WRC MONTE CARLO 2021 DAY 1 – TANAK TOPS

WRC 2021 Monte Carlo – Hyundai driver Ott Tanak finished the first day in the lead 3.3 ahead of Kalle Rovanpera.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak took the early lead in the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Thursday after winning the first two stages in the French Alps.

The Estonian crashed heavily as reigning world champion last year but kept his car on the road this time as he finished the first 20.58km stage 3.0 seconds clear of Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera.

Tanak added another 0.3 to his advantage in the second stage from Saint-Maurice to Saint-Bonnet.

French curfew rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced changes to the scheduling, with early starts and finishes, no night stages and no spectators.

“We never started before in daylight and with consistent conditions,” said Tanak.

“We have more stability with the car compared to last year and definitely better feedback.”

Conditions on the asphalt roads were wet with icy patches and M-Sport Ford’s Teemu Suninen was the first retirement after hitting a bank, rolling his car off the road and down an embankment on the opening stage.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was running third with Hyundai’s Belgian Thierry Neuville, last year’s Monte Carlo winner now competing with new co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe after splitting with Nicolas Gilsoul last week, in fourth.

Seven times world champion Sebastien Ogier, bidding for a record eighth Monte Carlo win in what the Frenchman has said will be his final season, was fifth for Toyota.

Five stages will be held on Friday, starting before dawn, with the 89th edition of the rally ending on Sunday with a formal finish in the Mediterranean principality.

The season marks the end of an era for the championship, with new hybrid cars coming in for 2022, and a new start with Pirelli replacing Michelin as sole tyre supplier after a 10-year absence.

WRC 2021 MONTE CARLO – RESULTS AFTER STAGE 2

POS	CLASS	DRIVER	TEAM	GAP
1	RC1	Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	24m17.5s
2	RC1	Kalle Rovanpera, J.Halttunen		3.3s
3	RC1	Elfyn Evans, S.Martin	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	8.5s
4	RC1	Thierry Neuville, M.Wydaeghe	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	16.0s
5	RC1	Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	16.9s
6	RC1	Dani Sordo, C.del Barrio	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	42.7s
7	RC1	Pierre-Louis Loubet, V.Landais	Hyundai 2C Competition	1m07.8s
8	WRC2	Andreas Mikkelsen, O.Floene	Toksport WRT	1m18.3s
9	WRC2	Adrien Fourmaux, R.Jamoul	M-Sport Ford WRT	1m27.2s
10	RC1	Gus Greensmith, E.Edmondson	M-Sport Ford WRT	1m30.0s
11	RC1	Takamoto Katsuta, D.Barritt	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	1m39.4s
12	WRC2	Nikolay Gryazin, K.Aleksandrov	Movisport SRL	1m44.3s
13	WRC2	Oliver Solberg, A.Johnston	Hyundai Motorsport N	1m49.4s
14	WRC3	Yohan Rossel, B.Fulcrand		1m52.1s
15	WRC2	Eric Camilli, F-X.Buresi	Sports & You	1m57.0s
16	WRC3	Nicolas Ciamin, Y.Roche		1m59.7s
17	RC2	Yoann Bonato, B.Boulloud		2m01.2s
18	RC2	Kevin Abbring, P.Tsjoen		2m29.9s
19	WRC2	Marco Bulacia Wilkinson, M.Der Ohannesian	Toksport WRT	2m30.6s
20	WRC3	Cedric De Cecco, J.Humblet		2m58.0s
21	WRC2	Sean Johnston, A.Kihurani	Sainteloc Junior Team	3m14.2s
22	RGT Cup	Manu Guigou, A.Coria		3m15.6s
23	WRC3	Hermann Neubauer, B.Ettel		3m42.3s
24	WRC3	Davy Vanneste, K.D’alleine		3m46.6s
25	RC2	Olivier Burri, A.Levratti		3m54.0s
26	RC2	Mauro Miele, L.Beltrame		4m07.1s
27	RC2	Mike Coppens, F.Gordon		4m10.0s
28	WRC3	Johannes Keferbock, I.Minor		4m27.8s
29	RC2	Jerome Chavanne, P.Blot		4m30.5s
30	RC2	Daniel Alonso Villaron, A.L.Fernandez		4m43.8s
31	WRC3	Giacomo Ogliari, L.Granai		4m50.0s
32	WRC3	Cedric Cherain, S.Prevot		4m57.7s
33	RGT Cup	Cedric Robert, M.Duval		5m00.6s
34	WRC3	Tom Williams, G.Ascalone		5m08.1s
35	RC4	Nicolas Latil, J.Degout		5m17.1s
36	RC2	Yanis Desangles, N.Theron		5m58.9s
37	RGT Cup	Philippe Baffoun, A.Dunand		6m25.0s
38	WRC3	Miguel Diaz-Aboitiz, D.Sanjuan		6m27.6s
39	RC4	Sacha Althaus, L.Zbinden		6m28.5s
40	RC4	Viliam Prodan, Z.Rastegorac		7m05.0s
41	RC4	Nikos Pavlidis, A.Harryman		7m27.1s
42	RGT Cup	Raphael Astier, F.Vauclare		7m31.4s
43	RC4	Alain Cittadino, L.Santi		7m49.8s
44	RC4	Sebastien Martinez, P.Santos		8m08.1s
45	WRC3	Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio, M.Bosi		8m10.0s
46	RC4	Jerome Aymard, S.Aymard		8m13.8s
47	RC2	Pascal Eouzan, P.Eouzan		8m18.6s
48	RC4	Francois Delgery, S.Schwab		8m38.6s
49	RC2	Philippe Roux, C.Roux		8m40.7s
50	RC4	Christophe Berard, A.Paolini		8m43.3s
51	RC4	Jean-Paul Marcaillou, M.Salignon		8m48.8s
52	RC2	Carlo Covi, M.Lorigiola		9m36.8s
53	RC4	Pierre Tanci, S.Malet		10m57.8s
54	RC2	Carlo Boroli, M.Imerito		11m50.0s
55	WRC2	Enrico Brazzoli, M.Barone	Movisport SRL	13m22.6s

WRC 2021 MONTE CARLO – TANAK TOPS WRC 2021 MONTE CARLO – TANAK TOPS

WRC – 2021 NEW LIVERY TOYOTA YARIS WORLD RALLY CAR

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