Marko Hanželic
Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) won at Monte Carlo Rally 2021, the opening season of the World Rally Championship (WRC), and thus celebrated his 50th career victory. After 14 speed trials, a total of 279,88 kilometers, the seven-time world champion had a 32,6-second advantage over his teammate at the finish line on Sunday. Elfyn Evans. He was third Thierry Neuville (+1: 13,5 minutes) at Hyundai. Ogier also won the powerstage and took a maximum of 30 points.
With the eighth victory for the fifth mark (after Peugeot, Volkswagen, Ford in Citroen) at the Monte Carlo Rally Ogier now a record holder and celebrated a very successful start to his last WRC season. Double win and first and second place on "Powerstage" and thus the highest number of points (52) on the manufacturer's scale were also the perfect start for the new head of Toyota's team, Jari-Mattija Latvalo.
"Not bad for the weekend!" he joked at the finish line Ogier. “The car was great, it was really fun. I almost have tears in my eyes and I think it was a good decision to persevere for another year. The team is great, thank you very much everyone. ”
Also in abbreviated form due to limitations due to the new coronavirus pandemic Monte Carlo Rally he has not lost any of his typical challenges. Speed trials in the dark and changing conditions on the road with dry and wet asphalt and snow and ice, they demanded from the crews everything they know and can do.
They are much less than at Toyota with results on Monte Carlo Rally satisfied at Hyundai, as he saved the honor of the Korean team Thierry Neuville with third place. Ott Tänak, who was initially the only one to hold the connector with both Toyotas, had to come to terms with the resignation after two punctured tires. In doing so, both Neuville and Dani sordo in the third Hyundai on Friday counted in the choice of tires, thus increasing the gap behind the leading duo from kilometer to kilometer. In the end, another twenty-year-old managed to come in fourth in front of the Spaniard Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota), thus proving his talent again.
He took care of the moment when everyone was holding their breath Teemu suninen (M-Sport), which flew spectacularly off the road in a right turn. Luckily with his co-driver, Mikko Markkula they did not suffer any serious injuries. He dominated WRC2 Andreas Mikkelsen (Toxport Skoda), which was a class of its own in the “second league WRC”, as it is Adriana Fourmaux (Ford) overtook by almost two minutes.
