[WRC] Rallye Monte Carlo 2022

[Danny0405]

Mikkelsen did a good job and starts his season proper (even if he was less dominant than last year, and even less then the year before where he was stellar)

The most impressive must have been Rossel : for his first "big league" rally, he could have won save for a few last day mistakes. This young fella has a bright future given that he probably still has a lot of upside. He is also no slouch on gravel, as demonstrated last year (Acropolis), wich is unsual for a french driver.

Amongst the "Skoda-affiliated bunch", Gryazin has been pretty impressive. He was one of the fastest WRC2 following his first day technical issue (brakes) who cost him 3min ... less than the final gap to Mikkelsen. For someone who has been so crash-prone, he drove a fast and sensible rally. Don't discard him for the title.

I was pretty impressed also by the speed of the Citroen folks (Camilli, Lefebvre) although both crashed. Don't discard them on tarmac rallies to come. Lesser expectatins on gravel - They missed a golden opportunity for the title here...

I do not discard Gryazin (or any Skoda young folks) who made a good job here but with his spin in PS, he already misses some good points even if he has limited the loss (compared with Ingram and Bulacia) thanks to the issues of Munster and Rossel. So, right now, the best option for WRC-2 to beat Suninen-Huttunen-Rossel (and maybe Ostberg) is still Mikkelsen; not impossible for the other Skoda guys but less sure. So best option for both Skoda and Mikkelsen is to follow together even if Mikkelsen obtains some drives in WRC in addition to that.

On Rossel and the other Citroen guys, I think they missed a big opportunity here as it was a favorable ground for them, all the more than they all knew well this type of Rallye. They show great speed so they should bring big competition to Skoda during the season but may be short for the title (except if Ostberg is also in the mix).

But most impressive for me was Cais’ consistency for a 1st time here. Even if he is too young for WRC-2 Open title (and too much-tarmac centered). Surprised to see best Czech prospect for a while against Skoda.