Loeb Takes Monte Win Number Four

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb took his fourth Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo victory. And, in the wake of Marcus Grönholm's retirement, Ford held its head high as Mikko Hirvonen stood on the second step of the podium. It was even worth Subaru's while coming along - a fine third place overall for Chris Atkinson.

Leg 1

In 2007, the rally moved north to the Ardeche region in search of snow, but the event was dry. So it was that the crews set off from Valence for the 2008 Monte with patched of ice but no snow. And, with a change from to Pirelli control tyres for all crews, the already hard job of choosing covers was much harder than normal.

The first two stages took place on the Thursday evening, right after the ceremonial start. Running in the cold, dark evening, . Dani Sordo took the first stage, but Sebastien Loeb shot past in the second to lead overnight. Early in the morning, the crews set out for the first full day of competition in 2008.

The day belonged to one man - Sebastien Loeb. He set fastest times on all but one of the day's six stages, ending the leg almost a minute clear of team-mate Sordo. Ford could only sit and watch, with their lead man - Hirvonen - 1m 22.8s off the pace, but nonetheless in third place.

Leg 2

Leg 2 consisted of six stages. Sordo was fastest on the opening, foggy, stage, but Loeb continued to dominate the rally, winning four. Behind the two C4s, however, there were a few rumblings. Frankie Duval was bubbling up in the top times, taking runner-up slot on the 21.7km Lamstre stage - where Dani Sordo retired for the day with a blown turbo. And Chris Atkinson took his Impreza to a stage win two stages further on. That was the same St Bonnet stage that Chris had won last year.

Sordo's problems let the chasers move up, with Chris Atkinson closing to third place behind Loeb and Hirvonen. Duval was happy with fourth, 49 seconds clear of Petter Solberg. And Gigi Galli was securely in the points in 6th place overall, albeit a distant 7m 40s off the pace of the leader.

Leg 3

The final day took the teams down south to the Cols north of Monaco. That meant snow. Not all the way - only near the tops of the mountain. So there is a need to balance the need for studs to get through the snow and ice with the need for no studs to maximise grip in the lower reaches. In days gone by, where there were fewer restrictions on servicing, teams like Lancia would stop their cars partway through the stage to change from slicks to studs, then stop again on the way down the mountain to change back to slicks. the time taken to change tyres was more than made up by the time gained by having the right tyre throughout the stage.

It was Duval who took the first stage, with a mended Dani Sordo second. The places switched on the first run through Luceram, and a great stage for Jari-Matti Latvala who was third fastest. With no service on this final day, it was back to Turini, and another stage win for Duval. Atkinson was delighted with second on stage, and headed to the final 'real' stage of the event. Frankie made it three wins from four stages, and Latvala made it a Ford 1-2.

That left just the final stage - a superspecial round part of the Grand Prix circuit in Monaco itself. The only real casualty was Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach who whacked his Xsara WRC into a barrier. With Loeb's win secure and Hirvonen under no pressure, all eyes turned to the battle between Duval and Atkinson. If Frankie could keep his stage-winning ways, he could overhaul the Australian to take the third step on the podium. That would do the Belgian no harm at all as he seeks to return to the WRC circuit full-time. Alas, Atkinson swet the fastest time and retained third place - his first podium on an asphalt WRC event.

So the first event of the 2008 came to a close. A predictable win for Citroen and Sebastien Loeb. With the absence of Marcus Grönholm, it will take time for the rallymaster to be threatened once more. But that problem on Sordo's C4 showed that the cars are not as bullet-proof as they appear. And there was no lack of interest behind the leader, with Atkinson running well, Latvala making good progress on his debut as a factory driver, and a great performance by Duval on what will probably be a one-off drive. What would the rest of the season hold? We can't wait to find out!

Now select a "Leg" button for a full report ...

If you like our service, please tell a friend and spread the word!

Copyright © 2001 - 2010 MMC Interactive