 |
| Neuville over the icy roads around Monaco | pic courtesy - ColinMcMaster |
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| The Pole - Robert Kubica |
Rally MonteCarlo, was expected to be a
battle of the
Sebastiens', and it was, although for a very short time of the event. A couple of
mistakes, proved costly to the senior
Seb and the VW driver
Ogier took charge and keep it till the victory, at the end of SS15, today.
 |
| Kubica's SS14 crash |
Robert Kubica proved his speed, but lost over consistency as he had many off's and crashes. The pole's latest retirement was today at the penultimate stage finish, where he crashed due to a broken/lost brake pedal?!
 |
| Latvala a bit sideways |
VW drivers were the
cool headed [& talented] chaps of the entire competition, and occupy all the steps on the podium.
Sebastien Ogier,
Jari-Matti Latvala &
Andreas Mikkelsen proved their mettle of being the champions of the yesteryear, and trying hard to keep it that way.
Today, the day started with the rally's final service and laden with their choice of tyre compounds, the WRC brigade rolled towards the first stage;
Col St.Jean - St.Laurent 10.16 km in total closed section, which was also the final [Power] stage [offering bonus points] of the rally.
 |
| Rally Winner's collage - Seb.Ogier |
Penultimate stage of the rally, the SS14
La Bollene Vesubie - Sospel with a competitive distance of 31.66 km, was a stage where few drivers powered it hard, while others saved it to the final stage that offered extra bonus points. The stage conditions were favourable to the drivers, as the weather
was clear and roads drier; compared to last year and with little snow
ice except between the famous pass through
Col Du Turini.
 |
| Kris Meeke happy with PS win |
Kris Meeke had saved the tyres from the previous stage, and gunned it on the Power Stage and earned the 3 bonus points, Loeb took the two bonus points and Latvala the final one with a third quickest time. In the end it was the overall victory that counted to the defending champions, and they took to the podium finally.
Power Stage - Top 5 {SS15 COL ST JEAN - ST LAURENT 2 / 10.16 km}
| Pos |
# |
Flag + Driver |
Time |
Diff Prev |
Diff 1st |
| 1. |
3 |
 K. MEEKE
|
6:30.5 |
|
|
| 2. |
4 |
 S. LOEB
|
6:30.7 |
+0.2 |
+0.2 |
| 3. |
2 |
 J. LATVALA
|
6:32.4 |
+1.7 |
+1.9 |
| 4. |
1 |
S. OGIER
|
6:33.2 |
+0.8 |
+2.7 |
| 5. |
9 |
 A. MIKKELSEN
|
6:34.9 |
+1.7 |
+4.4 |
 |
| Seb.Loeb speaking to media staff |
Volkswagen bagged the maximum points for constructor title, while Hyundai with the second maximum with no retirements, while Citroen & MSport had to deal with their share of DNF's.
Final Overall - Top 10
| Pos |
# |
Driver |
Time |
Diff Prev |
Diff 1st |
| 1. |
1 |
S. OGIER
|
3:36:40.2 |
- |
- |
| 2. |
2 |
J. LATVALA
|
3:37:38.2 |
+58.0 |
+58.0 |
| 3. |
9 |
A. MIKKELSEN |
3:38:52.5 |
+1:14.3 |
+2:12.3 |
|
| 4. |
12 |
M. OSTBERG
|
3:39:23.8 |
+31.3 |
+2:43.6 |
| 5. |
7 |
 T. NEUVILLE
|
3:39:52.3 |
+28.5 |
+3:12.1 |
| 6. |
8 |
 D. SORDO
|
3:39:53.1 |
+0.8 |
+3:12.9 |
| 7. |
5 |
E. EVANS
|
3:42:03.9 |
+2:10.8 |
+5:23.7 |
| 8. |
4 |
S. LOEB
|
3:45:14.9 |
+3:11.0 |
+8:34.7 |
| 9. |
21 |
 M. PROKOP
|
3:46:35.0 |
+1:20.1 |
+9:54.8 |
| 10. |
3 |
K. MEEKE
|
3:47:35.8 |
+1:00.8 |
+10:55.6 |
 |
| Ecstatic Winning Team of Volkswagen Motorsport @ Rally Monte-Carlo |
Next of WRC action resumes towards the north pole, at
Rally Sweden from 12th next month; which is again cold and fast
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