Coming in the lead of the Rallye Monte-Carlo on the last day, but having to face an opening test in the dark, with the verglas in the last part and having the worst (the strongest, of course) of the rivals behind, a few seconds apart, it doesn't have to be the best of feelings. Yet Thierry Neuville was able to turn a potential hell into paradise.
The Belgian from Hyundai Motorsport opened the last day of competition at the 92nd edition of the Rallye Monte-Carlo in the best possible way, setting the best time in 10'31″8, beating all his rivals, including Sébastien Ogier.
Neuville pushed very hard in the first part of the special, the one with dry asphalt, taking a good advantage over his rival from Toyota Racing while he found himself slowing down his pace on the verglas that covered the asphalt in the last two sectors. The result is also in those sections the Belgian increased his margin, finishing 4.7 seconds ahead of his only rival for the win.
A performance from Neuville, when Neuville is on his best days. It shouldn't be surprising to see him doing what he's doing this weekend. When he is in symbiosis with the car he is certainly one of the strongest drivers we have been able to observe in the last 15 years. What has been asked of him for some time is consistency. We'll see if at almost 36 years of age he will have managed to acquire it.
In the meantime, he will have to complete this event to start the season in the best possible way. The 8 seconds accumulated on Ogier cannot make him breathe sighs of relief. Indeed, he will have to continue to have a winning pace to avoid sensational returns from the 8-time world champion, always sly and dangerous on his home roads.
Elfyn Evans, on the other hand, has probably said goodbye to any chance of a comeback. The part on the verglas seemed to be perfect to try a bladed attack and try to do what Neuville did yesterday morning, but it didn't go that way. The Welshman probably thought about the championship: every point is fundamental, especially if he has to deal with Neuville and Tanak all year long.
Speaking of the Estonian, the new Hyundai Motorsport driver is now certain of fourth place, as is Adrien Fourmaux of fifth because both find themselves unable to duel with anyone. The Frenchman from M-Sport did well to set the fifth fastest time on the stage, but his 16.4 seconds behind Neuville once again showed the gap between the top 4 and the rest of the Rally1 group in terms of talent.
Yet another change of leadership occurred in WRC2, with Pepe Lopez overturning the rankings by returning to the lead with his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. The Spaniard recovered the few tenths that separated him from Nikolay Gryazin and passed him. He now has an advantage of 3″7, but be careful: the test, as far as Rally2 is concerned, saw Yohan Rossel prevail. With this result the Frenchman from Citroen Racing has moved back to 6″7 from the top and is rightfully another pretender to success.
#WRC #Rallye #MonteCarlo #SS15 #Neuville #restarts #strong #leads
