2012 Monte Carlo Rally

The 2012 Monte Carlo Rally, officially 80ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo was the first round of the 2012 World Rally Championship (WRC) season. The rally took place between 18 and 22 January 2012.

2012 Monte Carlo Rally
80ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo
Round 1 of the 2012 World Rally Championship season
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Sébastien Loeb during Rally
Host countryMonaco Monaco
Rally baseMonte Carlo
Dates runJanuary 18 – 22 2012
Stages18[1] (433.36 km; 269.28 miles)[1]
Stage surfaceTarmac and snow
Overall distance1,772.52 km (1,101.39 miles)[1]
Results
Overall winnerFrance Sébastien Loeb
France Citroën Total WRT
Crews82[2] at start, 54 at finish

Report

Introduction

The rally, which returned to the WRC calendar after a three-year absence,[3] started in Valence on Wednesday 18 January and covered over 1,339 kilometres (832.0 mi), including 433 kilometres (269.1 mi) of special stages. Stages were run in both daylight and at night, and the route included two passes through the famous Col de Turini stage on Saturday.[1] The rally became the first in the modern era of the sport to be held over the course of five days. 82 entries were registered for the event.[2]

Leg One (18 January)

2011 World Champion Sébastien Loeb took an early lead when he won the first stage of the rally, Le Moulinon–Antraigues. However, icy conditions on the second stage, Burzet–St Martial meant that Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala took the lead when he adopted an unorthodox tyre strategy, using super-soft and studded tyres on opposite corners of his car. By the end of the stage, Latvala had established a thirty-second lead over Loeb.[4] Latvala's lead was short-lived, as he crashed out on the second running of Burzet–St Martial when he missed a pace note warning that a corner tightened on entry.[5] His car fell over a short drop, but could not be retrieved. Ford later confirmed that Latvala had retired from the rally, as the event was not run to "Rally 2" – formerly super-rally – regulations which would normally allow Latvala to restart the rally the next day.[6]

Latvala's accident meant that Loeb reclaimed the lead of the rally, one minute ahead of Mini's Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg in the second works Ford Fiesta. Sébastien Ogier finished the day fourth in his Škoda Fabia S2000, which he credited to the mixed conditions minimising the differences in performance between the WRC and Super 2000 cars. Evgeny Novikov was fifth, the first of the privateer WRC cars.[7]

Leg Two (19 January)

The second day of competition saw the running of six special stages, five of which were won by Loeb;[8] Sordo won the second run over Labatie D'Andaure–Lalouvesc. Ogier crashed out of the rally on the final stage of the day, the second pass over Lamastre–Gilhoc–Alboussière.[9] Ogier had been running sixth at the time of the accident. His co-driver, Julien Ingrassia, injured his arm in the crash, though the exact extent of his injuries was not revealed except to say that it was "not broken".[10]

At the end of the second day, Loeb's lead over Sordo was one minute and thirty-seven seconds, with third-placed Solberg a further three seconds behind.[8] Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson admitted that he felt Solberg was being "too conservative" with the car and encouraged him to chase Sordo as it was more important for Solberg to become familiar with the car's abilities than it was to score manufacturer points.[11] Loeb's team-mate Mikko Hirvonen was a further two minutes behind Solberg, holding a narrow lead over Novikov.[8]

Results

Event standings
Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
Overall
1. France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena Citroën DS3 WRC 4:32:39.9 0.0 28
2. Spain Dani Sordo Spain Carlos del Barrio Mini John Cooper Works WRC 4:35:25.4 2:45.5 18
3. Norway Petter Solberg United Kingdom Chris Patterson Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:35:54.1 3:14.2 15
4. Finland Mikko Hirvonen Finland Jarmo Lehtinen Citroën DS3 WRC 4:36:46.7 4:06.8 14
5. Russia Evgeny Novikov France Denis Giraudet Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:38:43.3 6:03.4 11
6. France François Delecour France Dominique Savignoni Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:40:27.8 7:47.9 8
7. France Pierre Campana France Sabrina de Castelli Mini John Cooper Works WRC 4:41:11.3 8:31.4 6
8. Estonia Ott Tänak Estonia Kuldar Sikk Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:43:14.5 10:34.6 4
9. Czech Republic Martin Prokop Czech Republic Zdeněk Hrůza Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:48:50.6 16:10.7 2
10. Portugal Armindo Araújo Portugal Miguel Ramalho Mini John Cooper Works WRC 4:48:56.5 16:16.6 1
11. United Kingdom Matthew Wilson United Kingdom Scott Martin Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:51:30.9 +18:51.0 0
12. Netherlands Kevin Abbring Belgium Lara Vanneste Škoda Fabia S2000 4:51:36.2 +18:56.3 -
13. Norway Henning Solberg Norway Ford Fiesta RS WRC 4:52:56.2 +20:16.3 -
14. Republic of Ireland Craig Breen United Kingdom Gareth Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000 4:57:06.2 +5:30.0 25*
15. France Bryan Bouffier France Xavier Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 5:00:05.3 +8:29.1 -
S2000 / SWRC
1. (12.) Netherlands Kevin Abbring Belgium Lara Vanneste Škoda Fabia S2000 4:51:36.2 0.0 -
2. (14.) Republic of Ireland Craig Breen United Kingdom Gareth Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000 4:57:06.2 +5:30.0 25*
3. (15.) France Bryan Bouffier France Xavier Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 5:00:05.3 +8:29.1 -
Production Class 4 / PWRC
1. (18.) Switzerland Olivier Burri Switzerland Jean-Jacques Ferrero Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5:08:10.4 0.0 -**
2. (25.) France Richard Frau France Frédéric Vauclare Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5:21:55.6 +13:45.2 -**
3. (27.) France Stéphane Cornu France Fabrice Nedel Renault Mégane RS 5:24:15.6 +16:05.2 -**
4. (28.) France Jerôme Aymard France Sandrine Aymard Subaru Impreza WRX STi 5:27:11.8 +19:01.4 -**
5. (30.) Poland Michał Kościuszko Poland Maciek Szczepaniak Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 5:35:14.8 +27:04.4 25
Production Class 8 / PWRC[12]
1. (42.) Czech Republic Martin Rada Czech Republic Jaroslav Jugas Alfa Romeo 147 5:48:32.2 0.0 -**
2. (54.) United Kingdom Louise Cook United Kingdom Stefan Davis Ford Fiesta ST 7:02:39.6 +1:14:07.4 18

* Only team eligible for SWRC points that was classified.

** These teams do not score points in PWRC.

Special stages

[1]

Day Stage Time (UTC+1) Name Length Winner Time Avg. spd. Rally leader
Leg 1
(18 Jan)		 SS1 9:03 Le Moulinon – Antraigues 1 36.87 km France Sébastien Loeb 24:04.0 91.92 km/h France Sébastien Loeb
SS2 10:21 Burzet – St Martial 1 30.48 km Finland Jari-Matti Latvala 21:28.2 85.18 km/h Finland Jari-Matti Latvala
SS3 14:21 Le Moulinon – Antraigues 2 36.87 km France Sébastien Loeb 23:47.0 93.01 km/h
SS4 16:20 Burzet – St Martial 2 30.48 km France Sébastien Loeb 20:18.2 90.07 km/h France Sébastien Loeb
Leg 2
(19 Jan)		 SS5 9:33 Labatie D'Andaure – Lalouvesc 1 19.00 km France Sébastien Loeb 11:22.5 100.22 km/h
SS6 10:14 St. Bonnet – St. Julien Molhesabate – St. Bonnet 1 25.22 km France Sébastien Loeb 12:37.7 119.83 km/h
SS7 11:37 Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussière 1 21.66 km France Sébastien Loeb 13:41.8 94.88 km/h
SS8 14:50 Labatie D'Andaure – Lalouvesc 2 19.00 km Spain Dani Sordo 11:14.9 101.35 km/h
SS9 15:31 St. Bonnet – St. Julien Molhesabate – St. Bonnet 2 25.22 km France Sébastien Loeb 12:29.6 121.12 km/h
SS10 16:54 Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussière 2 21.66 km France Sébastien Loeb 14:00.6 92.76 km/h
Leg 3
(20 Jan)		 SS11 10:02 St-Jean-en-Royans – Font d'Urle 23.28 km Norway Petter Solberg 12:08.6 115.03 km/h
SS12 10:43 Cimetiere de Vassieux – Col de Gaudissart 24.13 km Finland Mikko Hirvonen 15:47.7 91.66 km/h
SS13 15:11 Montauban-sur-l'Ouvèze – Eygalayes 29.89 km Finland Mikko Hirvonen 17:08.7 104.60 km/h
Leg 4
(21 Jan)		 SS14 15:11 Moulinet – La Bollène Vésubie 1 23.41 km Finland Mikko Hirvonen 15:38.4 89.81 km/h
SS15 15:54 Lantosque – Lucéram 1 18.81 km Norway Petter Solberg 12:57.0 87.15 km/h
SS16 19:34 Moulinet – La Bollène Vésubie 2 23.41 km Norway Petter Solberg 15:45.5 89.13 km/h
SS17 21:17 Lantosque – Lucéram 2 18.81 km Norway Petter Solberg 13:05.8 86.17 km/h
Leg 5
(22 Jan)		 SS18 10:11 Ste Agnès – Col de la Madone (Power stage) 5.16 km France Sébastien Loeb 3:27.8 89.39 km/h

Power Stage

The "Power stage" was a 5.16 km (3.21 mi) stage at the end of the rally, held between Ste-Agnes and Col de la Madone.[1]

Pos Driver Time Diff. Avg. speed Points
1 France Sébastien Loeb 3:27.8 0.0 89.39 km/h 3
2 Finland Mikko Hirvonen 3:29.0 +1.2 88.88 km/h 2
3 Russia Evgeny Novikov 3:30.4 +2.6 88.29 km/h 1

References
  1. "Supplementary Regulations" (PDF). www.acm.mc. Automobile Club de Monaco. 22 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
  2. "Engagés 2012". www.acm.mc. Automobile Club de Monaco. Archived from the original on 2012-01-07. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  3. "WRC calendar for 2012 confirmed". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  4. "Jari-Matti Latvala flies into Monte Carlo Rally lead as tyre gamble pays off". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  5. Evans, David; Beer, Matt (18 January 2012). "Jari-Matti Latvala crashes out of Monte Carlo Rally lead". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  6. Evans, David (18 January 2012). "Ford confirms Jari-Matti Latvala cannot continue in Monte Carlo Rally". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  7. "Sebastien Loeb leads Monte Carlo Rally after Jari-Matti Latvala's crash". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  8. "Sebastien Loeb in charge after second day of Monte Carlo Rally". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  9. Evans, David (19 January 2012). "Sebastien Ogier crashes out of Monte Carlo Rally". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. Evans, David (19 January 2012). "Sebastien Ogier's co-driver Julien Ingrassia hurts arm in Monte Carlo Rally crash". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  11. Evans, David (19 January 2012). "Ford gives Petter Solberg green light to fight for second in Monte Carlo". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  12. Official final classification
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