Thierry Neuville finishes opening leg of Rallye Monte-Carlo with narrow two second lead

NARROW LEAD: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundiaii20 N Rally1) lead the way after the opening leg of Rallye Monte-Carlo, the first round of the World Rally Championship. Picture: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.

Reigning World Rally champion Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) finished the opening leg of Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the World Rally Championship, with a narrow two second lead over Welsh ace Elfyn Evans (Toyota GR Rally1), whose team mate Sebastien Ogier lost the lead with a spin on the night's third and final stage. Making their debut at the top tier of the WRC, the Irish crew of Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) made a cautious start and hold twelfth overnight.

It came as no surprise when "Monte Master" Ogier set the best time on the opening 19km stage 3.9s ahead of his team mate Elfyn Evans with Neuville, with the # 1 decals on the side of his Hyundai i20 Rally1, half a second further behind in third. This season's Rally1 cars are without hybrid power but the biggest transition for many drivers is adapting to Hankook tyres. At the end of the stage Neville reflected, "It was different. First time in these conditions with this tyre, just trying to discover. Don't know where the grip will change, tricky conditions. We will work on the car and try to understand."

Neuville's new team mate Adrien Fourmaux was fourth quickest followed by another team mate Ott Tanak, who was unconcerned that his stage time was 15.5s shy of leader Ogier.

Irish interest focussed mainly on Derry's Josh McErlean and his Cork co-driver Eoin Treacy, they were twelfth after SS1 - 55.8s off top spot. McErlean's reaction "What an experience, everyone should experience what I've experienced today, lining up in Casino Square and launching this beast into the darkness."

Ogier was also quickest on the second stage that was muddier than the previous stage and also had patches of ice, the rally leader declared he was a bit too cautious near the end of the test. Neuville, second fastest spoke about the spectators that were on the road with the smoke from the flares making visibility difficult, he slotted into second 5.3s behind Ogier with Evans dropping time, 7.4s further behind. Fourmaux continued to impress in fourth, further back, McErlean admitted it was a huge learning curve On the final stage of the night, Ogier spun on a left-hander some 3.7km into the stage and dropped valuable time as he tried to retrieve the situation after his Toyota hit a pole. He lost over 23.5s and the lead to Neuville, who begins Friday's leg with a two second lead over Evans with Ogier 10.8s further behind in third.

McErlean/Treacy ended the evening in twelfth. "It's difficult, a lot of learning, it's a big step up and a lot of work to do." said the Derry driver.

As Eamonn Boland/Mickey Joe Morrissey (Ford Fiesta Rally2) headed into the final stage they were second in the WRC Masters Cup and 14th in WRC2. There are six stages in Friday's second leg.

Rallye Monte-Carlo (Round 1, World Rally Championship) Gap: 1. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally) 32m. 58.8s; 2. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+2.0s; 3. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+12.8s; 4. O. Tänak/M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+27.0s; 5. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+30.0s; 6. K. Rovanperä/J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+43.9s; 7. G. Munster/L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1)+48.8s; 8. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+53.3s; 9. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+1m. 24.4s; 10. N. Gryazin/A. Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+2m. 16.7s; 11. Y. Rossel/A. Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2)+2m. 23.9s; 12. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+2m. 53.9s.