approached the Frenchman. Andreas Mikkelsen closed the top three, although he was far behind his partner, holding back the driver of the Toyota Jari-Matti Latvala within 8 seconds. Sebastien Loeb, who after joining after Dakar 2019, joined the WRC and locked in the top five. Estonian racer Ott Tanak damaged the wheel rim and lost 2 minutes 20 seconds and temporarily dropped out of the fight for a place in the top five.
On Saturday, two of the best WRC drivers at the moment, Seb Ogier and Thierry Neuville, were desperate for leadership before the final day of the rally. Ogier, rushing for his sixth victory in a row in the Alps, was 4 seconds ahead of the Belgian. During the night, the Frenchman increased this advantage by almost 2 seconds, but then the Belgian reduced the gap in several tests. As a result, before the Sunday arrivals, the pilots were divided less than 2 seconds. Tense struggle was also in third place. Jari-Mati Latvala and Sebastien Loeb were almost two minutes behind the leaders, but they were fighting for a place on the podium. Swapping at least three times Sebastian Loeb, who made his debut in the team, Hyundai eventually outperformed his opponent by 2.3 seconds. Andreas Mikkelsen has traditionally missed a place in the top 5 after the first day, the Norwegian got off the track after hitting the wall. The fifth place at the end of Saturday was Ott Tanak, who recovered from damage to the wheel on Friday. Thanks to the successful selection of tires, the Estonian won back from the leaders.
On Sunday, experiencing problems with the machine, Sebastian Ogier won a tense struggle against his rival and won his sixth consecutive victory in his homeland. For the Frenchman, this victory was the seventh with four different manufacturers. In addition, Citroen celebrated its 100th victory in the championships. Despite the difficult conditions of the route for all four days the racer did not separate more than a few seconds. The third place was won by Estonian Ott Tanak, who, after damage to the wheel, won four Saturday stages, and later bypassed Sebastien Loeb and his partner Jari-Mati Latvala. Which took 4 and 5 places respectively. Sixth place went to Kris Meeke debuted in the Toyota team. The seventh place went to the winner of the WRC2 Pro Gus Greensmith.
Sweden rally will be held February 14-17.
Photos taken from the official WRC www.wrc.com
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