WRC Monte Carlo: Oliver Solberg takes early lead before fog causes SS3 red flag

Oliver Solberg made a stunning start to life as a full-time World Rally Championship Rally1 driver to emerge from treacherous wintry conditions with the Monte Carlo Rally lead.

Solberg produced a masterclass on the challenging snow and ice covered mountain asphalt roads to reach service with a 44.2s lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans. M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong ended his first day in a Rally1 car sitting in a similarly impressive third position.

Teams avoided the snow in the opening stage of the rally, but had to contend with tricky wet conditions and low clouds.

The conditions favoured crews that gambled taking super soft tyres as part of their tyre package. Evans and Ogier were among two crews of which to do so, and the pair set the early pace.

Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

It was Evans that lit up the timing screens as the Welshman blitzed the stage to post a time, 12.0s faster than world champion Ogier, who admitted he was driving on the safe side and was unsure where the limit was in the slippery conditions.

Although running without super softs, new Toyota signing Solberg turned heads as the Swede managed to split the pair, posting a time 5.6s shy of Evans’ benchmark, and quicker than Ogier.

Fourmaux emerged as the quickest Hyundai driver in fourth, the Frenchman also battled his way through the stage with a suboptimal tyre package.

Shakedown pacesetter Takamoto Katsuta was fifth ahead of the impressive M-Sport-Ford’s Rally1 rookie Jon Armstrong, who gambled on two super soft tyres.

Thierry Neuville’s difficult start to the season following driveshaft and suspension failure in shakedown, continued. The Belgian reporting “zero confidence" behind the wheel of his Hyundai i20 N, reached the stage end 43.5s adrift of the pace. Neuville was beaten by Lancia Rally2 runner Nikolay Gryazin and M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster, who lamented the lack of a test day before the rally.

Sami Pajari, Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon, competing in the top level for the first time since 2018 and M-Sport’s Josh McErlean all struggled for pace as they filled 11th to 13th.

Weather was a factor

Sebastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

As expected, the first night stage (Esclangon/Seyne-les-Alpes, 23.8km) offered far more trecherous conditions with slush, snow and icy patches providing one of the craziest stages in recent Monte Carlo history. Crews were reduced to crawl in the second half of the stage with the worst of the snow.

While many struggled, Solberg thrived as the Swede stunned the field to stop the clocks 31.1s faster than nearest rival Evans. The effort was enough to push Solberg from second into a 25.5s rally lead over Evans.

“I tell you, my god, that's the craziest thing I have done in my life, I thought I would go off so many times. In the beginning my driving was really bad, but then on the snow I thought I'd just go for it,” said Solberg.

Solberg’s time was made even more impressive by the fact he was 1m09.2s quicker than struggling Ogier, who was quick to take aim at the Hankook tyres after what he declared as the least enjoyable stage of his career. 

“I've never seen that in my whole life, such a s*** tyre, unbelievable,” said a frustrated Ogier, who dropped from third to fifth overall.

Another surprise was delivered by Armstrong, who set the third fastest time despite a couple of moments that included contact with a bank that damaged the front left tyre. The Northern Irishman moved to third overall ahead of Fourmaux. 

Neuville survived a moment to finish as the top Hyundai, 7.3s quicker than Fourmaux, who suffered a spin, but the pair like many others really struggled for confidence and grip.

“The conditions are crazy. We don't get any grip with these tyres,” said Neuville.

The conditions did result in drama for Toyota’s Pajari and M-Sport’s Josh McErlean, who both stopped in the stage. Pajari hit a bridge at the 5.5km mark that caused damage to the left rear, while McErlean also retired sliding off the road at the same location.

Armstrong and Fourmaux both were lucky to survive moments after struggling in the horrendous visibility. Fourmaux even had to stop and open his door to see the road ahead.

Red flag conditions

The snow was absent for the final test but thick fog enveloped Vaumeilh/Claret - 15.06km, which led to several drivers calling the conditions were far too dangerous. Smoke from flares being waved by the fans appeared to contribute to the poor visibility. 

"I couldn't see the road, I could only see marshal jackets. If they think this is safe to run I will eat my hat,” said Evans, who dropped 25.7s in the test.

Neuville added: "These conditions are crazy, very very dangerous. Any race would have been canceled. We should have stopped the stage before the fog came. Very very dangerous.”

Ogier managed to survive the fog to win the stage by seven seconds from the impressive Solberg, who increased his lead over Evans to 44.2s.

Officials eventually put out the red flag after seven Rally1 cars made it through the stage.

Armstrong and Fourmaux both were lucky to survive moments after struggling in the horrendous visibility. Fourmaux even had to stop and open his door to see the road ahead.

Lancia’s return

Lancia Corse HF team area

It proved to be a difficult start for Lancia on its return to the WRC as Yohan Rossel clipped a rock face in the opening stage which forced the Frenchman to retire with suspected suspension damage. Nikolay Gryazin then suffered suspension damage in SS2 but managed to end the day still in the rally. Frenchman Eric Camilli ended the day leading WRC2.

Can Lancia enjoy success on its anticipated WRC return?

The headaches facing WRC crews ahead of a ‘proper Monte’

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