2007 Monte Carlo Rally

Coordinates: 44°56′00″N 4°53′30″E / 44.9333°N 4.8917°E / 44.9333; 4.8917
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2007 Monte Carlo Rally
75e Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo
Round 1 of the
Citroën Total World Rally Team
(manufacturer)

The 2007 Monte Carlo Rally (formally known as the 75e Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) was a

Ford
.

Loeb, driving an all new

Legs were won by either Loeb or Sordo, and it was not until Saturday afternoon on the second run of the day's stages, that other drivers could effectively challenge them. The last two days of the race consisted of a duel between Mikko Hirvonen, who drove a factory 2006 model Ford Focus RS WRC, and Chris Atkinson in a factory Subaru Impreza WRC 2006
. After Hirvonen completed Stage 2 in fourth place, Atkinson took the position on Stage 3 and held onto it throughout Friday and into Saturday morning's stages. On Stage 12 on Saturday afternoon, Hirvonen retook fourth, Atkinson regained it on Stage 13 but then lost it to Hirvonen again following Stage 14. Atkinson won the final stage on Sunday morning, and finished the race back in fourth position.

Controversially, the 2007 Monte Carlo Rally was no longer based in

Vercors and Ardèche
, and only one top level driver had competitively driven on the roads before. The 2007 event also marked the return of the nighttime stages.

Loeb's win was his fourth at Monte Carlo and twenty-ninth in WRC. It was the sixth time that he had achieved a podium position there, which brought his WRC podium finishes to forty-eight. He earned ten points in the

BP Ford World Rally Team placed second, with ten points, with the Subaru World Rally Team
placing third with eight points.

Report

Background

The 2007 Monte Carlo Rally was the first round of the

OMV-Kronos Citroën World Rally Team, was familiar with these roads, as he had competed on them in the late 1990s.[4][8]

Although the 25,000 spectators seemed pleased that the rally had returned to the region, the drivers, team bosses and

Junior Rally Championship categories, and fewer entries of competitors.[3][13] It was also badly located and poorly run,[9] and WRC's commercial director David Richards said that the service area was "like a car boot sale".[3]

After being absent from the WRC for the 2006 season to spend thirteen months concentrating on preparing their new

wing mirrors to the midpoint along the front doors.[15][16] The C4's test drivers reported that the car handled more stably.[14]

Citroën was confident the C4 would be successful yet concerned as to whether it would beat the

BF Goodrich tyres after Pirelli decided not to supply any teams in 2007,[4] and they were hoping that Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson could just earn some points from the race.[1][3]

Forty-nine crews registered to compete in the rally,

the order of the final classification of the 2006 season, followed by all other drivers as decided by the ACM.[20] Loeb, the previous season's champion, set off first, followed by Grönholm, then Mikko Hirvonen.[21] Loeb and Grönholm were the favourites to win; Loeb had won the Monte Carlo three times in a row between 2003 and 2005, and Grönholm had won in 2006.[22] Nevertheless, there were worries that Loeb would not be physically fit enough to win. Four months earlier he had broken his left shoulder in a mountain-biking accident, and there was a chance he might not even compete in the first part of the season.[23][24] His physiotherapists and consultants told him that because of the operations he had had on his arm, he should definitely have sat out the Monte Carlo Rally. Loeb admitted that he was "really stressed" before the start, and wondered whether his arm would be okay.[25] "It has been okay in testing but what about the long stages?" he asked. His answer: "I don't know."[17]

Race

Following a ten-year absence of nighttime-run stages,[23] the first two Special Stages of the event were held on Thursday night.[26] They were the first night stages scheduled in the rally since 1997.[23] Throughout the day it had rained, and although it had stopped before the race began, the roads were still very wet and slippery.[1][27] In discussing the day's weather, Grönholm said that he expected the stages that night to be difficult, and added, "I hope this time we can take the right tyres, we were always a little bit on the wrong side [last year] – it’s not easy, but I hope we will manage to get it right this time."[1] Earlier in the day, the crews had driven a shakedown stage in Mauves; however, due to a large number of fans and spectators along the route the shakedown was stopped early,[1] and some crews including Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena were forced to carry out last-minute testing and necessary changes to their cars on the main roads back to Valence.[27] Though forty-nine crews registered in the rally, only forty-seven actually competed. Privateers François Duval driving a Škoda Fabia WRC, and Angelo Villa in a Fiat Punto failed to start the event.[7]

The Citroën C4 WRC, driven by Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, made its début during the Monte Carlo Rally. It was Loeb's first rally since breaking his arm four months prior.

The first stage of the rally started at 19:16

Marc Marti were able to keep up the pace, maxing out at 196 kilometres per hour (122 miles per hour) at one point along the route,[31] and finished in 14m 07.2s for second place. Taking third place on the stage were the Ford crew of Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen, who finished after 14 m 13.9s.[3][7] On Stage 2, a 17.88 km (11.11 mi) run from La Cime du Mas to Col de Gaudissart, Loeb held on to the lead, completing it in 9m 31.2s. Grönholm proved to be faster than Sordo on this stage, finishing with a time of 9m 45.5s, 1.1s faster than Sordo.[3][7] At the end of Leg 1 and 46 km (29 mi), any worries about how well the new C4s would perform had been forgotten. They had beaten all the competition by a wide margin.[27] Loeb was almost 25 seconds ahead of his teammate, while Grönholm was 30 seconds adrift; and Petter Solberg, over a minute behind the lead.[3][7]

There were six stages in Leg 2 on Friday, totalling 150.62 competitive km (93.59 mi). Stage 3 was the first of these, starting at 08:19 CET in

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team were the first crew to take to the still-damp roads, and they set a time of 32m 52.9s. Their teammates, Matthew Wilson and Michael Orr, completed the leg a minute quicker, at 31m 42.5s.[33] With no snow and ice on the roads, Sordo, who proved to be very quick on the tarmac surfaces last season,[1] was fastest on Stage 3. He set a time of 29m 43.4s, a wide margin ahead of Loeb's and Grönholm's second- and third-placed times of 29m 59.6s and 30m 01.1s, respectively. Loeb was said to be "visibly shaken" from losing the stage to his less-experienced teammate.[17] "I lost 16 seconds, my tyres were too hard," he said. "At the start they went cold and I wasn't in a good rhythm. Before we reached some dry parts I wasn't confident and I didn't want to take any big risks this morning."[34] Most drivers had problems with their tyre selection on Stage 3, including Petter Solberg and Hirvonen. Petter was still trying to get used to the new BF Goodriches his car was outfitted with, but he found them too hard and said he could not find any feeling or grip with them.[35] Hirvonen, however, felt his tyre compound was too soft, and was unimpressed with his time.[36] Hirvonen completed the stage ninth, in 30m 41.5s, but Petter's time of 30m 50.0s was even worse, putting him in 12th position.[33] Petter's Subaru teammate Atkinson had no problems with his tyres, though, and he finished fourth with a time of 30m 03.5s. The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC crew of Xavier Pons and Xavier Amigo had other troubles during this stage. The transmission failed and they had to retire from the rally.[37] Their teammates Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen set a good time on the stage when they finished in fifth place, as did OMV-Kronos's Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor in sixth.[3][7]

At the end of Stage 3, the podium positions were unchanged, but the time difference between Loeb and Sordo had decreased to seven seconds, although the gap between first place and fourth was over a minute.[3][7] Petter Solberg had dropped out of contention for points, in ninth place overall, eighth being taken by Jan Kopecký in a privately entered Škoda Fabia WRC.[33] Before Stages 4 and 5 got underway, the crews had a chance to change their tyres to a set with a more suitable compound. A new WRC rule for 2007 allowed for Remote Service Zones to be set up away from the main Service Park at Rally HQ. For 15 minutes the cars could be refuelled, re-tyred, and have any necessary maintenance carried out, as long as the parts and tools to do so (except fuel and tyres) were already in the vehicle.[38] For Grönholm this was a major relief. On the previous stage his car had developed an issue with the hydraulic flappy-paddle gearchanges on his steering wheel,[39] which meant he had had to resort to shifting gears manually. The technicians were unsure why or how it had occurred and were hoping that their repairs would last until the car got back to Valence.[40] Loeb won an uneventful Stage 4, but only by one-tenth of a second ahead of Sordo, and on Stage 5 Sordo was quicker than Loeb,[3][7] after Loeb stalled on the start-line and was unable to make up the lost seconds. At the midday break, Loeb was lamenting his lead over Sordo. "Now it's a big battle between the two C4s. The other cars for the moment are behind, so it's good news for the team. It would be easier if Dani were bit further behind but I have to deal wit that," he said. "I'll try to keep position this afternoon, but it's not easy. Dani is really fast. I only have a six-second lead."[41] Grönholm was also complaining. " The only good thing here is to win this rally, but to drive here; I don't like it."[42]

MMSP Ltd, earning him 2 points in the World Rally Championship for Drivers
.

Stage 6 was a rerun of the Saint-Pierreville – Antraigues stage from the morning. The roads had dried out by the afternoon, but that did not stop some crews from having accidents along the route. Stohl spun out as he went through a corner, and crashed the front of his car into the stone wall of a house. He continued on, but the front bumper was damaged and hanging loose. "We lost the front brakes completely," Stohl explained. "Absolutely no brakes. I was lucky to finish because I was nearly off sometimes."[43] Despite his difficulties, he managed to finish the stage in 29m 37.6s which put him in 10th position for the stage, and 8th overall.[44] The dry roads meant that all the drivers were able to complete the stage faster than they had been in the morning.[33][44] At just 5 km (3.1 mi) Loeb was already much faster than his time during Stage 3,[45] but on a narrow stretch of the route towards the Col de la Fayolle he did not brake into a corner at the right time and skidded and collided with a fence.[39] He was able to carry on driving, but co-driver Elena's door and sill were damaged.[46] Despite the accident, he won the stage, and increased the overall gap between himself and Sordo from 6.5 seconds to nearly 24 seconds. A repeat run of Stages 4 and 5 closed the day. Sordo won Stage 8 and Loeb took Stage 9.[3][7] But by the end of the Leg and 550.02 km (341.77 mi) of driving, Loeb's arm and shoulder were in great pain and his osteopath worked through the night to try to address the problems.[27]

Leg 3 began early Saturday morning.[47] Following Friday's stages, Loeb was 25 seconds ahead of Sordo, and 1m 15s in front of Grönholm. Stage 9 was the first of the day, a 19.67 km (12.22 mi) route between Labatie-d'Andaure and Lalouvesc held in darkness. Loeb, Sordo, and Grönholm once again finished first, second and third.[3][7] Atkinson suffered a setback when he crashed his car and stalled it.[48] It cost him a few seconds and he finished the stage ninth, behind Hirvonen, Jean-Marie Cuoq, Gardemeister and Kopecký, but he retained his fourth place standing in the event's classifications.[49] The surprise result of Stage 10 was Atkinson's. He broke Loeb's and Sordo's run and was the first fastest non-Citroën driver of the rally, and set a time of 12m 42s.[3][7]

Henning Solberg, meanwhile, went off the road and into a ditch as he entered one of the corners on the stage,[50] and his brother Petter had a similar problem in the same corner, but his quick reactions were able to control the car so he just drove into the scrub and got back on track. Henning finished in seventeenth place,[51] and Petter finished joint-fifth with Cuoq on 12m 50.4s.[3][7] Loeb ran his slowest time on this stage after he reduced speed and his tyres went cold. "I was a bit faster than Dani [Sordo] on the start of the stage, and then I saw my splits [times between checkpoints] and then I tried to slow down," he explained. "We had hard tyres and when you slow down the tyres [cool down] and then you lose the grip more and more, and at the end it was really tricky and I had cold tyres, so I just tried to slow down. The end [of the stage] was really tricky so I didn't want to take any risks."[52] Stage 11 was won by Hirvonen with a time of 11m 46.9s. Loeb was 1.2s slower and finished second. Atkinson lost all the time he made up in Stage 10 by finishing in eighth place, 11.4 seconds slower than Hirvonen. This reduced the gap between the two in the overall classifications to just 8.9 seconds. Sordo, meanwhile, had his worst stage and finished in 10th position.[53]

Special Stage 15 was the only stage of the Monte Carlo Rally to be held in Monte Carlo. It used the lower part of the Circuit de Monaco, normally reserved for the Monaco Grand Prix.

After the midday service, the next three stages were reruns of the morning's. Hirvonen won Stage 12 and Atkinson had another slow run, which resulted in Hirvonen taking fourth place in the provisional classification by four-tenths of a second.[54] On Stage 13, Atkinson retook his fourth-placed position after winning the stage with a time of 12m 32.4w, and beating Hirvonen by 7.6 seconds.[3][7] "Considering how ordinary I drove in the first one, I had to pull my finger out!" said Atkinson. He regained his fourth-place position just 7.2 seconds ahead of Hirvonen. Loeb was slow again, 6.7 seconds slower than his teammate, Sordo, which cut the time between them to 23.2 seconds.[55] "No problem, the car is going very well," said Loeb. "One stage more to go and hopefully its okay."

Stage 14 was the last in the mountains of Ardeche, before travelling to Monte Carlo for the Super Special Stage. For most drivers it was going to be the last time to gain higher positions in the classifications.[56] Loeb, although slow again, extended his lead in the standings to 31.1 seconds, by finishing in fourth position with a time of 11m 47.7s.[3][7] Sordo also had another bad stage. He finished the stage ninth-fastest after 11m 55.6s on the road.[57] For Hirvonen, it was the last good chance to retake fourth position from Atkinson, which he did when he won the stage by setting the pace time of 11m 30.5s. Atkinson ran 8 seconds slower and finished second. It was also Jari-Matti Latvala's last chance to earn a points position. Kopecký had been in eighth position and set to score one point since the middle of the second Leg, but Latvala was just 5.4 seconds behind him going into this stage.[55] But Latvala pushed too hard and when he drove over some loose gravel he lost control and slid the car into the end of a stone wall. The impact caused damage to the car's roll cage which forced him to retire from the rally and end his attempt to earn any points.[58]

The final stage of the rally took place on Sunday morning. After conducting the entire race in France the organisers only paid lip service to the principality by holding a Super Special Stage there.[3][7] It involved two laps of part of the Circuit de Monaco for a total distance of 2.8 km (1.7 mi), with two cars on the road at the same time but starting at two different points along the track so that they did not interfere with each other.[59] Because the Service Park was in Valence, repairs, adjustments, refuelling and tyre changes were carried out on Saturday night ahead of the drive down to the coast. The decision about which tyres to fit on the cars was taken out of the teams' hands. ACM ordered that all the cars would drive on the snow tyres that the teams had been allocated, but had not been used because of the dry weather, a decision that was described as "absurd"[11] because the cars ended up drifting through the corners.[60] Loeb's, Sordo's and Grönholm's lead times so far ahead of anyone else's, so the interest in Stage 15 was on Hirvonen and Atkinson. Only eight-tenths of a second made the difference between a fourth-place position and five points, and fifth-placed position and four points. Hirvonen, who was in fourth place, completed the stage in 1m 50.9s, and admitted, "[I made] a few small mistakes, and that can be it. Nothing more I can do. We'll see how Chris drives and hope for the best.". Atkinson drove opposite Grönholm on the stage, with Hirvonen watching from the sidelines.[61] To beat Hirvonen, he had to complete the stage in 1m 50.0s. He was one-tenth of a second quicker than that, which won him the stage and fourth place in the rally.[62]

Post-race

Loeb was delighted with his win at Monte Carlo, saying, "It's a victory in Monte Carlo so that's a great moment. I like to start the season like this, with ten points. That's really important for me, the feeling is good. The car is really, really fast and my arm is much better, so everything is perfect for the moment."[63] Guy Fréquelin, the Team Principal at Citroën Total was also pleased with Leob's and Sordo's results. He said afterwards,

It's a really a fantastic start for Citroën, for the team, for the crews. It's really fantastic, and for the chief, for sure! This is the result of a huge team effort. To do this in the first event, every member of the Citroën Sport team had to come together in a common goal. I think it's a wonderful reward for our pus to come back to the World Championship. It's not often that a car making its competition début produces results like these: nine fastest times, eight on them 1–2s. And there aren't many models that have dominated and scored a 1–2 finish in their first race, either. The Citroën C4 WRC has really made its presence felt on its international début.[39][64]

The last time a car had finished in first and second-place in its début rally was 20 years ago in the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally, when Miki Biasion and Juha Kankkunen came first and second in all-new Lancia Delta HF 4WDs. The Delta HF 4×4 also won two-thirds of all the stages of that 1987 rally, just like the C4 did this time around. Lancia also won both the Group A and Group N categories in the race, while Citroën won the 4-wheel drive WRC category and came first in the 2-wheel drive Super 1600 category.[11]

"For me this victory was one of the best, because we had a lot of questions before the start. I was a bit stressed on Thursday; it was a lot we didn’t know. The feeling was good, but in the race you need to be able to improvise and be confident in the car and we didn’t know. Also my arm, it was my first race in four months, some new stages, rain and in the night – it was a lot of new things. For us it’s good news to see the C4 was competitive and to fight for the victory and to win."

Sébastien Loeb, commenting on the weekend in the post-race press conference.[65]

Grönholm was disappointed with his race, admitting that he thought he might be able to beat Sordo, if not Loeb. But after having gearbox and tyre problems on Leg 2, he settled into third place and stayed in that position to the rally's conclusion. "We got it wrong on the tyre choice, which we had to have approved by the FIA early in the week," he explained. "We thought it would rain. Harder tyres would have made life easier for us."[39] BP-Ford was also unhappy. Christian Loriaux, the team's Technical Director said, "Having Marcus finish behind Sordo is disappointing. Being behind Loeb is easier to understand, because I didn't expect the C4 to be any slower than the Xsara, and that car had a performance edge over us last year."[4] Petter Solberg also had issues with his tyres throughout the rally. After Subaru switched to BF Goodriches from Pirelli following the 2006 season, and with the shortest break between seasons the WRC had seen, the crews had not had enough time to test the new compounds. The Subarus had had their problems with the Pirellis, too. To protect them from breaking up too quickly the drivers had learned how to look after them, but driving that way on the new brand meant that he could not get the BFs up to temperature and ended up running slower.[4] He finished the rally in sixth place.[3][7][66] His teammate Atkinson did not have that problem though, and after fighting with Hirvonen in the final half of the rally, finished in fourth place. "It's been a massive battle, and so much fun to be in a battle with these guys again," he said after being congratulated by Hirvonen.[67] Two drivers in non-manufacturer cars, Gardemeister and Kopecký, finished in seventh and eighth place to receive drivers points.[3][7][66]

As a consequence of the final positions, Loeb started the season leading in the

World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Stobart Ford had one point from Henning Solberg's fourteenth-placed position (although Wilson finished the rally quicker, he was not nominated to earn points for the manufacturer). Stohl earned OMV-Kronos Citroën two points. Subaru were in third place with eight points, BP-Ford were two points clear of Subaru in second place, and Citroën Total WRT was first, with eighteen points – ten from Loeb's win and eight from Sordo.[3][7][66][68]

Statistics

Crew names in italics are able to score points for the manufacturer in the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

Entry list

List of entrants
Car No Driver Co-driver Car Entrant Group /
Class 		Priority
1 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total WRT
 		A8 1
2 Spain Dani Sordo Spain Marc Martí Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total WRT
 		A8 1
3 Finland Marcus Grönholm Finland Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC '06
BP-Ford WRT
 		A8 1
4 Finland Mikko Hirvonen Finland Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC '06
BP-Ford WRT
 		A8 1
5 Austria Manfred Stohl Austria Ilka Minor Citroën Xsara WRC
OMV-Kronos Citroën WRT
 		A8 1
7 Norway Petter Solberg United Kingdom Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2006 Subaru WRT A8 1
8 Australia Chris Atkinson Australia Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza WRC2006 Subaru WRT A8 1
9 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala Finland Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC '06
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT
 		A8 1
10 Norway Henning Solberg Norway Cato Menkerud Ford Focus RS WRC '06
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT
 		A8 1
16 United Kingdom Matthew Wilson United Kingdom Michael Orr Ford Focus RS WRC '06
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT
 		A8 2
17 Belgium François Duval (DNS) — Škoda Fabia WRC 06 François Duval A8 2
18 Czech Republic Jan Kopecký Czech Republic Filip Schovanek Škoda Fabia WRC 06 Jan Kopecký A8 2
19 Republic of Ireland Gareth MacHale Republic of Ireland Paul Nagle Ford Focus RS WRC '03 Gareth MacHale A8 2
20 Republic of Ireland Eamonn Boland United Kingdom Francis Regan Ford Focus RS WRC '03 Eamonn Boland A8 2
21 France Jean-Marie Cuoq France David Marty Peugeot 307 WRC Jean-Marie Cuoq A8 2
26 Finland Toni Gardemeister Finland Jakke Honkanen Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 05
MMSP Ltd
 		A8 2
27 Spain Xavier Pons Spain Xavier Amigo Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 05
MMSP Ltd
 		A8 2
61 Switzerland Philippe Roux Switzerland Eric Jordan Peugeot 307 WRC Philippe Roux A8 —
62 France Frederic Romeyer France Marie-Ange Lachand Peugeot 206 WRC Frederic Romeyer A8 —
63 Hungary Daniel Holczer Hungary Gábor Magyar
Renault Clio RS
 		Daniel Holczer A7 —
64 France Arnaud Monnet Bertrand Chagot
Peugeot 206 RC
 		Daniel Holczer A7 —
65 Monaco Marc Dessi Monaco Vanessa Dessi
Renault Clio RS
 		Les Casinos de Monte-Carlo A7 —
66 Italy Flavio Castegnaro Italy Renzo Fraschia
Peugeot 206 RC
 		Flavio Castegnaro A7 —
67 Czech Republic Martin Prokop Czech Republic Jan Tománek Citroën C2 S1600 Martin Prokop A6 —
68 France Fabiano Lo Fiego France Hubert Brun Citroën C2 S1600 Fabiano Lo Fiego A6 —
69 Italy Luca Betti Italy Giovanni Agnese
Renault Clio S1600
 		Luca Betti A6 —
70 France Marc Amourette France Gwenola Marie Citroën C2-R2 Marc Amourette A6 —
71 France Alain Pellerey France Eric Domenech Citroën Saxo Kit Car Alain Pellerey A6 —
72 Italy Angelo Villa (DNS) Italy Elisa Faravelli Fiat Punto Angelo Villa A6 —
73 France Lilian Vialle France Patrice Roissac
Renault Clio S1600
 		Lilian Vialle A6 —
74 Austria Andreas Aigner Germany Klaus Wicha
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Andreas Aigner N4 —
75 Switzerland Olivier Burri France Fabrice Gordon
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Olivier Burri N4 —
76 France Jean-Paul Ayme France Brigitte Ayme
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Jean-Paul Ayme N4 —
77 France Richard Frau France Serge Legars
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Richard Frau N4 —
78 Spain Joan Font Guixaro Spain Jordi Barrabes Costa
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Joan Font Guixaro N4 —
79 France Alain Machard France Alain Constant
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Alain Machard N4 —
80 Poland Andrzej Mancin Poland Ryszard Ciupka
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
 		Andrzej Mancin N4 —
81 France Laurent Nicolas France Patrice Mallet
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Laurent Nicolas N4 —
82 France Frédéric Sauvan France Aymeric Duchemin
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Frédéric Sauvan N4 —
83 France Jerome Galpin France Eric Bacle
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Jerome Galpin N4 —
84 Italy Riccardo Errani Italy Stefano Casadio
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Riccardo Errani N4 —
85 France Luc Dewinter France Nicolas Gilsoul
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Luc Dewinter N4 —
86 Switzerland Chris Marti Germany Stephane Marti
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
 		Chris Marti N4 —
87 France Miguel Baudoin France Fredéric Vauclare
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
 		Miguel Baudoin N4 —
88 France Stephane Vouillon France Alexandre Pasta
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Stephane Vouillon N4 —
89 France Claude Carret France Jean-Rodolphe Guigonnet
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Claude Carret N4 —
90 France Pierre Marche France Julien Giroux
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Pierre Marche N4 —
91 France Jerome Aymard France Sandrine Aymard
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Jerome Aymard N4 —
92 France Patrick Artru France Cédric Soy
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
 		Patrick Artru N4 —
Sources:[7][69]

Special stages

Itinerary of Special Stages
Stage No Name Type Distance
in km (mi) 		Start time
(
UTC+1
]) 		Status Winner Time (mm:ss) Avg. speed
in
km/h (mph) 		Rally leader
Leg 1: Thursday, 18 January 2007
1 Saint-Jean-en-Royans – Col de Lachau Tarmac 28.52 (17.72) 19:16 Completed France Sébastien Loeb 13:58.7 122.42 (76.07) France Sébastien Loeb
2 La Cime du Mas – Gaudissart Tarmac 17.87 (11.10) 20:06 Completed France Sébastien Loeb 9:31.2 112.63 (69.99)
Service Park (Valence) — 21:34 Completed —
Park Fermé (Valence) — Completed —
Leg 2: Friday, 19 January 2007
Service Park (Valence) — 06:50 Completed — France Sébastien Loeb
3 Saint-Pierreville – Antraigues 1 Tarmac 46.02 (28.60) 08:19 Completed Spain Dani Sordo 29:43.4 93.26 (57.95)
Remote Service Zone (Vals-les-Bains) — 09:25 Completed —
4 Burzet – Lachamp-Raphaël 1 Tarmac 16.48 (10.24) 10:13 Completed France Sébastien Loeb 9:39.3 102.35 (63.60)
5 Saint-Martial – Le Chambon – Beleac 1 Tarmac 12.81 (7.96) 10:59 Completed Spain Dani Sordo 8:00.7 95.94 (59.61)
Service Park (Valence) — 13:28 Completed —
6 Saint-Pierreville – Antraigues 2 Tarmac 46.02 (28.60) 15:17 Completed France Sébastien Loeb 28:29.7 97.28 (60.45)
Remote Service Zone (Vals-les-Bains) — 16:23 Completed —
7 Burzet – Lachamp-Raphaël 2 Tarmac 16.48 (10.24) 17:11 Completed Spain Dani Sordo 9:43.2 101.67 (63.17)
8 Saint-Martial – Le Chambon – Beleac 2 Tarmac 12.81 (7.96) 17:57 Completed France Sébastien Loeb 8:16.4 92.9 (57.7)
Service Park (Valence) — 19:56 Completed —
Park Fermé (Valence) — Completed —
Leg 3: Saturday and Sunday, 20–21 January 2007
Service Park (Valence) — 06:00 Completed — France Sébastien Loeb
9 Labatie-d'Andaure – Lalouvesc 1 Tarmac 19.67 (12.22) 07:31 Completed France Sébastien Loeb 10:47.2 109.41 (67.98)
10 Saint-Bonnet 1 Tarmac 25.93 (16.11) 08:13 Completed Australia Chris Atkinson 12:42.7 122.39 (76.05)
11 Saint-Bonnet – Saint-Barthélemy-Grozon 1 Tarmac 18.76 (11.66) 09:38 Completed Finland Mikko Hirvonen 11:46.9 95.54 (59.37)
Service Park (Valence) — 11:12 Completed —
12 Labatie-d'Andaure – Lalouvesc 2 Tarmac 19.67 (12.22) 13:00 Completed Finland Mikko Hirvonen 10:45.1 109.77 (68.21)
13 Saint-Bonnet 2 Tarmac 25.93 (16.11) 13:45 Completed Australia Chris Atkinson 12:32.4 124.07 (77.09)
14 Saint-Bonnet – Saint-Barthélemy-Grozon 2 Tarmac 18.76 (11.66) 15:10 Completed Finland Mikko Hirvonen 11:30.5 97.81 (60.78)
Service Park (Valence) — 16:29 Completed —
15 Circuit de Monaco Tarmac 2.8 (1.7) 09:00 Completed Australia Chris Atkinson 1:49.9 91.39 (56.79)
Sources:[3][7][70]

Classifications

Final classification after 15 Special Stages
Position Car
Number 		Driver Co-driver Car Entrant Group /
Class 		Stage time
(h:mm:ss) 		Penalty
(mm:ss) 		Total time
(h:mm:ss) 		Diff.
(previous) 		Diff.
(leader) 		Group
position 		Class
position 		WRC Points
1 1 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total WRT
 		A8 3:10:27.4 — 3:10:27.4 — — 1 1 10
2 2 Spain Dani Sordo Spain Marc Martí Citroën C4 WRC
Citroën Total WRT
 		A8 3:11:05.6 — 3:11:05.6 +38.2 +38.2 2 2 8
3 3 Finland Marcus Grönholm Finland Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC '06
BP-Ford WRT
 		A8 3:11:05.6 — 3:11:50.2 +44.6 +1:22.8 3 3 6
4 8 Australia Chris Atkinson Australia Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza WRC2006 Subaru WRT A8 3:12:55.5 — 3:12:55.5 +1:05.3 +2:28.1 4 4 5
5 4 Finland Mikko Hirvonen Finland Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC '06
BP-Ford WRT
 		A8 3:12:55.7 — 3:12:55.7 +0.2 +2:28.3 5 5 4
6 7 Norway Petter Solberg United Kingdom Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2006 Subaru WRT A8 3:13:39.4 — 3:13:39.4 +43.7 +3:12.0 6 6 3
7 26 Finland Toni Gardemeister Finland Jakke Honkanen
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
MMSP Ltd
 		A8 3:14:05.5 — 3:14:05.5 +26.1 +3:38.1 7 7 2
8 18 Czech Republic Jan Kopecký Czech Republic Filip Schovánek Škoda Fabia WRC Jan Kopecký A8 3:15:06.8 — 3:15:06.8 +1:01.3 +4:39.4 8 8 1
9 21 France Jean-Marie Cuoq France David Marty Peugeot 307 WRC Jean-Marie Cuoq A8 3:16:27.1 — 3:16:27.1 +1:20.3 +5:59.7 9 9 —
10 5 Austria Manfred Stohl Austria Ilka Minor Citroën Xsara WRC
OMV-Kronos Citroën WRT
 		A8 3:16:27.1 — 3:16:27.1 +1:20.3 +5:59.7 10 10 —
11 19 Republic of Ireland Gareth MacHale Republic of Ireland Paul Nagle Ford Focus RS WRC '03 Gareth MacHale A8 3:21:38.0 — 3:21:38.0 +4:33.3 +11:10.6 11 11 —
12 16 United Kingdom Matthew Wilson United Kingdom Michael Orr Ford Focus RS WRC '06
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT
 		A8 3:23:38.4 — 3:23:38.4 +2:00.4 +13:11.0 12 12 —
13 62 France Frederic Romeyer France Marie-Ange Lachand Peugeot 206 WRC Frederic Romeyer A8 3:24:09.3 00:10 3:24:19.3 +40.9 +13:51.9 13 13 —
14 10 Norway Henning Solberg Norway Cato Menkerud Ford Focus RS WRC '06
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT
 		A8 3:25:11.9 — 3:25:11.9 +52.6 +14:44.5 14 14 —
15 20 Republic of Ireland Eamonn Boland United Kingdom Francis Regan Ford Focus RS WRC '03 Eamonn Boland A8 3:31:39.1 — 3:31:39.1 +6:27.2 +21:11.7 15 15 —
16 61 Switzerland Philippe Roux Switzerland Eric Jordan Peugeot 307 WRC Philippe Roux A8 3:32:47.8 — 3:32:47.8 +1:08.7 +22:20.4 16 16 —
17 75 Switzerland Olivier Burri France Fabrice Gordon
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
 		Olivier Burri N4 3:32:56.6 — 3:32:56.6 +8.8 +22:29.2 1 1 —
18 67 Czech Republic Martin Prokop Czech Republic Jan Tománek Citroën C2 S1600 Martin Prokop A6 3:34:58.1 00:10 3:35:08.1 +2:11.5 +24:40.7 17 1 —
25 67 Spain Xavier Pons Spain Xavier Amigo
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
MMSP Ltd
 		A8 3:45:39.9 — 3:45:39.9 +1:26.7 +35:12.5 20 17 —
Sources:[3][7][66][71]
Leading retirements
Stage Car
Number 		Driver Co-driver Car Entrant Group /
Class 		Cause
8 74 Austria Andreas Aigner Germany Klaus Wicha
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
 		Andreas Aigner N4 Transmission
15 14 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala Finland Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC '06
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT
 		A8 Roll cage damage
Sources:[3][7][66]

Championship standings after the event

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Pre-event Press Conference" (Press release). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  2. ^ "2007 Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-08-22. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Evans (2007); pp. 72–73.
  4. ^ a b c d e Bourret, Joubin (2007); p. 50.
  5. ^ Holmes (2007); pp. 44–45.
  6. ^ "ViaMichelin directions for Monaco Valence". Michelin. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Bourret, Joubin (2007); pp. 52–53.
  8. ^ Holmes (2007); pp. 146, 149.
  9. ^ a b c Bourret, Joubin (2007); p. 51.
  10. ^ WRC Sp. Regs. (2007); p. 2, §3.2.1.
  11. ^ a b c Holmes (2007); p. 45
  12. ^ WRC Highlights 2007 at 6m 01s in.
  13. ^ Holmes (2007); p. 46.
  14. ^ a b c Holmes (2007); p. 157
  15. ^ a b c d e Bourret, Joubin (2007); p. 28.
  16. ^ WRC Highlights 2007 at 8m 53s in.
  17. ^ a b c d Evans (2007); p. 68.
  18. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2007 Entry List". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-08-25. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  19. ^ Holmes (2007); pp. 142, 146.
  20. ^ WRC Sp. Regs. (2007); p. 3, §§3.5.2.1(a), 3.5.2.1(c).
  21. ^ "FIA WRC Drivers Championship Standings 2006 Season". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  22. ^ Holmes (2007); pp. 143–144.
  23. ^ a b c Holmes (2007); p. 44.
  24. ^ Evans (2007); p. 14.
  25. ^ Evans (2007); p. 30.
  26. ^ "2007 Monte Carlo Day 1 Timetable". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2007. Archived from the original on 24 January 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  27. ^ a b c d Bourret, Joubin (2007); p. 48.
  28. ^ "Timetable 2007 Monte Carlo Day 1". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  29. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 6m 05s in.
  30. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 5m 58s in.
  31. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 6m 55s in.
  32. ^ "Timetable 2007 Monte Carlo Day 2". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 25 January 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  33. ^ a b c d "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS3 St Pierreville 1 (46.02km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  34. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 15m 02s in.
  35. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 12m 00s in.
  36. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 12m 42s in.
  37. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 26m 22s in.
  38. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 15m 48s in.
  39. ^ a b c d Bourret, Joubin (2007); p. 49.
  40. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 16m 36s in.
  41. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 20m 10s in.
  42. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 19m 47s in.
  43. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 21m 32s in.
  44. ^ a b "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS6 St Pierreville 2 (46.02km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  45. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 24m 22s in.
  46. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 23m 55s in.
  47. ^ "Timetable 2007 Monte Carlo Day 3". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 26 January 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  48. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 28m 39s in.
  49. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS9 Labatie D'Andaure 1 (19.67km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  50. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 41m 17s in.
  51. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS10 St Bonnet 1 (25.93km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  52. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 36m 33s in.
  53. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS11 Lamastre 1 (18.76km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  54. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS12 Labatie D'Andaure 2 (19.67km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  55. ^ a b "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS13 St Bonnet 2 (25.93km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  56. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 41m 39s in.
  57. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS14 Lamastre 2 (18.76km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  58. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 41m 51s in.
  59. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 45m 00s in.
  60. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 45m 05s in.
  61. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 46m 52s in.
  62. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo – Stage Times – SS15 Monaco (2.79km)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  63. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 49m 50s in.
  64. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 50m 27s in.
  65. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Post-event Press Conference" (Press release). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 21 January 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  66. ^ a b c d e f g Holmes (2007); p. 47.
  67. ^ WRC Highlights 2007; at 48m 18s in.
  68. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo – Final Results". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2011-12-27. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
  69. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2007 Entry List". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-08-25. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  70. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Itinerary". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 17 April 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  71. ^ "Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2007 Classification". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 2010-08-25. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2007 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo.

44°56′00″N 4°53′30″E / 44.9333°N 4.8917°E / 44.9333; 4.8917

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