Rally Monte Carlo 2010

The 78th Monte Carlo Rally took place from January 19 to 23, 2010 and marked the start of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge . The winner was Mikko Hirvonen ahead of Juho Hänninen and Nicolas Vouilloz .

Route

The 2010 Monte Carlo Rally stretched over 405 classified kilometers on 15 special stages. On the evening of January 19th, the rally opened with a prologue of almost nine kilometers. Its result was not included in the classification, but determined the starting order for the first stage, on which the ten fastest of the prologue took to the track in reverse order. The rally passed through the French Alps and was decided on the third stage, which led over the Col de Turini and ended on the border with Monaco . The rally took place on asphalt roads that could be snowy or icy in places. Due to extremely changeable weather conditions, the choice of tires played a decisive role.

Attendees

63 participants were registered for the event, with the drivers of the most competitive Super 2000 class taking the top positions among themselves. One of the favorites was the reigning rally vice world champion Mikko Hirvonen , who drove the new Ford Fiesta S2000 in its first rally for M-Sport . Other contenders for victory were IRC defending champion Kris Meeke and last year's winner Sébastien Ogier , both on a Peugeot 207 S2000 . Stéphane Sarrazin , Bruno Magalhães and Franz Wittmann junior , who made his debut on a Super 2000 car, competed in the same vehicle . Škoda took Jan Kopecký , Juho Hänninen , Nicolas Vouilloz and Guy Wilks on Škoda Fabia S2000 in part. WRC driver Toni Gardemeister started on an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 , while Bryan Bouffier drove a Subaru Impreza WRX STi . One of the most prominent participants was the Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica with a Renault Clio R3 .

Course of the rally

Robert Kubica was forced to give up during the prologue when his vehicle broke down with engine failure after just four kilometers. He was therefore no longer able to take part in the first rated test.

Mikko Hirvonen was the fastest in the first special stage. Sébastien Ogier secured the second special stage and once again caught up with the leader in the overall standings. Hirvonen then won the third special stage, while Ogier lost two minutes as he slipped off the track on snow that had been thrown onto the road by spectators. In the fourth and final special stage of the first stage that followed, Ogier again set the fastest time and was able to work his way up in the overall standings. After the first day, Mikko Hirvonen led by over 40 seconds over Kris Meeke.

One kilometer after the start of the fifth special stage, the rally was over for Kris Meeke, who had been second up until then, when he slipped in an icy curve and as a result hit a wall straight ahead and slid down an embankment. The fastest times on the individual special stages were achieved by Nicolas Vouilloz, Mikko Hirvonen, Juho Hänninen and Sébastien Ogier, who won three stages. Stéphane Sarrazin lost time at the beginning of the stage when he hit a snow wall. Toni Gardemeister skidded in a fast corner on ice, whereupon he also hit a snow bank. Although he finished the stage, he then withdrew from the rally due to irreparable engine damage as a result of his departure. At the end of the day Hirvonen was almost 50 seconds ahead of Hänninen.

On the third and final stage, Sébastien Ogier attacked, who secured the first special stage in the morning. After the first of the decisive four night stages, which led over the Col de Turini, Ogier once again overtook Juho Hänninen with the fastest time in the overall standings and reduced his gap to Mikko Hirvonen to less than 40 seconds. The subsequent special stage was won by Stéphane Sarrazin. Meanwhile, Franz Wittmann junior, who had been sixth up to that point, was forced to give up because he collided with a wall and damaged both wheel suspensions. Juho Hänninen achieved the best time on the penultimate special stage. At the same time, he moved up to second place in the overall standings, as Sébastien Ogier was unable to take the last special stage due to a defective alternator. Stéphane Sarrazin won this again.

Mikko Hirvonen, who has always led the overall standings from the start, won with just under two minutes ahead of Juho Hänninen. Hirvonen thus achieved the first rally victory with this vehicle when the new Ford Fiesta S2000 debuted. Third place went to Nicolas Vouilloz. Of the 63 participants who started, 36 reached the finish.

Results

Overall rating

Item	driver	Co-driver	vehicle	time	Residue	Points
1.	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Ford Fiesta S2000	4: 32: 58.5	0.0	10
2.	Juho Hänninen	Mikko Markkula	Škoda Fabia S2000	4: 34: 49.9	1: 51.4	8th
3.	Nicolas Vouilloz	Benjamin Veillas	Škoda Fabia S2000	4: 36: 17.6	3: 19.1	6th
4th	Stéphane Sarrazin	Jacques-Julien Renucci	Peugeot 207 S2000	4: 40: 24.0	7: 25.5	5
5.	Jan Kopecký	Petr Starý	Škoda Fabia S2000	4: 41: 47.2	8: 48.7	4th
6th	Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh	Škoda Fabia S2000	4: 42: 23.0	9: 24.5	3
7th	Bruno Magalhães	Carlos Magalhães	Peugeot 207 S2000	4: 42: 43.9	9: 45.4	2
8th.	Jean-Sébastien Vigion	Stéphane Prevot	Peugeot 207 S2000	4: 46: 32.0	13: 33.5	1

Special stages

stage	WP	route	length	winner	time	Leader
Prologue (Jan. 19)		Lente - Col de Gaudissart	8.83 km	Toni Gardemeister	6: 54.2
1st stage (Jan. 20)	WP1	Burzet - Lachamp-Raphaël	27.27 km	Mikko Hirvonen	16: 01.4	Mikko Hirvonen
	WP2	St-Pierreville - Antraigues	45.17 km	Sébastien Ogier	30: 54.2
	WP3	Burzet - Lachamp-Raphaël	27.27 km	Mikko Hirvonen	15: 49.7
	WP4	St-Pierreville - Antraigues	45.17 km	Sébastien Ogier	30: 45.9
2nd stage (Jan. 21)	WP5	Labatie d'Andaure - St-Pierre sur Doux	25.30 km	Nicolas Vouilloz	17: 38.5
	WP6	St-Bonnet-le-Froid - St-Julien-Molhesabate - St-Bonnet-le-Froid	25.67 km	Sébastien Ogier	17: 19.7
	WP7	Lamastre - Gilhoc - Alboussière	21.92 km	Mikko Hirvonen	14: 43.0
	WP8	Labatie d'Andaure - St-Pierre sur Doux	25.30 km	Juho Hänninen	16: 36.8
	WP9	St-Bonnet-le-Froid - St-Julien-Molhesabate - St-Bonnet-le-Froid	25.67 km	Sébastien Ogier	15: 51.1
	WP10	Lamastre - Gilhoc - Alboussière	21.92 km	Sébastien Ogier	15: 03.0
3rd stage (Jan. 22)	WP11	Montauban sur l'Ouvèze - Eygalayes	30.42 km	Sébastien Ogier	23: 18.5
	WP12	Peïra-Cava - La Bollène-Vésubie	18.42 km	Sébastien Ogier	13: 23.4
	WP13	Lantosque - Lucéram	19.13 km	Stéphane Sarrazin	14: 12.9
	WP14	Peïra-Cava - La Bollène-Vésubie	18.42 km	Juho Hänninen	13: 52.3
	WP15	Lantosque - Lucéram	19.13 km	Stéphane Sarrazin	14: 40.2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The "mother of all rallies": It's "Monte" time again!
2. ↑ Official list of participants ( Memento from March 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
3. ^ Kubica: Rallye Monte Carlo was a short pleasure
4. ↑ First "Monte" day: Hirvonen with a comfortable tour
5. ↑ Meeke takes on failure
6. ^ Finnish double tour in Monte Carlo
7. ↑ Hirvonen: With dominance to the "Monte" victory
8. ↑ Official final result ( Memento from March 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )