04 February 2004 - 15:14 Loeb - the master at work! The Citroen driver wins the Monte Carlo Rally once again

Sebastien Loeb was the favourite to win the 72nd edition of the Monte Carlo Rally and as predicted, the Frenchman won the event in a convincing way.

The Citroen driver won the Monte Carlo in 2002 but he was later disqualified from the event. Seb took his revenge the following year, taking a victory in front of his two teammates. This year, Loeb dominated the race, finishing more than a minute in front of Markko Martin.

Sebastien Loeb now leads the Drivers' Championship while Ford is first in the Constructors' Championship, thanks to Martin's and Duval's second and third places.

The new Peugeot 307 WRC is reliable and competitive right from the start of the season, Solberg is still unlucky at the Monte Carlo, Panizzi reached his goal with Mitsubishi... these are the main conclusions after the first race of the year.

Sebastien Loeb in total control
This year's edition of the Monte Carlo was one of the toughest in a long time. The race conditions included a difficult mix of snow, ice and dry spots. To win in these conditions requires a perfect mastery of the elements. Sebastien Loeb proved once again how talented he is, winning one of his best success in his young career.

Citroen starts the season with a win even though the French team feels sorry that Carlos Sainz was not able to reach the finish. The Spaniard went off the road at the Col de Bleine and retired.

Ford lead the Constructors' Championship
Even if Citroen won the race, the French team is not leading the Constructors' Championship. Ford is first in that regard, bringing both of their drivers on the podium.

Markko Martin was able to challenge the leader in the early part of the race but a set-up problem combined with a close call in the thick fog in the "Tourette du Chateau" stage cost the Estonian around 50 seconds. Nothing to worry about for Ford since Francois Duval was there to take over second position.

The Ford drivers finished on the podium but were too far behind Loeb to battle for the win. On Saturday evening, Duval was in front of Martin but it was clear to Malcolm Wilson that his two drivers were not going to start fighting against each other over second place. Duval had to let his teammate take over second position, which is the best solution for the championship, according to Ford.

Good start for the 307 WRC
It is never easy to launch a new car in the World Rally Championship. Even if Peugeot followed their schedule by starting the season with the new 307, there was no certainty that their new weapon would be reliable and competitive.

The French team was reassured when Marcus Gronholm won the very first stage. Gronholm stayed in the lead until the very last stage of the first day but unfortunately the Finn went off the road at Col de Bleine. Marcus was able to continue but lost nearly a minute and finished the race in fourth position.

The new 307 WRC also proved to be reliable since both cars reached the finish. Freddy Loix was not as quick as his teammate, making a few set-up mistakes and wrong tyre choices. Despite that, the Belgian achieved a few good stage times and managed to grab fifth place in the very last stage.

Panizzi reached his goal
It was out of the question for Mitsubishi to compare itself with the other teams. The Japanese manufacturer is making a return in the World Rally Championship and did not have enough time to develop the full potential of the new Lancer. The goal of Gilles Panizzi and Gigi Galli was to reach the finish to bring more data to the engineers, helping in the development process of the car.

Panizzi reached his goal by finishing the rally at an encouraging sixth place. The Frenchman learned a lot about the handling of his car and was satisfied with his weekend. Gigi Galli was impressive at the beginning of the rally, taking fourth place in the third stage. Unfortunately, the Italian went off the road two stages later...

Solberg has no luck at the Monte Carlo
Decidedly, Petter Solberg is not lucky at the Monte Carlo. The Norwegian is competitive on every kind of road surfaces but has never been able to shine in this event.

This year's edition of the Monte Carlo wasn't much better for the World Champion. Petter brushed a fence in the very first stage. Then he made of few wrong tyre choices but was still able to finish the second leg in fifth place. Unfortunately for him, in the penultimate stage of the rally he made another mistake and damaged his Impreza. Solberg had to finish the race at a slow speed and lost two places, ending the rally in seventh position.

Mikko Hirvonen was not more lucky than his teammate. The young Finn made a mistake and went off the road at the Col de Bleine, ending his race.

A Junior in the top 10
Seven works team drivers reached the finish and the top 10 is completed by privateers. Antony Warmbold was close to getting his first World Championship points but retired after making a mistake in the penultimate stage of the race.

Olivier Burri has a lot of experience at the Monte Carlo. The Swiss driver finished seventh in 1993 and did almost as well this year, taking eighth spot. Jozef Beres is ninth while JWRC race winner Nicolas Bernardi finishes in tenth place in the overall results.
 
Hugo GIGUERE
CAPSIS International [25/01/04 - 17:10]

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Nicolas Bernardi wins in the Junior category
Monte Carlo: JuniorWRC - Summary

Frenchman Nicolas Bernardi and co-driver Denis Giraudet have won the first round of the 2004 FIA Junior World Rally Championship, the 72nd Rallye Monte Carlo.

The Renault Clio driver took the lead on Saturday afternoon with the fastest time on SS9 and remained unchallenged until the finish. Estonian Urmo Aava finished in second place over four minutes behind Bernardi in the Suzuki Ignis.

The main fight on the final leg was for third place. Briton Kris Meeke (Opel Corsa) snatched the final podium position from San Marino driver Alessandro Broccoli (Fiat Punto) on the penultimate stage. In a fierce battle seven different drivers set fastest stage times throughout the rally in three separate makes of cars underlining the competitiveness of the JWRC.

A Suzuki led the JWRC standings throughout leg one. To start with, Sweden's Per-Gunnar Andersson was out front in this year's Ignis, but he was passed by Aava in a 2003-specification car on SS5. The Estonian's stay in the lead was short-lived as Kosti Katajamaki moved into the top spot on the final stage of the day. Renault driver Bernardi was best of the rest in third place, fighting back after taking the wrong tyres for the opening stage of the day.

On leg two Bernardi passed Suzuki drivers Aava and Katajamaki to lead the category by 24.2 seconds. Alessandro Broccoli held third place after Katajamaki hit a rock and retired.

“I am really happy to win the Monte Carlo Rally but also to finish with maximum points. We have to work hard for the next rally in Acropolis. It's not been an easy win but to win on my home event is very special and important for all the people who support me,” said Nicolas Bernardi.

Press release [26/01/04 - 19:53]