Monte Carlo Rally 2001

We apologise for the shorter than usual report and not posting any info during the rally. We hope to be back to our usual standards for the forthcoming events.

The opening round of the World Rally Championship once again offered all kinds of conditions on the twisty roads of Mediterranean Alps. The Monte Carlo rally truly lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest events on the calendar, which was clearly illustrated by the large amount of retirements.

Leg 1
The first two stages of the rally really tested the drivers as the was a lot of new snow on the stages, that was melting all the time. The conditions became better as cars passed through, and the first stage was won by Toni Gardemeister who started 15th on the road with a Grifone Peugeot 206. But the winner of the second stage was a real surprise; German driver Hermann Gasner was fastest on the stage with a group N production class Mitsubishi Lancer! Some of the top drivers were already in trouble. World Champion Marcus Gronholm retired after SS2 with engione problems, while Markko Martin's Subaru failed to reach the first stage.

Marcus Gronholm's new team-mate Didier Auriol damaged his Peugeot on SS3 losing a wheel and retiring on the following stage. On the same stage Gilles Panizzi crashed heavily and rolled the car into a deep ravine. The crew was taken to hospital but they were unhurt. For Peugeot this was a disaster much like last year's Monte; all three cars were out already on the first day. Last year all three Peugeot's refused to start on the second morning of the rally.

The lead was then taken by Colin McRae, who got Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz on his tail. On SS 5 Petter Solberg joined the early retirees after rolling his Subaru. After all six stages of the day McRae's lead over Makinen was already 30 seconds. Sainz was only three secs behind Makinen, but Richard Burns on 4th place had lost almost a minute and a half to the leader. Burns had developed an engine problem that worsened on the final road section of the day. After examining the engine the Subaru mechanics pronounced it dead and thus Burns was also out, so there were no Subarus left in the race, either. Armin Schwarz was going well with the Skoda, he rose to 4th after Burns' retirement.

Leg 2

The second leg of the rally was all about Tommi Makinen and Colin McRae fighting for the lead. Makinen charged in the morning on the tricky icy roads and quickly closed on the Scotsman. On stage 9 Makinen moved into the lead, but lost some time with a bad tyre choice on the final stage of the day, SS 11, and McRae got to start the final day in a three second lead. Carlos Sainz continued steadily in third, almost a minute behind. Schwarz was still 4th, even though he lost the position for a while to Francois Delecour. At the end of the day the Skoda driver regained the position and was 4.6 secs ahead of Delecour.

Tommi Makinen / Risto Mannisenmaki. (Photo by Mitsubishi Motors)

Leg 3
The great battle between Makinen and McRae was set to see a grand finale on the last leg, but on first of the day's four stages, the infamous Col de Turini, McRae run into technical problems in the new fly-by-wire throttle, which Ford was using for the first time. McRae lost a lot of time and then retired before the following stage as the problems became worse. This meant that Tommi Makinen could cruise to the finish to take his third consecutive win in Monte Carlo. After last year's troubles, there was a whole new Tommi Makinen shining for the TV cameras and enjoying rallying again with whole of his being.

Carlos Sainz took the second place with no problems. The drama on the final stages was provided by Armin Schwarz and Francois Delecour, who diced over the third position. It was finally Delecour who rose to the podium after a great drive on the second run of Turini (SS 14). Fifth in the rally was Toni Gardemeister, who had some problems on the first leg but then climbed steadily in the order. He passed Hyundai's Alister McRae and Mitsubishi's Freddy Loix on the final leg of the rally.

Results:

1. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi - 4.38.04,3
2. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +1.00,8
3. Francois Delecour (FRA) Ford +2.05,3
4. Armin Schwarz (GER) Skoda +2.26,0
5. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Peugeot +5.52,1
6. Freddy Loix (BEL) Mitsubishi +6.25,9
7. Alister McRae (SCO) Hyundai +9.04,0
8. Bruno Thiry (BEL) Skoda +13.55,0