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Ice spies ensure the right combination

Sébastien Ogier's considerable lead is also down to his background team. 
Despite the relief, there was a hint of regret. "I would have liked to continue the battle with Sébastien Loeb," said Sébastien Ogier (Polo R WRC #1) over dinner at the service park. But after the Citroën driver made a mistake that cost him six minutes, Ogier now has a clear lead at the Rally Monte Carlo after eight of 15 special stages. He has a lead of almost two minutes over team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala (Polo R WRC #2); Andreas Mikkelsen (Polo R WRC #9) completes the Volkswagen top three.

"The perfect information from our ice spies and the weather crew was key," said Ogier full of praise for his assistants. "We had the perfect tyres." While the World Champion opted for the crossover mix of winter tyres with studs/supersoft slicks for the afternoon loop, rival Loeb went for a riskier strategy and took winter tyres without studs and slicks. In his own words, the wrong decision - Ogier had ousted his compatriot from the top spot of the overall standings even before Loeb's slip-up on the final stage of the day.

Ogier particularly enjoyed the special stage "Les Costes - St. Julien en Champsaur", which came very close to where he was born. "I know the route very well and was able to pay more attention to the spectators than usual. It was a fantastic feeling to see so many familiar faces."

For Jari-Matti Latvala, second place in the interim standings came as a complete surprise. "My strategy has focused on safety right from the start," summed up the Finn. "We always opted for the less risky tyre combination. Finishing second at the end of the day is better than expected."

Things also went better than hoped for Andreas Mikkelsen. "When you think that I have comparatively little experience of the Rally Monte Carlo, things have gone perfectly so far," said the Norwegian, who is in for a rough ride in the second half of the rally. Four rivals trail Mikkelsen with a deficit of less than a minute, Ott Tänak (Ford) trails by just 9.6 seconds. "Naturally I want to defend third place, but I'm not going to take any crazy risks."

Despite having a comfortable lead, the rally is far from over for Sébastien Ogier. "There are two long stages on Saturday, where anything can happen," he said looking ahead to the 51.70-kilometre special stage 10, and special stage 12 from Sisteron to Thoard, which at 36.85 kilometres isn't all that much shorter. "On the Sisteron special stage in particular there will be some sections with ice and snow. I can't afford to lose concentration."

Classification after 8 of 15 stagesPosition

Driver / Co-driver                                  Total Time                  Diff 1st

1.   S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia                     1:52:07.4                     0.0

2.   J. Latvala / M. Anttila                        1:53:52.8                   +1:45.4
 
3.   A. Mikkelsen / O. Fløene                 1:54:42.2                   +2:34.8

4.   O. Tänak / R. Mõlder                        1:54:51.8                   +2:44.4

5.   M. Østberg / J. Andersson              1:55:10.3                   +3:02.9

6.   E. Evans / D. Barritt                          1:55:22.6                   +3:15.2

7.   T. Neuville / N. Gilsoul                     1:55:37.3                   +3:29.9

8.   D. Sordo / M. Martí                             1:56:10.4                  +4:03.0

9.   M. Prokop / J. Tománek                    1:57:07.0                  +4:59.6

10. S. Loeb / D. Elena                             1:58:16.1                  +6:08.7