Like every year, the Monte-Carlo Rally opens the WRC world championship season. And guess who's in the lead halfway through this first round of the year? A certain Sébastien Ogier, eight-time world champion.
On the occasion of the 93rd Monte-Carlo Rally in history, we had two fears: Sébastien Ogier and Adrien Fourmaux. And just to reassure us, the two French drivers decided to appear on the provisional podium halfway through. If that's not a provocation, we don't know what is then.
The recovery of Sébastien Ogier at the Monte-Carlo Rally
From the first two specials, Sébastien Ogier showed himself by setting the best times. This is not really an optimal strategy for redeeming ourselves. But the eight-time winner of the Monte-Carlo Rally has not lost sight of our objective. After a tricky end to the day, the Toyota driver finished in third place, 12.8s behind leader Thierry Neuville, reigning world champion. But the Belgian achieved a major feat on the second day; during the same two special stages spaced a few hours apart, he exited the same corner, missing the same braking action. A world champion maneuver, what do you want.
From then on, Sébastien Ogier pulled out all the stops. The Gap native won four of the first nine special stages, and took the lead in the general classification halfway through the course. To do this, he took more than 23 seconds from Elfyn Evans… in a single day. And you want us to be reassured when Ogier gets behind the wheel of a rally car?
-After the first two days of the special, Ogier is ahead of Elfyn Evans (+12.6s) and Adrien Fourmaux (+14.2s). Because yes, having just one Frenchman on the provisional podium was obviously not enough. The two French pilots have 48 hours to change their behavior.
“It’s a good way to end the day” Sébastien Ogier
