The British Kris Meeke (Citroen) closed the first day of the 84 Rally de Montcarlo, which opened the World Championship today, leading the general with 6.9 seconds ahead of the current champion, the Frenchman Sebastien Ogier.
Spaniard Dani Sordo (Hyundai) finished the day in tenth place, 51.8 behind the leader.
Ogier had started the defense of his title with a victory in the first stage, of 21.25 km, which included, midway, the ascent to the Laval pass (1,100 meters), followed by a winding descent down a narrow road .
The champion drove his Volkswagen with great precautions. “The floor was not too bad, but in some parts it was slippery,” said the Frenchman, who set a time of 12: 21.9, enough to score the first partial victory.
The one who came closest to him in that first section, at 4.1 seconds, was Kris Meeke, second ahead of the other two Volkswagens, the Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen (at 9.4 seconds) and the Finn Jari-Matti Latvala ( to 11.2).
But in the second special, of 20.38 km, the tables turned. Meeke set the fastest time (13: 06.1) and Ogier was 11 seconds slower. “Good feeling, last year this stage was good for us too,” said Meeke, leader with a time of 25: 32.1.
Ogier finished at 6.9 overall, followed by Mikkelsen (at 20) and Belgian Thierry Neuville (at 31.4), who was driving a Hyundai 120 as Dani Sordo, competing for the eighth time in Monte Carlo. The Spaniard, who finished sixth last year, today was eleventh in the first section with 12: 48.3 and in the second he won a place in the general classification.
The Volkswagen team, which clearly dominated the last three editions of the World Championship, always with Ogier at the helm, is once again the favorite brand this year, but on this first day they had to surrender to Meeke’s Citroen. EFE
Meeke first leader, ahead of champion Ogier
