[IRC] 2009 Rallye Monte Carlo - official thread

[Madeira]

is it possible to watch this on the internet??????????

Yes I think ,but for only special guys!

[miksu]

Wittmann using the banks(leaning)... maybe not on purpose though :D

[miksu]

Garde continues where he left last stage... going well

[miksu]

Basso slow....

[miksu]

Meeke 0,1 in front of garde, but meeke has some damage in front, dunno if puncture or not

[Sulland]

Conditions will suit the Nordic drivers the most, since we are born in a pile of snow, with skies already on ! :D

[Tom206wrc]

SS5 running ;)

[J4MIE]

Morning everybody, great start for Meeke this morning but as Sarrazin has shown there are a lot of dangers out there.....

Definitely no live stage on the internet like yesterday? :( Will this be for SS8 also? :(

[miksu]

Conditions will suit the Nordic drivers the most, since we are born in a pile of snow, with skies already on ! :D

Yeah, it looks like Norway with less snow :) only few wet places, mostly just ice

[Flipn]

Morning everybody, great start for Meeke this morning but as Sarrazin has shown there are a lot of dangers out there.....

Definitely no live stage on the internet like yesterday? :( Will this be for SS8 also? :(

I hope and I think this afternoon it will work, because then it will be on Eurosport and not Eurosport 2.. anyway, i HOPE it

[Roy]

Morning everybody, great start for Meeke this morning but as Sarrazin has shown there are a lot of dangers out there.....

Definitely no live stage on the internet like yesterday? :( Will this be for SS8 also? :(

I think SS8 is on internet. That is on Eurosport not on Eurosport 2 Like SS5

http://www.ircseries.com/html/Tv_times.asp

[Salist]

Kopeczky finished SS5.

[miksu]

Hänninen has his own speed compared to others...

Garde went off for 20 secs, laughing it out

[Rally Hokkaido]

chance for kopecky to pick up two more places -

edit - he has just passed Wittmann

[J4MIE]

Ok thanks I hope so too ;)

[Honza H.]

Morning everybody, great start for Meeke this morning but as Sarrazin has shown there are a lot of dangers out there.....

Definitely no live stage on the internet like yesterday? :( Will this be for SS8 also? :(

SS8 should be on Eurosport 1, so I hope it could be on the internet like yesterday.....Eurosport´s info about what and when is very very poor :(

[Roy]

Interesting to see how Gardemeister compare to these drivers with (almost) the same car. He is not miles faster and it looks like (a little bit) he is under pressure. He want to prove some thing as 'big boy'. (because he drives WRCcars)

[Tom206wrc]

Meeke has his time before Garde and Basso !!! Not normal :confused:

[Honza H.]

What is the weather like on morning sessions? In case of snow Kopecky is clearing the road - could be the reason why his times are not as good as I expected.....

[Rally Hokkaido]

To those who can see the course, do you think there is any advantage for drivers lower down the running order?

[Roy]

Meeke has his time before Garde and Basso !!! Not normal :confused:

They 2 drivers lost a lot of time.

[raybak]

The time of Basso seems awfully quick compared to the others

[Eyvind]

Ogier fastest !

[Filip]

Interesting to see how Gardemeister compare to these drivers with (almost) the same car. He is not miles faster and it looks like (a little bit) he is under pressure. He want to prove some thing as 'big boy'. (because he drives WRCcars)
He is the fastest man in Fiat so far and it's his first race in an s2000 so I think he is doing a good job.

[raybak]

Basso's quick time didn't last long :)

[Daniel]

Ogier fastest !

He had a moment and also broke the gearstick halfway through the stage.

[Eyvind]

Vouilloz lost another 45 " :dozey:

[miksu]

Hänninen is fast.... thats like loeb dominance already :S

Juho: "we must understand that the car is very good..."

[claar]

Vouilloz lost another 45 " :dozey:

He has a problem with brakes, one of the wheels does not brake.

[teufel]

Alen finds his speed :)

[Mitch555]

Interesting to see how Gardemeister compare to these drivers with (almost) the same car. He is not miles faster and it looks like (a little bit) he is under pressure. He want to prove some thing as 'big boy'. (because he drives WRCcars)

How much testing did he do before Monte? I think with some more testing behind him he might be quite a force. Also I don't think I would be confident with the car he is driving when most of the FIATs have had some problems. We'll see at the end of the rally

Basso slow again, its worrying as he is the number 1 seeded FIAT driver and he lost a minute on both SS4 & 5 this morning. Maybe mechanical problems? Though if there is no problems I see a problem emerging for FIAT as they don't have a "star" driver currently in their factory line up. Without Rossetti there they look pretty vunerable against the likes of Skoda and the privateer Pugs

[Mitch555]

Alen finds his speed :)

Hopefully he's got his car sorted out and is ready to attack :)

[modri dirkac]

He is the fastest man in Fiat so far and it's his first race in an s2000 so I think he is doing a good job.

I agree! ;)

[hari]

Really really impressive Live Coverage from stage 5 with the onboard cameras now on the bonnet of the cars.

[Sulland]

Do we know anything on what tyres they are on, how they are cut and so on ?

We also have drivers on Pirelli and Dunlop, but most of the top teams are on BFG ?

Will be interesting to see if the non BFG teams can make them beat the majority !!! ;)

[miksu]

Basso slow again, its worrying as he is the number 1 seeded FIAT driver and he lost a minute on both SS4 & 5 this morning. Maybe mechanical problems? Though if there is no problems I see a problem emerging for FIAT as they don't have a "star" driver currently in their factory line up. Without Rossetti there they look pretty vunerable against the likes of Skoda and the privateer Pugs

Basso just said he didnt feel comfortable in the car....dissapointing really.

[Tom206wrc]

Andrej Jereb ??? Retirement ??? :confused:

[Madeira]

Impressive performance for Luca Betti!!

[urabus-denoS2000]

I agree with hari,SS5 was great

Mitch555:
I think that ABarth dont have to worry with Basso,he is a great (world-class) driver and I rate him higher than Vouilloz and Loix ;)

He finds these conditions very strange+mechanical problems

[Tom206wrc]

Tobia Cavallini quite disappointing too :(

[[Madeira-Rally]]

Start of the season for Basso is always a disaster...
It has been like this across the years... so it's normal.. :D

[J4MIE]

Good to hear they are changing camera positions :up: Was the sound any better? ;)

Looks like lots of people are having problems today already, I don't think anyone can catch Hanninen unless he has a problem.

[Filip]

Who is Ludovic Cluzel? He has 10th fastest time in his C2 R2. Probably conditions are much better for the drivers who started later. :confused:

[Madeira]

Basso is a great driver I have no doubt about that, but as always he starts very bad every season!

[Mitch555]

Maurin (FIAT) 6th fastest on stage, Romeyer (MITSU) 8th, Frau (MITSU) 9th and Ludovic Clusel in a Citroen CR-R2 is 10th on stage, beating Kopecky, Gardemeister, Vouilloz, Basso and a stack of other 4wds. That takes balls!

[modri dirkac]

Andrej Jereb ??? Retirement ??? :confused:

Noo ... ;(

[Rally Hokkaido]

Who is Ludovic Cluzel? He has 10th fastest time in his C2 R2. Probably conditions are much better for the drivers who started later. :confused:

Yes, these quick times from the front-wheel drive cars have answered my earlier question about improving road conditions, I think.

[eppel]

I can´t find the live coverage on the internet??!!

[Mitch555]

Googled Cluzel. Drove in Monte last year in a Mitsu Lancer Evo IX. Finished 17th overall, 4th non WRCar, 2nd N4. Consistenly in the top 25 stage times, ventured into setting top 20 stage times on Day 3 of 4 last year.

Other than, I don't know a thing about him. Anyone from France keen to talk about him?

[J4MIE]

5 mins until SS6 starts, then they go to service :bounce:

[Sulland]

CAVALLINI Tobia
ZANELLA Flavio
Peugeot 207 S2000


Is this a Gentleman driver, or who is this guy ?

[Sulland]

Kopecky first in on SS5

[[Madeira-Rally]]

CAVALLINI Tobia
ZANELLA Flavio
Peugeot 207 S2000


Is this a Gentleman driver, or who is this guy ?

Well... last year in Italy he did some occasional good results, but he isn't a top driver from Italy, and he have no experience in International events.

[Sulland]

]Well... last year in Italy he did some occasional good results, but he isn't a top driver from Italy, and he have no experience in International events.

Or snow I guess !!! :p

Must be hard.

[[Madeira-Rally]]

Meeke lost a lot of time on this stage... maybe something wrong happened :(

[Sulland]

Meeke 1.12 min behind,, what has happend ?

Really missing the Rally Radio !!!!!!

Eurosport need to get into radio !!!!!!!!

[Roy]

Meeke 1.12 min behind,, what has happend ?

Really missing the Rally Radio !!!!!!

Eurosport need to get into radio !!!!!!!!

Or at least finish and interview live

[J4MIE]

Just had a text from AudiMadGeoff who was on SS4 and looking down into a valley where Sarrazin went off, he says it was an extremely icy bit there and he nearly went off there last night!

[Sulland]

Yes they can stream that, no problem !

[Sulland]

Kopecky`s time is really good.

23 sec better than next man. Is Hanninen starting to secure his position a bit ?

[Tom206wrc]

Great time by Kopecky :eek:

That Skoda seems the best S2000 so far :cool:

[hari]

Kopecky had the right tyre choice for SS6 now as he was struggling a bit with his tires on SS4 and 5. SS6 was much drier than the previous ones, which was nearly full covered of snow.

great performance of the skodas!

[J4MIE]

Meeke :(

I suppose though that if he doesn't have any experience of driving on snow then he will have gone for the safe option rather than risking going off. Guess they will have more idea about tyre choice for the next loop, and gravel crews should have the up to date info to help them with this :up:

All adds to the fun, it's never predictable and the leaders can have same problems as well :)

[noel157]

Meeke punctured on SS6.

[Tom206wrc]

Everyone has punctures on this rally !!!! Who's next to have one ??? :rolleyes:


Hänninen ???? :p :

[Sarac330d]

Noo ... ;(
Info from one of Andrej Jereb`s mechanics: problem with gearbox, they had same problem yesterday during day!

[c4]

Day 1 Eurosport highlights
http://www.rallybuzz.com/monte-carlo-results-after-ss6/

[Tom206wrc]

Basso got 20s penalty :confused:

[GigiGalliNo1]

Do they have moose in the Tyres?

[modri dirkac]

Do they have moose in the Tyres?

No.

[Mauri A]

Do they have moose in the Tyres?
No, they have elk!

[soprano]

Info from one of Andrej Jereb`s mechanics: problem with gearbox, they had same problem yesterday during day!

Latest info from team - engine failure for Jereb.

[modri dirkac]

Info from one of Andrej Jereb`s mechanics: problem with gearbox, they had same problem yesterday during day!

Now is official: broken engine. :eek:

Ehh, Soprano, you are too fast for me.

[J4MIE]

Shame for Jereb, I like the look of his car :)

I think maybe there are lots of places on these stages that have big cuts which might be why there are a lot of punctures. I remember pics from last year where it looked like a gravel event!

[Tom206wrc]

30 minutes before SS7 to go :bounce:

[J4MIE]

SS7: 15:11, SS8: 15:51. Coverage sstarts at 15:45, right? :)

[Daniel]

SS7: 15:11, SS8: 15:51. Coverage sstarts at 15:45, right? :)

2:45 our time J4mie :)

[J4MIE]

Sorry forgot to say CET ;) Was wondering how long it'd take you to notice that :p :

[Daniel]

Sorry forgot to say CET ;) Was wondering how long it'd take you to notice that :p :

I'm onto you and your deceptive ways J4mie :angryfire :p

Sadly/happily I have a job interview at 4 so I won't be able to watch the coverage :(

[J4MIE]

But thanks to eurosport you can watch when you get back home :up: Good luck with it ;)

[Sulland]

Now they are starting the 2nd round of the same ss as this morning. Has the conditions changed, or is it still white ?

[Simmi]

Yeah good luck for sure Daniel.

Hopefully Meeke can make up a bit of lost time on this next stage. If Kris can't take the win I'm really pulling for Hanninen. What an amazing advert for S2000 it would be if Skoda could win out of the box. Hopefully manufacturers will be taking note. If Skoda can do it then why cant any number of others.

[Daniel]

But thanks to eurosport you can watch when you get back home :up: Good luck with it ;)

Yes and my lovely Sky+ box :love:

Cheers :) If I get it then I can get a car which is reliable to drive up to Scotland and not have its exhaust fall off :p

[[Madeira-Rally]]

Now they are starting the 2nd round of the same ss as this morning. Has the conditions changed, or is it still white ?

Snow as gone away...
Ice conditions for SS7 and 8

[Honza H.]

Kopecky more than 2 mins faster than in the morning section.....

[[Madeira-Rally]]

... and Gard faster than Kopecky ;)

[teufel]

Meeke too!

[J4MIE]

Garde faster than Meeke even, he's doing much much better today :up:

[J4MIE]

Dammit I just realised I have forgotten my pickems :( :( :(

[teufel]

Basso still sleeping...

[J4MIE]

Can someone post link to SS8 coverage please? :)

[[Madeira-Rally]]

Basso very slow once again...
In the next stage he could loose 8th place to Kopecky... incredible start of the season for Basso... :s

[[Madeira-Rally]]

Can someone post link to SS8 coverage please? :)
http://www.ircseries.com/html/Video.asp

[Honza H.]

I guess conditions should be more even for the early starters, compared to morning section (no clearing of the road this time)

[miksu]

Can someone post link to SS8 coverage please? :)

http://videos.eurosport.com/irc/irc-monte-carlo-day-2-(2_vid94565/irc-player.shtml

[J4MIE]

Cheers, brilliant service on rally forum as always :p : :up:

[tolis]

Sarrazin -11.2 to Ogier...

[ZequeArgentina]

Not that it is a surprise, but we have a new confirmation of Ogier potential (or reality...) another new car, with little tests and he is right there on he top.

And same to say about Sarrazin, at least in tarmac. he has already shown with the Subaru in WRC.
Pitty he is not full tiem rally driver.

[J4MIE]

Good drive by Sarrazin :up: Shame he went off earlier otherwise he would be fighting for the lead.... but that is rallying for you ;)

[Simmi]

Has Vouilloz come through SS7? Cant see him on the times thus far...

[bt52b]

Anyone got the live feed?

[ttiirika]

Not that it is a surprise, but we have a new confirmation of Ogier potential (or reality...) another new car, with little tests and he is right there on he top.

And same to say about Sarrazin, at least in tarmac. he has already shown with the Subaru in WRC.
Pitty he is not full tiem rally driver.

What about Hänninen?? New car, new team, first time in Monte Carlo. But it's still long way to go.

[J4MIE]

Live not working for me yet, hopefully just a slight delay. Anyone watching it on tv can give us an update to see if it has started?

[bt52b]

thx for the linkx

[Daniel]

Tis on sky. Looks a lot less snowier :)

[Tom206wrc]

Argh Vouilloz :(


What happened ??? :confused:

[Fri]

Muarin is the fastest!?

[miksu]

Meeke has cut wet tyres, Garde has winter tyres without studs. Garde leads about 5 sec in first split

[Simmi]

Pretty much zero snow on the stage now so anyone with studs on this afternoon is going to suffer on this stage. The stages are just very wet so the guys with wets will win this test.

[ZequeArgentina]

Yeah, for sure Haninen also, but we are all here talking about Juho and koda, I just wanted to point out toher impressive drives.

Haninen is he one I consider to have best potential of all Finns other than Latvala.
After seeing him live in Argentina 2007, out in the fog in a very tricky stage, doing a spin in front of me, and maintaining best speed in PWRC (while Arai and Villagra were fghting at the dsecond for the lead in last 2 stages), was impressive.
His second pass was even better (winning the stage).
He is dam good.

[03dublinwrx]

Eurosport interview with Meeke, SS3:

http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/6619/kris-meeke-interview-ss3-irc-monte-carlo


Well holy god :) , I never thought I would see the day. Can I take it we have a truce? ;)

[Simmi]

So broken steering for Nico unfortunately. Out of rally apparently.

[[Madeira-Rally]]

It looks like Vouilloz had an off and a broken steering

[Simmi]

Very interesting tyre situation. The road is very wet but the snow tyres seem to still be quicker very slightly then the wets. Clearly not enough cuts on the wets.

[teufel]

Jan will take this one too! :up:

[teufel]

1-2 for skoda :D

[swordsman]

Juho Hänninen after the stage, asked if he had some margin left: "Small margin maybe but I wouldn't like to use it on this rally"

This guy is awesome.

[claar]

This is an incredible situation 1+2 for Skoda :D :D :D

I hope they can continue with this great performance. Nobody even from the team expected to be sooo fast on the first rally with this new car.

[Simmi]

I love the variety in the stage times with the tyre lottery. Interestingly if you look at the first 8 stages, 8 different drivers have been runner up on the stages - which just shows the variety on the time sheets. It must have been years ago since the last time that happened in the WRC.

[noel157]

Well holy god :) , I never thought I would see the day. Can I take it we have a truce? ;)

Sure have.

[J4MIE]

If they can keep it up for the rest of the event I think lots of people will be wondering what the other manufacturers are up to. Hope Jan keeps puishing up, and Hanninen can afford to back off very very slightly ;)

[J4MIE]

I had just started watching the coverage and was in the middle of posting how great I thought it was, big improvement over yesterday even, but my pc reset itself :crazy:

So, what I saw of the coverage there I thought it was excellent, cameras on the bonnet much better than yesterday with great sense of speed, more in-stage cameras, it's almost like they are listening to us :D Quality is brilliant too, lots of detail. If I can get some sound sorted here it will be perfect but that's not down to them :)

Keep it up Eurosport, you will have at least one new subscriber soon :up:

[Mauri A]

Yeah, for sure Haninen
Hello Zeque,
I see your keyboard is still missing the double n key!

[Simmi]

Much better on-board stuff even though they went a bit funny amongst the trees. It is essential to have good onboards for this type of live stage so it is good to see they improved on Day 1.

I wonder how they will attempt the Turini stages tomorrow from a tv coverage point of view. I doubt there will be very much to see unless the helicopter has a police-style search light!

[03dublinwrx]

Sure have.

Cool :)

SS8 Kris Meeke small bit of footage and interview
http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/6624/kris-meeke-live-and-interview-ss8-irc-monte-carlo

Full coverage and On Board footage later..

[GigiGalliNo1]

Top 10 so far anyone?

[GigiGalliNo1]

Got it.


1 Hanninen 2h18m45.5s
2 Ogier +1m32.3s
3 Loix +1m39.5s
4 Meeke +2m23.8s
5 Gardemeister +2m46.9s
6 Sarrazin +5m24.6s
7 Kopecky +5m31.8s
8 Basso +5m34.3s
9 Alen +7m17.0s
10 Wittmann +8m37.4s

Loix 3rd?! :o

[Tom206wrc]

SS9 running ;)

[playmo]

Wooot???!!!
I've been missing alot of action!

Somebody should tell Malcom Wilson that "if you want to win, you have to go finn, but not just any kind of finn!" This Hanninen is really a good driver, i tought that his russian win last year was kind of luck but again i'm proven wrong (this time i like it), BUT i wonder how much this goes on how well set-up has Kopecky left the car....

[ZequeArgentina]

Hello Zeque,
I see your keyboard is still missing the double n key!

You are right, I keep doing same mistakes.
Well Mauri you were right there with us in Argnina when HaNNinen did that impressive drive!

[J4MIE]

Don't worry Zeque everyone will have known who you meant, we are not too strict in this forum especially as so many people don't have English as their first language :) (most people write better English than a lot of English people :p : )

[J4MIE]

Wittmann lost a lot of time in the stage, about 3 minutes :s But another good time from Ogier :up:

[pettersolberg29]

How I wish Sarrazin hadn't gone off!

Another great time - he'd be 1st or certainly challenging if he hadn't gone off. Anyone know if he has any plans for any other IRC events this year?

[J4MIE]

...but Sarrazin even better! He's been flying since his off :up:

[Mauri A]

Don't worry Zeque everyone will have known who you meant, we are not too strict in this forum especially as so many people don't have English as their first language :) (most people write better English than a lot of English people :p : )
Don´t worry J4MIE, this was a kind of inside joke!

[pettersolberg29]

Hanninen!

[J4MIE]

Big problems for Hanninen :( :( :( :( :(

[RS]

Hanninen!

! He lost a lot of time.

Hope he can make it back into P1 tomorrow!

[Salist]

Big problems for Hanninen :( :( :( :( :(

What happend for Hanninen on SS9?

[Simmi]

That's a damn shame

[rbatista82]

Huge drama for Hanninen and Skoda :(

[Filip]

Nothing unusual for Monte, that's good for the rally, I'm sure it will be very interesting tommorow.

[Tom206wrc]

LOOK AT WHO IS NEW RALLY LEADER !!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:


:bounce:

[Raini]

Huge drama for Hanninen and Skoda :(

It depends on the car, is it ok or not, Hanninen is third overall losing 54 secs, let's wait...

[RS]

Hanninen was puncture, really bad luck :(

[dimviii]

Ogier 32 seconds in front og Loix.
stable driving paid him.

[Honza H.]

Bad for Hanninen and Skoda....good for tomorrow´s competing!
I hope tomorrow we´ll be shown what Hanninen and Skoda are yet capable of....won´t be easy to fight supertalents like Ogier and Meeke.....

[Tom206wrc]

Of course tomorrow will be again a very difficult day(perhaps harder than today)so everything can change :rolleyes:


But I'm for now mega happy with Peugeot 1-2 :D

[Raini]

Bad for Hanninen and Skoda....good for tomorrow´s competing!
I hope tomorrow we´ll be shown what Hanninen and Skoda are yet capable of....won´t be easy to fight supertalents like Ogier and Meeke.....

Ogier is definetly supertalent for my opinion, man from nowhere comes and taking rally leads in both championships - first WRC, and now IRC, even in his first start.

[dimviii]

Ogier,Meeke,Hanninen,Loix all in 59 seconds :eek:
extreme little difference for this Monte.
tommorow is going to be THE battle :D

irc teach wrc how it must to be :s mokin:

[Raini]

Ogier,Meeke,Hanninen,Loix all in 59 seconds :eek:
extreme little difference for this Monte.
tommorow is going to be THE battle :D

irc teach wrc how it must to be :s mokin:

Yes, it is interesting, 3 man has tasted rally lead, and nothing sure yet... :D

[rbatista82]

It depends on the car, is it ok or not, Hanninen is third overall losing 54 secs, let's wait...

Hanninen and Skoda deserved better luck. They were to be the great figures of the Monte Carlo and this hole was a blow, although the rally has not finished...
Let's see know how Ogier will defend is lead. The conditions are so tricky that everything could happen, and tomorrow night the Col du Turini will decide.

[noel157]

Are the BFG drivers (Ogier in this case) registered for points?

[Simmi]

So we are going to have an all out battle in the dark over the Col du Turini. Sounds good to me but I feel someone in the top four wont make the finish!

[GigiGalliNo1]

:(

Overall results after SS9:

1 Ogier 2h35m09.8s
2 Loix +32.4s
3 Hanninen +54.8s
4 Meeke +59.2s
5 Gardemeister +1m40.7s
6 Sarrazin +3m42.6s
7 Kopecky +4m10.6s
8 Basso +4m17.8s
9 Alen +8m12.8s
10 Wittmann +10m01.8s

[Mihai]

It will be a thriller tomorrow, I hope Sarrazin or Loix will win.

[rbatista82]

And for the italians...
"Ma che cosa circa il Giandomenico? Non si può scoraggiare presto!"

[Andrey]

What happened with Wittmann on last stage?
Another puncture or part of tactics for better start position tomorrow?

[Raini]

It will be a thriller tomorrow, I hope Sarrazin or Loix will win.

I doubt that Sarrazin will win...too much behind...

[03dublinwrx]

Go Meeke and Nagle!! :)

[[Madeira-Rally]]

Are the BFG drivers (Ogier in this case) registered for points?

Yes

[John V]

]It looks like Vouilloz had an off and a broken steering
Confirmed, Nico went off and lost wheel, our guys were at place. They helped to Sarrazin to get back on road today :)

[John V]

Are the BFG drivers (Ogier in this case) registered for points?

In IRC it depends on the car make - if registered, you can score points. So you can be Mr.Unknown and when placed in top eight, you collecting points.

[noel157]

Thanks guys, wasn't sure if the BFG drivers could take points from the drivers signed on for the whole championship.

[playmo]

This is a surprise, but i don't think wonderboy can stay there by the end of the event.

Shame for Juho, but it opens wide door even for Meeke, too bad Gardemester is not so close, cause it could be a great competitor for the lead's fight.

[miksu]

Snow fall is expected for tomorrow, according to finnish MTV3 site. If it happens it will be crucial if Hänninen wants to go back to lead, and in fact i believe that he can do it.

[Cloverleaf]

I wish good luck to Hänninen and Škoda for tomorrow.

http://sozernet.com/images/nazar3inchlarge.jpg (http://www.nazarboncugu.com/)

This thing is called "nazar boncuğu". In Turkish culture we belive that people's eyes have some special powers.If you envy something or someone's achievement, you can give harm to it by staring at it in jealousy (even unintentionally).This thing (nazar boncuğu) protects you from the phenomena called nazar by reminding the people "don't be jealous of me!".

So it means something like "fingers crossed for Hänninen".

[Wim_Impreza]

It will be a thriller tomorrow, I hope Sarrazin or Loix will win.

Loix is not driving on his limit, because he thinks about the championship points since the start of the rally. Now Vouilloz is out and he is in a good position in the rally, for sure he won't go on the limit tomorrow.

I hope Hänninen can win.

[John V]

Loix is not driving on his limit, because he thinks about the championship points since the start of the rally. Now Vouilloz is out and he is in a good position in the rally, for sure he won't go on the limit tomorrow.

I hope Hänninen can win.

I think Freddy is most experienced driver in the field now. Few years ago we discussed regarding tyre choice variabilities for Monte Carlo and I was really surprised by some solutions.

Fingers crossed for Hanninen, as driving Škoda of course, but still there lot of friends for whom I want see good result also as Freddy, Jan or Nico (retired :( ) :)

[John V]

Btw.: Nico's retirement here http://forum.autosport.cz/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=216&start=500

[soprano]

What happened with Wittmann on last stage?
Another puncture or part of tactics for better start position tomorrow?

Wittmann had problems with turbo.

[HaCo]

Awesome rally with great live coverage!!!!

Wonder who will take the win, for me Skoda can have it!!

[farquar wrc]

What a fascinating days rallying thats been,the WRC chiefs will be watching and thinking s***,if only our championship could be half as good as this..LOL,tomorrow will be every bit as exciting,i would love Meeke to win it,but also would love to see long time rally supporter Skoda take the win and give the team a huge boost for all its hard work

[urabus-denoS2000]

I always knew (and wrote) that Škoda would have the pace and that it will win (hopefully,now Juho needs to bring it home) :D

Cloverleaf:Here we call it "Fatimino oko" (Fatimas eye) ;)

[N.O.T]

Indeed a great rally, Its nice to see that the skoda team brought a car ready to win from the start and also that the competiton between drivers is strong.

[AndyRAC]

Indeed a great rally, Its nice to see that the skoda team brought a car ready to win from the start and also that the competiton between drivers is strong.

The really encouraging thing for Skoda is that they seem to be on the pace right from the start. Reliability can be sorted - if you start off with a slowish car - it can take a long time to get up to speed. All the hard work seems to be paying off. Now, all they need is a bit of luck.

[jens]

Fiat Abarth has been a disappointment so far. Anyone got some idea, why they have failed to fight against Škoda and Peugeot, especially with such MC specialist like Toni behind the wheel?

[RS]

Juho Hänninen after the stage, asked if he had some margin left: "Small margin maybe but I wouldn't like to use it on this rally"



Time to use it Juho!

Really bad luck :( Skoda won stage 4, 5, 6 and 8 today, the car is very fast.

[jparker]

Fiat Abarth has been a disappointment so far. Anyone got some idea, why they have failed to fight against Škoda and Peugeot, especially with such MC specialist like Toni behind the wheel?
I think Toni is doing good, he's posting promising times.

[miksu]

Fiat Abarth has been a disappointment so far. Anyone got some idea, why they have failed to fight against Škoda and Peugeot, especially with such MC specialist like Toni behind the wheel?

His abarth isnt newest evolution as Basso's and Alen's, but he's pretty much the only one to put competetive times from those abarth guys.

[Raini]

His abarth isnt newest evolution as Basso's and Alen's, but he's pretty much the only one to put competetive times from those abarth guys.

Without puncture on a first day Toni would be in quite high place, and I do not remember in which SS, he had almost off, lost approximately 20secs in his opinion...

So I think Toni has a good speed, but may be he is not pushing so hard anymore...let's see what happens tomorrow

[A.F.F.]

I hope Juho drives smart and fast. When he switch to 11, he can roll three times on stage. Or make an incredible time.

Speculation aside, I LOVE THAT FABIA :hot:

[Simmi]

His abarth isnt newest evolution as Basso's and Alen's, but he's pretty much the only one to put competetive times from those abarth guys.

I wonder if Abarth have considered talking to Toni about some drives later in the season. I have been really disappointed with Basso this rally and Alen is not going to score many points this year I dont think. That leaves Rossetti so I think if Fiat seriously want to challenge Toni might be their guy.

[PLuto]

Video from first leg of Rallye Monte Carlo (spin by Giandomenico Basso included): http://www.autosport.cz/clanek.php?cl=7854

http://www.autosport.cz/img/clanky/1a858b2a805f613e9c198c161ef10e3b.jpg

[PLuto]

I wonder if Abarth have considered talking to Toni about some drives later in the season. I have been really disappointed with Basso this rally and Alen is not going to score many points this year I dont think. That leaves Rossetti so I think if Fiat seriously want to challenge Toni might be their guy.

In these conditions I didnt expected so much from Basso. He doesnt love ice and snow. Big disappointment (again) for me is Alen.

[urabus-denoS2000]

Guys,Basso drives one rally badly and you already want to throw him out of Abarth....
He is the best driver in IRC in my opinion ;)

I agree about Alen though ;)

[Simmi]

Guys,Basso drives one rally badly and you already want to throw him out of Abarth....
He is the best driver in IRC in my opinion ;)

I agree about Alen though ;)

Ha I didnt say I wanted to throw him out. He has shown he has rally winning pace at this level. Just saying they might need a bit of help this year especially with Skoda looking decent.

[[Madeira-Rally]]

As I said before Basso use to have a bad start of the season.. so it's everything normal until now :)

It's a really bad performance, but ok.. it's normal for the first rally of the season for Basso...

[urabus-denoS2000]

So the conclusion is.........wait for Basso and his rallys ;)

[Sulland]

I still hope Hanninen can use the 133 km SS tomorrow to take back the lead !

Go Juho !

[wotaguy]

i think hanninen will push, but he has already proved himself in this rally along with skoda, bot i think oiger has clear head to stay in front, tomorrow big sting in tail

[club_soda]

somebody asked why they didn't cover the first part of day 2 but upon clicking this link:

http://videos.eurosport.com/irc/monte-carlo-rally-day-2-h_vid95589/irc-player.shtml

I found that this wasn't day 2 highlights but instead the first part of the 2 part live coverage for today thursday's stages. :)

[Rally Hokkaido]

somebody asked why they didn't cover the first part of day 2 but upon clicking this link:

http://videos.eurosport.com/irc/monte-carlo-rally-day-2-h_vid95589/irc-player.shtml

I found that this wasn't day 2 highlights but instead the first part of the 2 part live coverage for today thursday's stages. :)

Yes, you are right!
Thanks for finding it for us, club_soda

[miksu]

I wonder if Abarth have considered talking to Toni about some drives later in the season. I have been really disappointed with Basso this rally and Alen is not going to score many points this year I dont think. That leaves Rossetti so I think if Fiat seriously want to challenge Toni might be their guy.

yeah i think it would be good, but who to throw out? :P

it would be nice to see Toni in a factory seat, i think his speed would be much better!

Now he cant even set his car to snow, he has only dampers for dry asphalt settings...

[Mitch555]

yeah i think it would be good, but who to throw out? :P

it would be nice to see Toni in a factory seat, i think his speed would be much better!

Now he cant even set his car to snow, he has only dampers for dry asphalt settings...

If FIAT had considered Toni for a full season, I would have dropped Basso for round 1. I must sound like a broken record player, I'm not bashing him though, I think he just needs more practice, testing, and not have the pressure of scoring points. Same with Alen in some cases. And what happened to FIATs old main man Navaara? Is Basso and Alen faster than him now?

Would Gigi Galli be a possibility to drive for FIAT? Italian, good driver, not exactly in the best position in the WRC as his seat at Stobart looks dangerous and combining with a Italian team which will probably make a S2000+ car could be beneficial...

... anyway back on topic!

I think having an experienced driver good in all situations, conditions etc. would be a great person to have at FIAT as they would be solidly scoring points. I don't think Basso would be able to do this at the moment.

Though amazing that Garde can do that well with only dry tar dampers.

Any news from Monte? 6:00am now, stages report? Snow? Ice?

[Sulland]

Yes I definately vote for Gigi Galli in an Abarth - he will get the thing moving quickly towards Pug and Skoda speed !!

[Daniel]

Yes I definately vote for Gigi Galli in an Abarth - he will get the thing moving quickly towards Pug and Skoda speed !!

I think Gigi is done. He might be able to get sponsorship for a drive but I don't think he's got what it takes to get a factory drive in the IRC.

[noel157]

Any weather reports? Montauban Sur L'ouveze - Eygalayes is the longest stage. Snow? Ice? Rain?

[teufel]

I hope for snow and ice, go Juho!

[noel157]

I believe there's been heavy overnight snow.

[farquar wrc]

Any weather reports? Montauban Sur L'ouveze - Eygalayes is the longest stage. Snow? Ice? Rain?
15cm off snow over the whole stage

[cali]

I believe there's been heavy overnight snow.
Nice! Anything can happen now...

[miksu]

15cm off snow over the whole stage

There's going to be some huge gaps on this stage i think!

[Leon]

SS 10 started

[farquar wrc]

There's going to be some huge gaps on this stage i think!
Yes,i think so to,brilliant this not knowing who will be leading after each stage

[teufel]

Yes,i think so to,brilliant this not knowing who will be leading after each stage

like fresh air after the most boring wrc season!

[noel157]

Is it reverse starting order again today?

[miksu]

like fresh air after the most boring wrc season!

Indeed!

[Mitch555]

I agree too. Still no cars through. One thing I've noticed is that every single stage has been long-ish and no car has done a stage in under 14 minutes. I like that a lot :)

EDIT

First car was in the stage 25 minutes ago, so maybe a time up soon

[J4MIE]

Meeke missing or has lost time anyway :(

[René]

For information 1st stage of day is close to the home place of Ogier... We will see if it is an advantage for him??

[farquar wrc]

Meeke out of rally,accident,crew ok

[farquar wrc]

Hanninen also out

[RS]

like fresh air after the most boring wrc season!

I did put a message on the WRC forum a few days ago inviting people to join us here on the IRC board if they wanted to see a proper rally. Looks like I was right :)

This one has been a real adventure, despite only the same KMs as a WRC event.

Re: The Basso bashing. He has been disappointing here but remember he was the only man to really get the car moving last year. He is very fast, obviously not suited to the ice and snow though. Basso-Toni G sounds like a good lineup, but a more likely scenario is maybe Toni continues to drive for Astra but with a little bit of help from the works team? Remember Toni can score points for them in any Abarth, so it is in their interests...

[Brother John]

Words from Sébastien Ogier:
"We still have more than one third of the rally. Hanninen is very strong; he knows that tomorrow will be a very hard day. Wisdom paid today. During the press conference, I said that I would like to finish in the top five. But I didn't think that tonight, I would be first. Tomorrow, I'll push hard, especially in the SS10 as I know the road." :s mokin:

[ProRally]

Lots of rally today :

Final day IRC Rally Monte Carlo
First day MERC Rally Qatar
First day EU Arctic Rally

Bring it on !!

[J4MIE]

Lots of snow on the road in this stage, got a text from AudiMadGeoff who is on the stage but Meeke is missing :(

[teufel]

Meeke out of rally,accident,crew ok

sorry for him! at least they are unhurt...

[ProRally]

Hanninen also out

What happend ?

[miksu]

Jeez..... so many out from the top :S

[RS]

Hanninen also out

Where do you get this info?

[farquar wrc]

Hanninen went off on first corner

[teufel]

Let's hope that Jan will bring his car home at 4th!

[miksu]

Hanninen went off on first corner

oooooh.... how's that possible....shait!!!

[J4MIE]

Don't know who I feel sorry for more, Meeke or Hanninen :s

[miksu]

Anyone can win this rally from top 10 :D

[J4MIE]

Ogier following Loix closely, don't know where in the stage though.

[jacko]

What a superb Monte Carlo rally so far.
Some people here on the forum (and also drivers) hate the different circumstances, but with snow, ice, wet and dry you have always a lot of action and you can select the boys from the man.
Man of the rally so far is for sure Hanninen, the man is incredible good. Already the quickest last year in Russia in his first ride in the S2000 car, now on tarmac (for a finn) damn fast.
Skoda did a good job to take him, but more important; a lot of testing and develop in the car. It's good for the championship the succes of Skoda and for sure next year there will be 2/3 new manufacturers involved i think.

Back to MC: today will be a long day, with plenty of action, i do see a maximum attack by Hanninen, Gardemeister with his experience is still there, Ogier can go fighting, Meeke in his first run and Loix (new co-driver) will go for a good position. Sarrazin will be attacking like hell, it's true rally Monte Carlo edition :)

[ProRally]

Hanninen went off on first corner

Bummer

[miksu]

Wittman has finished! question is, will any other cars finish :P

[farquar wrc]

Where do you get this info?


http://www.stagetimes.com/signup_irc.asp
Very good service

[noel157]

Meeke blog:

Kris out of rally on SS10, accident. Crew OK. Car got on-top of slush in 6th gear, and basically aqua-planed. Rally leader Hanninen also out on first corner.

[miksu]

http://www.stagetimes.com/signup_irc.asp
Very good service

I will just trust on your second - hand information :) has worker very well so far!!

[teufel]

Jan 1min30 faster that others!

[miksu]

talking about those gaps.... :D

[claar]

Jan Kopecky finished this stage and is 1.30min faster than Basso. I hope this will be a very good time, so Skoda can have a good result, although Hanninen is out.

[J4MIE]

Wait for others to finish the stage before thinking about the times..... Ogier will be far ahead of anyone else!!

[miksu]

Its so thrilling that i dont know if i can handle it :D

[RS]

Right, now we need Kopecky to go for the win :D

Really, anything could happen.

[farquar wrc]

I will just trust on your second - hand information :) has worker very well so far!!
Unfortunately

[miksu]

Yayyyyyyyyy Toni!!!

[FAlonso]

Garde and Sarrazin are faster already. Waiting for Loix and Ogier.

[J4MIE]

This is the stage that should have been live!!! :p :

[Flipn]

Hanningen is out of the race :(

Shame for him, did an excellent rally until this morning..

[miksu]

This is the stage that should have been live!!! :p :

Hehehh, really!!

[ProRally]

Loix would surprise me on snow....

[farquar wrc]

If Ogier and Loix dont hurry up,the refresh button on my keyboard will be worn out

[J4MIE]

Ogier was catching Loix in the stage so will be a lot faster.

[claar]

Maybe they both had to stop on the track because of Meekes crash

[Honza H.]

If Ogier and Loix dont hurry up,the refresh button on my keyboard will be worn out


:) :) :)