Sébastien Ogier says 700. Seven hundred special stage victories since he raced in the WRC. A number so large that it shocks even those who have followed the World Rally Championship for years. But the stage victory in question is not just an achievement in itself, because it puts the 8-time world rally champion in the lead of the Rallye Monte-Carlo.
The Frenchman from the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, after winning the test that opened the afternoon lap, repeated his success on SS13, the Les Nonières / Chichilianne 2 of 20.04 kilometres, eliminating the already small gap that separated him from Thierry Neuville and taking the lead with only one special stage remaining at the end of the second stage of the 2024 WRC prologue.
Ogier made the difference in the first half of the stage, the one uphill and on dry asphalt, where he managed to eliminate exactly the 2″2 seconds that separated him from his Belgian rival. In the second half, on the damp asphalt, he did again better than Neuville, but by just 8 tenths, closing the test with a 3-second advantage over the 35-year-old from Sankt Vith.
This means that the two will battle until the last meter of SS14, because they are separated by just 8 tenths of a second. We'll see if Ogier's tactic – taking one less spare tire – will also pay off in the last test or if, instead, Neuville will be able to have fresher tires than his rival.
What matters is to have a live duel until the last day of the competition to keep interest alive until the end. Elfyn Evans, despite having greatly improved her performance compared to the previous test, had to settle for the third time and, above all, losing further seconds to her two rivals.
For the Welshman the situation becomes increasingly more complicated. The specials are reduced, while his disadvantage increases. The gap separating him from the leaders has risen to 22″7. Perhaps too much now to hope for a sensational comeback and get back into the fight for victory.
What is certain is that Evans won't have to watch his back. All the other opponents are minutes away from him, starting with Ott Tanak, fourth and now a spectator with little interest in what is happening in front of him. The same goes for Adrien Forumaux, comfortably fifth and too far from everyone to improve or worsen his ranking. Andreas Mikkelsen's sixth place is also safe, with Takamoto Katsuta having risen to eighth place, but with a gap of well over 3 minutes from the Norwegian.
The battle between Pepe Lopez and Nikolay Gryazin for the lead in WRC2 continues unabated. The Russian from Citroen Racing did better than his Iberian rival, but by just 7 tenths. Yohan Rossel did better than both, returning closer to both in the general classification.
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