Bitter disappointment for Irish crews at Rallye Monte-Carlo
Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) pictured during Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the World Rally Championship, unfortunately, they retired on the penultime stage. Pic: M-Sport Ford.
There was bitter disappointment for the M-Sport Ford Irish crews of Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne and Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy following their retirements on the penultimate stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo, the curtain raiser in this year's World Rally Championship.
Just some six hundred metres into SS16 Armstrong, holding a fine sixth place, slid off the road and into retirement. It was a cruel blow for the Kesh native, who was hugely impressive on his Rally1 and Monte-Carlo debut. McErlean, who was running first on the road under Super Rally rules, was caught out close to the stage finish when his Ford Puma Rally1 understeered into the Armco barrier smashing the front left wheel, although he eventually finished the stage, his car was too badly damaged to continue. It was the first time since 2001 that the M-Sport Ford WRT failed to score championship points in the opening round of the WRC.
In sharp contrast, Sweden's Oliver Solberg (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) celebrated a sensational victory in what was only his second Rally1 outing with the Toyota Gazoo Racing outfit as he became the youngest (24 years) ever winner of Rallye Monte Carlo.
Saturday's leg included a double run over La Bréole/Bellaffaire, the longest stage of the rally at 29.93km that was covered in snow and ice. On the first pass Ogier cut the deficit to second placed Evans to just three seconds as Solberg, who admitted that he didn't "prep his studs" lost 20.5s on the stage to Ogier but still led by 51.4s. Armstrong's Ford Puma collected a front right puncture as team mate McErlean, back under Super Rally, was eighth fastest, the Kilrea driver remarked on the lack of grip, describing the final eight kilometres as "lethal black ice"
Solberg was back on the pace on SS11 where visibility was poor in places as he extended his advantage to a minute and 2.8s. Evans repelled Ogier's bid to make further gains and moved 10.3s ahead of the French driver. Tweaking the dampers Armstrong declared, "I had a good run and probably the first time I had a good rhythm" as he increased his advantage over seventh placed Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20 Rally1) to 53.8s.
The repeat of La Bréole/Bellaffaire (SS12) was full of incident - most notably for rally leader Solberg, who slid off in the snow, his Toyota crashing through a fence and into a field. He managed to keep the car in motion before following the same track through the opening and re-joined the stage. Remarkably, he still set the quickest stage time. “I don’t know what happened, I was so careful the whole stage, I tried to follow the ruts and on the exit it was just full snow. I was very lucky to get out of it."
Earlier, Paddon was helped by spectators to get back on the road having lost some three minutes, he also waited for team mate Neuville to pass. Toyota's Sami Pajari wasn't as fortunate, he slid off the road and hit a tree. Armstrong spun at around the halfway mark and McErlean, who began the stage much earlier, lost a lot of time as his Ford Puma understeered and oversteered several times. The crews completed the day with a rain soaked super special in Monaco with Solberg holding an overnight lead of 59.3s over Evans with Ogier 26s further behind. Armstrong was sixth and McErlean twentieth.
In treacherous conditions on the final leg, Solberg endured a cracked windscreen and two spins before he tackled the Power Stage where he secured a famous victory with team mates Elfyn Evans (+51.7s) and Sebastien Ogier (+2m. 02.1s) completing a Toyota top three. Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville, who had to stop and change a punctured wheel on SS15, were next. Tyrone's Aaron Johnston and Japan's Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) endured a troubled rally before finishing seventh. The Wexford/Waterford crew of Eamonn Boland/MJ Morrissey (Ford Fiesta Rally2) were seventeenth in WRC2 and second in the WRC Masters Cup.
Meanwhile, Cork crews took the top three places in the Inchigeelagh based Cork "1000 Shakes" Navigation Trial that dovetailed as rounds of the National and Munster Navigation Championships. Mallow's Derek Butler/Aaron O'Regan (14 penalties) won the event where a farmyard complex close to Ballingeary early in the event was key to the eventual outcome. Former winners Mogeely's James Fitzgerald and Ballincollig's Ken Carmody and the Ovens/Berrings pairing of Owen Murphy and Patrick O'Sullivan both incurred significant penalties at the location (Time Point 6) to finish with 33 and 48 penalties respectively. Pre-event national series leaders Longford's Pakie Duffy and Monaghan's Evin Hughes finished fourth.
1. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 4h. 24m. 59.0s; 2. E. Elfyn/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+51.7; 3. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+2m. 02.1s; 4. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+5m. 59.2s; 5. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+10m. 29.7; 6. L. Rossel/G. Mercoiret (Citroen C3 Rally2)+12m. 58.4s; 7. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+13m. 05.4s; 8. R. Dapra/L. Guglielmeti (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+15m. 07.9s; 9. A. Pelamourgues/B. Bastien (Hyundai i20 rally2)+18m. 09.4s; 10. E. Camilli/T. de la Haye (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+18m. 36.4s.
1. O. Solberg 30pts; 2. E. Evans 26pts; 3. S Ogier 18pts; 4. A. Fourmaux 17pts; 5. T. Neuville 10pts.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 59pts. Hyundai Mobis WRT 35pts.
1. D. Butler/A. O'Regan (Subaru Impreza) 14 penalties; 2. J. Fitzgerald/K. Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 33 pens; 3. O. Murphy/P. O'Sullivan, (Subaru Impreza) 48 pens; 4. P. Duffy/E. Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 69 pens; 5. P. McDonagh/P. Corcoran (Subaru Impreza) 94 pens; 6. M. O'Connor/S. Smith (Subaru Impreza) 334 pens.
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