The first day of Rally Monte Carlo 2009 can be summed up as a tricky and challenging but also very entertaining day. SS1 started at 8:45 CET and the rally immediately proved tricky with both Abarth driver Luca Rosetti and Peugeot driver Didier Auriol thrown straight out of competition – Rosetti crashing out and Auriol with broken suspension. Reigning champion Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot 207 S2000) took the lead with Skoda works driver Juho Hänninen in second position and Toni Gardemeister with his Abarth Grande Punto in third.
As always in Monte Carlo, tyre choices have proved important throughout the day – something that a lot of drivers got to experience in SS2. Stephane Sarrazin in his Peugeot 207 seemed to do the best choice going into the downhill-running stage, and set fastest time moving him to second position in the rally. Nicolas Vouilloz lost out a bit and went into third position while Juho Hänninen continued to impress and took the lead of the rally.
SS3, the first stage with live coverage on Eurosport, became a tricky mix of weather. Starting on low altitude the surface was dry, but going higher the amount of snow and ice increase – as well as the snowfall. Most cars in the top 10 did at least the last 10-15 km’s of the stage in heavy snowfall, probably making both notes and tyre choices a bit wrong. Kris Meeke, running Peugeot England’s 207, set fastest time on the stage, followed by Stephane Sarrazin and Freddy Loix. Juho Hänninen in fourth place and Stephane Sarrazin in fifth made Hänninen overtake Sarrazin in the overall standings making the first day of Rally Monte Carlo end with Hänninen in the lead, Sarrazin in second and Vouilloz in third place.
