A new spectacular video of Kris Meeke’s off in Rally Monte Carlo this week has appeared, uploaded by a spectator standing just meters from the place where Meeke went off at Pont de la Gageyre on the stage Labatie d’Andaure.
Here is the video:
I’ve previously posted a clip of the crash from Eurosports footage here.
Thanks to dbe07 for the video.
Hirvonen’s IRC appearance in Rally Monte Carlo ended up with a win – just as one would expect if the new Ford Fiesta Super2000 delivered without problems. It obviously did, so Hirvonen showed by leading the rally from the first to the last stage that it is a difference – no matter how small or big it might be – between WRC and IRC. Also it was really a flying start for the Fiesta – and it will certainly be interesting to see if the difference Hirvonen managed to held is just because of his skills or also because of the car. A new hint will be given in Rally Sweden in a few weeks, where Andreas Mikkelsen, Martin Prokop, Bernardo Sousa and Janne Tuohino will drive the car.
Sebastien Ogier was 2nd placed going into the last loop, but on his way to the penultimate special stage his car broke down and he had to retire. This gave Juho Hänninen the 2nd place after a solid but not stunning drive throughout the weekend, where many people removed themselves from the chance of winning by making mistakes, including Meeke, Sarrazin, and others.
The standings after SS15 – and most probably the final results – are:
1. Hirvonen / Lehtinen, 4h32min 58.5s
2. Hänninen / Markula, +1min 51.4s
3. Vouilloz / Veillas, +3min 19.1s
4. Sarrazin / Renucci, +7min 25.5s
5. Kopecky / Stary, +8min 48.7s
6. Wilks / Pugh, +9min 24.5s
7. Magalhaes / Magalhaes, +9min 45.4s
8. Vigion / Prevot, +13min 33.5s
Follow the links to read more:
Results
Eurosport videos from Monte Carlo
Rally Monte Carlo 2010 on YouTube
Here is the clip from Eurosport where Kris Meeke crashed his Peugeot out of Rally Monte Carlo 2010 on stage 5, the first stage of the second day. Kris told that he was breaking well in time for the right turn, but thought he braked a little bit too much, released the break for a while and then went into the start of the bridge before dropping off in the ditch on the left side of the road. Luckily both Meeke and co-driver Nagle escaped unharmed.
Thanks to dragracing3 for the video.
Meeke just went off just beside a brige on SS5 in Monte Carlo. Looking at the live coverage it looks totally unlikely he can get the car out of there, so I guess we can count Meeke out of the rally.
Many people following the rally reports from Rally Monte Carlo today have probably noticed and wondered about the fact that Ogier was so angry after going off the stage – and how the hell spectators can come to the idea to put snow on the road just to sabotage for the drivers (If you don’t know what I’m talking about – watch the video!). I can’t answer that question, but it’s certainly a big problem for the Rally Monte Carlo organisers that they need to solve. This has been going on for quite some years now, and I have a feeling they’ve already tried – but I’m not sure they have tried as hard as they should…
It doesn’t even need to be explained how dangerous it is to throw snow on the road when a car potentially going on slicks are approaching assuming conditions are like they were just a few hours before when the ice note crew went through. In road traffic you should have margins for such things – but not in rallying. That’s what rallying is about… Driving without that extra margins, using the skills and the interaction between driver and co-driver to get the car through the stage as fast as possible… The spectators doing those things have no interest in rallying, they are just losers. But in the end – if the spectators can’t handle it themselves, it’s the responsibility of the organiser to get it solved.
With that said, I love the Rally Monte Carlo and that has been even more clear to me in 2009 and 2010 with the beautiful live TV coverage. But I can actually say I’m happy the event is out of the WRC as long as this problem stays as big as it is (=more of standard than exception during the rally). Get guards out to the important twists, damn organisers. I know it’s quite many but what else can you do? If you can cover everything live on TV, you can probably find one guard per turn too. This makes the rally both dangerous and a farce for crews, spectators and marshals.
I really hope this gets better!
And as a note… Mikko Hirvonen leads the rally with 41.9 seconds over last years champion Kris Meeke and 1.04 before Juho Hänninen. The action continues tomorrow – and everything is broadcasted live. Just hope the morons have been sent home then, the rally is too good to be disturbed by such shit..!
Malcolm Wilson’s problem solving capabilities payed off: the decision is to let the Ford Fiesta S2000 start in Rally Monte Carlo, which means that Mikko Hirvonen and Julien Maurin can start the rally. What the exact problems were is still unknown, but it will be interesting to hear M-Sport’s approach to avoid the same problems later on in Rally Sweden and other rallies. It’s obviously very embarassing that such a thing can happen at all.
Now, let’s look forward to a bright Rally Monte Carlo with hopefully difficult conditions of tarmac, melting snow and ice – and hope that this doesn’t mean discussions and speculations if a Fiesta wins the rally.
Last night it was reported that the M-Sport developed Ford Fiesta Super2000 had problems in the scrutineering for Rally Monte Carlo. The problems seemed to be solved last night, but reports now claim that there are still big problems with getting the cars through the scrutineering – something that is totally needed to be able to start the event. Unconfirmed rumours talk about just a 20% chance of the Fiestas starting the event as it looks right now – but measures are being taken to try to get Mikko Hirvonen in his Fiesta driving as a safety car if he will be forbidden to start as a competitor.
Obvoiusly, it would be a big drawback for M-Sport and their reputation if they wont be able to start the event. Besides Mikko Hirvonen even Julien Maurin is supposed to start the event in a Fiesta Super2000. However, Malcolm Wilson have previously seemed to have a magic skill (or wallet big enough to fly parts and people all over the world?) to solve problems, and I hope and also think that he will do that even now.
The story will go on during the afternoon…
Rally Monte Carlo, preview:
Last year, Rally Monte Carlo and the IRC organisers brought the definitions of rally coverage one step forward by including their superb live coverage on Eurosport. This year, they’ll do it even better (as it seems) and cover almost the whole rally live. Just one stage (SS10) will be a little bit delayed. Here are the ways of following the rally…
Television
You can follow the rally live on Eurosport. If you don’t have it in your channels, try out the excellent Eurosport Player – it’s cheap and worth it! Eurosport will cover all stages as follows (times are in CET):
Wednesday 20th of January
11:45-14:00, SS1 Burzet-Lachamp Raphael (27.50 km) + SS2 St Pierreville-Antraigues (46.00 km), Eurosport 2
14:45-16:00, SS3 Burzet-Lachamp Raphael (27.50 km), Eurosport 2
16:00-17:00, SS4 St Pierreville-Antraigues (46.00 km) Eurosport
Thursday 21st of January
10:00-11:45, SS5 Labatie D’Andaure-St Pierre sur Doux (25.30 km) + SS6 St Bonnet-St Bonnet (25.67 km), Eurosport 2
12:15-13:15, SS7 Lamastre-Gilhoc-Alboussière (21.92 km), Eurosport 2
15:15-16:00, SS8 Labatie D’Andaure-St Pierre sur Doux (25.30 km), Eurosport 2
16:00-17:00, SS8 End + SS9 St Bonnet-St Bonnet (25.67 km), Eurosport
19:30-20:00, SS10 Lamastre-Gilhoc-Alboussière (21.92 km), DELAYED, Eurosport 2
23:45-00:15, SS10 Lamastre-Gilhoc-Alboussière (21.92 km), REPEAT, Eurosport
Friday 22nd of January
19:00-20:45, SS12 Peira Cava-La Bollène Vésubie (18.30 km) + SS13 Lantosque-Lucéram (19.13 km), Eurosport
23:00-00:45, SS14 Peira Cava-La Bollène Vésubie (18.30 km) + SS15 Lantosque-Lucéram (19.13 km), Eurosport
Tuesday 26th of January
23:00-23:30, Review: Rally Monte Carlo, Eurosport
Rally radio
Will be present at www.rally-irc.com during the event.
Online
www.rally-irc.com – Official IRC series website
http://www.acm.mc – ACM / The organisers website
http://www.irc-results.com – The IRC results service provided by AutoSport.cz – this seems really nice!
http://www.rallybuzz.com – Good coverage of most things related to IRC and WRC.
This blog – You’re here, so you should know what it is 
Phone
The IRC organisers have developed a nice iPhone application.
Download it here [ link will launch iTunes ]
Thanks to RallyTheBest for the video.
Mikko Hirvonen has carried out testing for Rally Monte Carlo during the 12th-14th of January. Here is a video of the tests with quite varying conditions, from light snow to heavy snow, snowfall and darkness.
Thanks to Zagatio for the video.
Heavy Peugeot 207 S2000 tests were going on last week with both Kronos Racing and PH Sport. The first three days of the week in the snow of Col du Galibier and the last two days in Bourget du Lac, with just slightly dryer conditions. During the days, Stephane Sarrazin (fr), Bruno Magalhaes (pt) and Kris Meeke (uk) – all entering the Rally Monte Carlo later this month – tested the car.
Here is the video:
Thanks to poupondu34400 for the video.
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