NEWS // HIRVONEN LEADS MONTE CARLO RALLY

Ford's Mikko Hirvonen leads the Monte Carlo Rally by over 40 seconds from the Peugot 207 of reigning Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Kris Meeke after day one.

The 2010 Monte Carlo rally is the first round of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge and is perhaps the most famous rally there is, whether you are an ardent rally fan or just a motoring enthusiast. This year is the 78th running of the Monte Carlo rally which started with a single super special stage last night and finishes in Monte Carlo on Saturday morning... [read more]

Hirvonen, who is using the Monte as preperation for the WRC season which starts in Sweden next month, is at the wheel of the all new M-Sport Super 2000 spec Ford Fiesta.

Pushing Hirvonen at the front of the field was Peugeot's Stephane Sarrazin, who was running second, but the final stage of the day saw the Frenchman lose three minutes with a puncture which dropped him down to eigth place in the standings. Sebastien Ogier was quickest on the final stage, moving from eighth to fifth overall as the crews headed back to the overnight halt.

Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica, who was due to contest the event at the wheel of a Renault Clio R3, was forced to retire from the rally after just the opening prologue stage when his Clio developed engine problems.


Overall Results // 2010 Monte Carlo Rally:

1. Mikko Hirvonen Ford 1h34m01.8s
2. Kris Meeke Peugeot + 41.9s
3. Juho Hanninen Skoda + 1m04.4s
4. Nicolas Vouilloz Skoda + 1m20.3s
5. Sebastien Ogier Peugeot + 1m50.5s
6. Bruno Magalhaes Peugeot + 2m28.1s
7. Toni Gardemeister Abarth + 2m43.2s
8. Stephane Sarrazin Peugeot + 3m15.8s
9. Franz Wittmann Peugeot + 3m44.1s
10. Guy Wilks Skoda + 4m27.1s

Editoril: Neil Tozer
Images: IRC.com