At the end of the third day of the competition, Sébastien Ogier was heading into the final day of the event with a 21.1 second lead over Loeb and was on the brink of his 9th Monte Victory.
The third day of the Rallye of Monte Carlo resumed on Saturday morning in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and featured 5 stages covering 92km; the second full day of action would once again go without a mid-day service opportunity. With the shortened Sisteron Stage (Saint-Geniez – Thoard) billed as the one to watch, this stage delivered ample drama on its first run alone.
Overnight rally leader Sébastien Ogier led the field north of Monaco to the area around the Mercantour National Park in the Alps for a further 6 stages totalling at just under 98km. The stages featured on the second leg of the rally were typical Southern France tests: Roure – Beuil (SS3/6) at 18km, Guillaumes – Péone – Valberg (SS4/7) at 13km and Val-de-Chalvagne – Entrevaux (SS5/8) at 17km.
The 90th edition of the legendary Rallye Monte Carlo got underway in the darkness of the mountains to the north on Monaco with the first of two night stages. SS1 Lucéram – Lantosque at 15km in length took the honours for opening up the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season, in this all-new Hybrid technological era.
To the North of Monaco, on a short 2.29km stretch of road between the villages of Sainte Agnes and Peille; the new generation of Hybrid Rally1 World Rally cars finally got to compare one another’s performance for the first time at the Rallye Monte Carlo Pre Event Shakedown.
For an endurance challenge that began its journey back in 1977 when Thierry Sabine got lost on his motorbike in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan-Nice Rally. On new years day 2022, a fresh new 14-day long adventure through breathtaking landscapes began from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for the 44th edition of the Dakar Rally, billed with the slogan of “Dream, Dare, Live It”!
It is only fitting that one of the oldest World Rallies in existence, The Monte Carlo Rallye will signify the beginning of a new chapter in the World Rallying history books.
On Thursday 20th January at the Casino Square in Monaco, a new generation of Hybrid Rally1 cars will line up at the ceremonial start ahead of the opening round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season.
As a young man going through my teens and early twenties, I was always a bit of a car nut. Having spent much of my time throughout the nineties and noughties messing about in the modified car scene and hanging around in car parks all around the UK until all hours of the night; I would therefore consider myself a bit of a latecomer to the form of motorsport that is rallying.
Rosberg X Racing’s Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson crowned inaugural Extreme E champions
Molly Taylor and Johan Kristoffersson held on to win the first Extreme E championship for Rosberg X Racing, ahead of Jurassic X-Prix winners Team X44.
Cristina Gutierrez and Sebastian Loeb did all they could to take the title away from RXR, winning both the final event of the season in Dorset, England and the Continental Traction Challenge, worth an extra five bonus points. However, a fourth-place finish for RXR in the final left the two teams tied on championship points.
Team X44 take qualifying clean sweep but Rosberg X Racing have one hand on the championship title.
The Extreme E championship title is Rosberg X Racing’s to lose after a strong qualifying and the fastest Continental Traction Challenge time.
Despite Team X44 winning their fifth qualifying day of the season, Johan Kristoffersson’s blistering run through the Continental Traction Challenge sector of his lap in Q2 has RXR currently in possession of five crucial bonus points and a 20-point advantage over their title rivals.