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Chen who we welcome to the team this year one of the biggest Bobble Hatters out there a massive rally fan welcome chenny I’m not sure that’s fair on all the actual bubbles hats out there bexi but yeah no look it’s brilliant to be here isn’t it and what a place to to
Kick off the championship as always absolutely I think it’s it’s a really exciting start to the season rally Monte Carlo is absolutely iconic isn’t it you know when everyone thinks of rallying they think of Monte Carlo the nighttime stages the ice the snow the Jeopardy out there and of course we’re starting AR
Fresh every ‘s on zero points right now it’s full anticipation as to what the season could bring out there I’m excited how are you feeling I can tell you’re a bit excited be I can tell you I can tell you Revan yeah look you’re you’re absolutely right you got you’ve got the
Glitz and glamour of of Monaco and then the guys rallying back up towards us tonight on some some fantastic stages and um yeah you know there’s an awful lot of changes you can see all those guys down there on the start ramp um you know they’re absolutely revving to get
Going there’s no question about it it’s a slightly different rally Monte Carlo as as Julian said you know um the weather’s a bit different but think that’s going to make for an even more exciting rally so yeah lots of exciting and positive things yeah absolutely you
Know we do have four full days of competition here at rally Monte Carlo and none of it is easy none of it is under control it is going to be an immense event for all the drivers and co- drivers some of the competitors here for the very first time it’s their first
WRC event and what a baptism of fire that is shall we take a look at the four days of competition and what it could all bring for our guys let’s take a Look the 92nd edition of rally Monte Carlo the traditional season opener start ceremony against the backdrop of the spectacular Casino Square on Thursday before 4 days of world class rallying 17 stages 324 km against the clock the service Park returns to Gap where the crews will prepare for two
Opening stages run in darkness on Thursday day a daunting start to the season featuring a run through parts of the infamous cyron stage expect fireworks the rally a mix of familiar and unknown roads Friday features three stages to the east of Gap again run twice either side of midday service notoriously unpredictable conditions
Tire Choice is critical but far from straightforward Saturday three repeated stages to the west of Gap the second Le nonier last featured in 1996 so effectively a new test as per the new points regulation the leader after Saturday will be awarded 18 points subject to finishing the rally and Sunday three final stages
Totaling 52 km the fastest crew of the day will receive seven points another five on offer in the end of rally power stage an uphill blast towards cini and then for the successful Cruise it’s back to Monica’s Casino Square for the first official prize giving of the season
There on the graphics on the maps is nothing compared to what you’re going to see across rally TV this weekend in the flesh in the live lots of onboard footage lot of static cameras around everywhere we’ll have the full atmosphere of this evening the nighttime stages offer something a little bit
Special don’t they absolutely and look you you get the fans all across the stages you get the flares you get the smoke coming across the stage it’s brilliant and it’s and it’s a very unique way to to kick off the championship isn’t it it’s a real challenge for the drivers as well you
Know they’re going straight into these night stages and as you said the weather isn’t isn’t you know we’re not going to get that that snow and ice that we would have normally seen at the top of the coals but um I think the average speeds are going to be higher it’s going to
Mean that the margin for error is even finer um so I think it’s going to be a fantastic rally to kick off the year as I said bexi and um yeah some iconic stages you’ve got the C torini coming back and then some other stages that we
Haven’t run for since kind of 2018 as well so it’s brilliant to have those Classics I do think we’ve got the best stages ever of rally montala really and I have to say there there is a real Buzz as I said we’re in we’re in the fan Zone
Here and it kind of stretches a good way back up towards the service Park there’s so many people here on a Thursday they’re going to be heading down to some of the stages a little bit later the buildup the buzz that we we’re feeling from fans everyone’s wondering who’s
Going to be on the top step of the podium this weekend I love having a chat with everyone because everyone’s got their different opinions on on who it’s going to be out there so what we’re going to do now we are going to head back down to to uh Monaco to casino
Square rejoin the guys down there and we’ll uh keep it going with a flavor up here in Gap yeah thanks so much beex and chenny great to see you guys and we’ll be back up with you tomorrow I think but for now we’re going to bask in the sunshine of Monaco and Monte Carlo now just behind us they are setting up for a bit of a
Meet the cruise Julian we’re going to meet some of uh the lower down categories the WC 2s and some of the WC threes I think as well we’re going to meet up on at that stage but now this was Julian’s work this was actually Julian’s work he hijacked this and
Everybody’s trying to get a picture and you just stolen it you just got to know the right people and I know the right people in uh as in Sharif who was moving it and we put it here so yeah and whenever you see those behind the scenes
Films from Monte Carlo that we do this is the gentleman who puts it all together Sharie and he’s the man who’s looking after that and then he’s just let us put it here I look quite good to it or we look quite good good I’m not
Sure me and Julian are ever going to win one of but you do look quite good with it all right well I think it’s about that time because we’ve got meet the cruise down here with em penan so what I’m going to do is hand up by a point to
Emir and we’re handing over to you welcome everybody to our meet the crew session here at the fabulous Casino square and we are starting with our support category so can you please put your hands together on stage we’ve got WRC 2 drivers Yan Rosell and Brian bouier wrc2 Co driver Hannah mckill WRC
Three driver Yan Cherney and Master’s Cup driver Mao melli Yan we will start with you welcome first of all you’ve had a great success here at rale monteo winning in 21 and claiming the wrc3 championship that year are winning here last year in WRC 2 and I’m sure
You’re going for the win again but the competition is hot this year hello everyone for sure it’s not easy rally um the plan is just to do no mistake um for sure it’s I want to win but uh when you start a Monte it’s so difficult to say what what
Happened yeah um the plan is just to to go fast and uh the car work very well uh the test is good uh improve a lot on the mood condition tomorrow it’s not easy day uh today also but I think it’s more dry yeah we will see and uh you’ve got a
New teammate alongside you Nicholas gryan this year so how’s that going to play out it’s good it’s good uh last year I am a bit alone uh and this year I have a teammate he drive a lot he you have a lot of race program and I think it’s good for uh for
Improve the car improve the team and uh yeah it’s good to uh to be uh with him good luck to you and if you could just summarize those answers in French very short if you wouldn’t Mind thank you good luck to you youan Brian B here we’ll move on to you next uh we haven’t seen you here for a while but you’ve won this rally in ic in 2011 second place here in 2014 the mport fiesta last time you did Monty was 2018
I think I’m right how much are you looking forward to this uh yes you are right the last time was in 2018 and for me it’s a big surprise to to be there I was not expecting to be on Monte this this year and uh it’s a
Lot of new things uh first of all it’s a first race of the team eras wrt RC yes wrt and as well with Toyota yis and uh I have to say I’m bit under pressure it’s more than four years I haven’t driven a a Race So even if I have quite a big
Experience uh it’s a lot of new things today yeah you’ve got the experience certainly but you are in probably the most hotly anticipated car that we’ve seen for a while the RSG tell us about that uh I have to say uh we have done
Quite a lot of tests with the with a car and uh the handling is is good I was surprised with that the engine is good we have a a good talk uh it’s a three Cinders engine but with a huge talk and uh the car is good let’s say I I would
Say the most difficult things will be between the steering wheel and the seat well good luck to you Brian and I could ask you as well to summarize those answers in French first please thank you Brian good luck moving on to Hannah mckb the cold driver
Your first WRC event and what a baptism of fire are you mad could you have picked a more difficult rally for your WRC debut the event picked me I didn’t pick it but yeah it’s um a fantastic event such a prestigious event one that I’ve watched for years and years and it’s
Just incredible to be here and um it’s a real honor how was the prep how was the Wy how have you been getting ready for this yeah it’s been really good Chris and I have been working really hard together um over the previous months um and indeed this week uh the record was
Really good it all went well the stages are just fantastic like nothing else in the world and H yeah I can’t wait to get stuck in have you been taking some guidance from somebody yeah I’ve had a lot of help from um Seb Marshall danar Alex um has
Been really helpful and um yeah lots of support back home and thank you to everyone and I’m sure you’re soaking up the atmosphere tell me what does it feel like sitting there you’re on Monte Carlo Casino Square you know hours away from going into the dark stages tonight yeah
It’s um a little bit surreal really my husband rang me last night and said you know I watched you on checkdown and I can’t believe that’s my wife that usually sits on my sofa so yeah it’s incredible I can’t think about it too much just get on and focus on the job
Brilliant best of luck to you and hopefully see you here on Sunday moving on to WRC driver then Yan churny welcome to the stage Yan you’ve competed on the Monte Carlo rally twice so I guess you’re hoping for Third Time Lucky yeah yeah that’s true two years ago I was
Here and we were fighting with Sami payari and I finished second so I hope this year going to be better but you know it’s Mont it’s very difficult and especially with with this condition is going to be so difficult because lot of mud lot of cuts and yeah it’s we have to
Do it like uh like without mistake and drive really carefully and last year you did a mix of home events and Spanish championship in various cars but you’re here in a Ford Fiesta rally 3 so how is it yeah the the car is very good I like
This rally fre category for sure I wish to be in rally 2 class but you know it’s uh we we have to work on budget and everything and on my driving but yeah because of my my new home because of cost I’m here so I’m very happy for this
And uh yeah the competition also in canaras were very very nice and the the level of competition is very high and you know the tarmak and everything is so special so I enjoyed it and I hope I can continue also this year yeah good preparation for this rally
Monte Carlo yeah best of luck again hopefully we’ll see you here on Sunday and thank you lastly Maro melli what can I say Master’s Cup champion 2022 Maro you missed out on it last year but hoping to make amends this year I have to see you know mon Carlo is
A fascina fashionanti race and but it’s very difficult especially this year the weather is fantastic but not for the road the road are so fast that uh I hope to do no mistake and to to to keep a good Pace to have a good results this
Year I hope so with this dry weather does that mean that the competition is going to be tighter competitions closer of course of course and uh uh the speed is is so high in this condition that for instance Italian driver than me especially we are not used to so it will
Be very difficult who are you trying to kid not used to it goodness you’ve been doing it for long enough and I’ve got to say um and I hope you don’t mind me telling everyone that it’s your birthday tomorrow so this is your last day at 67
Years old and what better way to spend it yeah yeah and tomorrow I will be 68 so I should be retired really but I’m still here because anyway for me it’s it’s fantastic to be here with all this driver all the driver and to be together and fight for my results
Just finishing for me it’s the best results no you’ll be finishing near the front you can guarantee that yoan I’ll just come back to you to finish this rally monteo I mean it’s the most iconic event probably on the calendar what makes it so special ah because it’s uh typical and
Mytical it’s uh I don’t know it’s the most old event it’s the most event yeah and uh I think mixed to um to grip start at the night four race four day of race never easy for everybody but uh it’s m uh we need to have a respect for that
And uh now it’s time for for race perfect and just once more just to finish in French thank you very muchan good luck to you all may I wish you all the very best and now we’re heading back up to Gap where we’re going to join beex Williams who’s with the team
Principles welcome everyone here in the Gap service area and welcome to everyone watching around the world right now on all live we are ready for our team principal for our meet the crew session here in gap we would like to welcome to the stage representing Toyota KY Lindstrom and representing M sport Ford
Rich Miller and hopefully we will have very shortly serial a beatable from hyai where’s the [Applause] microphone I I’m liking this support here this is fantastic we just need to get you a microphone so that we can hear you talking it’s a fantastic start to the season as ever at rally Monte Carlo
We’re up in the service park in gap right now let’s chat with Kai Lindstrom first Kai a fantastic year last year for Toyota success in both the manufacturers and drivers but now we’re back to zero across the board and we all start again how are you feeling ahead of this season
Well like you said now we are we are all equal and it starts again so yeah last season was really good indeed and uh but the time to enjoy was not too long and yeah I think we are ready it’s always on this rally on the first St we are all
Bit nervous to see where where we are now but uh I think tonight we we know more we certainly will do the nighttime stages are are always iconic a rally Monte Carlo nighttime stages wherever you go in the world but I feel here there just that Tad more exciting Kai
But always a little bit heart stopping as well for the teams sending out the cars tonight what are the weather conditions up in the mountains right now I wish I know so we we just have to wait the information from our metto cruise and and then I think the crucial moment is
The tire fitting Zone then what tires the driver decide to take and and then we just uh hope for the best and hope to get the cars back in the service okay while we pause let’s just welcome sirel ababo to the stage representing hyi thank you sirel 10c penalty on the board for
Hyi great way to start uh Kai it is it is a huge weekend for every single driver out there and you have maybe the Monty master in your team Sebastian o who’s looking for a 10th overall win at rally Monte Carlo this weekend Dare I ask is that possible
Because anything is possible with Saia well yeah anything is possible and like you said he he is the expert on on these roads but uh rally is quite demanding even though it looks now that we don’t have a lot of snow but it will
Not be easy and uh yeah I wish him luck and hope he he does well but it’s long way before before we on the power stage on Sunday okay we hear a quick translation of what Kai had to say okay K thank you very much let’s turn to the middle seat now
Occupied by Rich Miller M sport forward it’s a young team this year Rich edrian foro a young Greg monster a young team principal D can I say you’re young anymore I don’t know just just you just qualify Kai is saying no so definitely not still still got a three for now for
Another couple of months it’s 40 this year though yeah Croatia the big 40 we’ll we’ll find a special way to celebrate that I think talk to me about the team’s hopes this year because I think it’s exciting to see for Mo after a really fantastic season in rally 2
Last year Step Up Now back to the big time what are you hoping for him this year it’s very exciting to have a a completely different approach compared to to last season where I think there was a lot of expectation for us to to win the championship and obviously we we
Still had a good year with the two wins but it was difficult this year is a lot less pressure in some respects and uh to give the opportunity to to both Adrian and greguar to show what they can do but I think our goal here this weekend is
Not to try and do anything silly you know it’s a long season uh and get these guys back up to speed in the cars and uh on the first couple of rallies maybe let these other two teams have a bit of a fight and we’ll just try and do our own
Thing uh and be there and as close as we can and I think even Adrian’s times from the Shakedown yesterday were still pretty competitive so I think there’s a good opportunity for us on some rallies and uh I think a couple of podiums this year is a realistic goal Can you tell us at this point in time which events you’re potentially targeting Podium on or are you just going to wait and see how they do I think you have to wait and see but obviously the first three events are quite specialist in some ways here the
Weather looks like a bit more stable this weekend so there is a good chance but uh you know it’s such a tricky event as well that uh first first point in the season you don’t want to make a bad result Sweden is obviously very specialist and I would say probably is
Not the the top result we would expect from the guys on that event and Kenya moving to March is could be really tricky with the with the weather um but then we get back to croia and a big stint in Port in Europe where the guys have got a lot more experience so
There’s no rush to try and prove anything too quickly um but like I say if we’re consistency consistently there with a new Point scoring system we have more opportunity with a young team I think to to capitalize on that as well so I’m looking forward to get going but
Uh no no kind of thoughts on exactly which rallies it will be I’m afraid now we’ve had the lovely constant translate you here but you have two French speaking drivers this year so are we going to be learning French Rich Milla yeah I’m English so I’m quite lazy
Messy thank you very much let’s turn to Hyundai now and serial a beatable as I said to all the guys it’s a brand new season we’re back to zero points for everyone right now huge anticipation and you seem to have sill a fully loaded team this year you have world champion o
Tanak who’s come back to Hyundai tierry nville of course Michelson Lappy sordo it’s a great lineup for this season yeah indeed I think we we’re trying uh you know in uh in Motorsport there is no secret you need if you want to win you need the best combination of car drivers
And team uh only when you got all of that you can really uh do what Toyota has been doing in the last couple of years they’ve been the bench mark in the sport so we are nothing else but trying to to copy what what they’ve been and
What they still are uh and that what they will still be actually because they got a great car and that’s not going to change because there is some restriction in the sports our car is slightly better than last year but still the homologa car from two two years ago so we change
What we could change driver in particular indeed I think we’ve got a a stronger lineup this year uh Team also we’ve got a number of new faces some of them well known some some people who are a bit more in the shadow but uh equally
Do do really count when it comes to uh to how we perform as a group so yeah hopefully we can we can have a good uh good and strong season all together and sah we’re here at probably one of the most iconic events on the championship calendar we have many Classics on the
Calendar but this one to kick us off it’s it’s one of the ones every driver wants to have a win at but not too many have been able to do that over the years Miss oier has dominated Newville has managed to do that how Keen are you to
See one of your boys on the top step how possible is it against the master of Monty oh we we love that we love that for indeed the the the icon that Monte is represent still still today and uh but having said that it’s uh it’s also
The championship that we we are after so we need to keep that in the in the back of our mind when uh when drivers are driving when Engineers are setting up the car when mechanics are doing what they need to do again it has to be to
The per percept Perfection but not just for Vis again that’s that’s really the championship that matters and could you summarize what you’ve just said in French for me as well but Monte Carlo for mer again thank you very much guys we are now heading back down to the meet the crew session in
Monaco okay well that was Beck with the team representatives and what I absolutely love is that she managed to call Rich Milner young still yeah I mean he is so he’s younger than us all right well the important business is about to get down to action because emier is here now with
Our top drivers so with a point again Emir I’m handing over to you thanks K yes welcome back everybody to our meet the crew session here in Casino Square Monte Carlo and it’s now time for the rally one drivers please put your hands together welcome up on stage Toyota
Gazoo racing driver Elvin Evans Sebastian o hund Shel Mobis world rally team driver o tanak and M sport World Rally team driver Adrien foro welcome gentlemen you’re looking very calm sitting there Elvin I’ll start with you brand new season what better way to start than here in Monte Carlo um first
Car on the road starting a brand new season how excited are you to be starting this amazing rally yeah of course Monte Carlo is a is an iconic rally and it’s always exciting to start uh allbe it uh you know it’s always a pretty long Thursday and a big
Buildup to to this moment but of course uh when we get into the car I’m sure it’ll it’ll feel natural again it’s not going to be easy there’s a certain teammate of yours sitting just one away from you there who’s who’s pretty quick around here what’s it going to take to
Beat him it’s definitely not going to be not going to be easy um and at the end of the day it’s not the you know the the end of the world if we if we if we don’t uh I think it’s important to get off to a good solid start here of course
Winning is always the target but uh you know know uh it’s always better to start the year on a on a positive note so uh probably not a situation where it’s it’s all out just to just to try and win here well best of luck Elvin right we’ll move
On to you back in the Hyundai colors um you must be more excited than anybody to be starting for this season going for that second world championship I’m sure well yeah uh already last couple of years been uh starting here with the new car again with the new team uh it’s it’s
It’s never easy especially in Monte but um yeah another challenge yeah difficult to predict much at the moment but uh yeah let’s let’s get it going and rolling and then we see where we are and it’s fair to say maybe because of that this isn’t your favorite
Rally but what makes this rally so difficult I I wouldn’t say I don’t like it I actually quite like it’s uh bit of Challenge and now we are back in gap uh where we have more traditional stages I would say uh so yeah the challenge will be
Definitely there and and um yeah should be still fun excellent best of luck to you um o and Sebastian we’ll move on to you and this rally just wouldn’t be the same without Sebastian oia nine times winner here incredible record undoubtedly the king of Raleigh Monte Carlo it’s spectacular but especially
For you what is it about the atmosphere in this rally that just keeps bringing you back I think simply busy beinging here is always special you know it’s it’s a magic place I I I I like this atmosphere starting the season always and the pressure slowly building when
You have to start by night stages it’s always a big challenge so no it’s a pleasure of being here again and uh yeah you mention it the record are pretty good for me in this rally but doesn’t give me so much more guarantee starting
Again and uh we start from zero and I I expect again a challenging weekend you were born in GAC course you went here last year is the hunger still there is the motivation still strong well I think I wouldn’t be here if if the motivation
Uh will be gone so no I I definitely still have some motivation and enjoy driving this fantastic car so no it’s uh it’s yeah just so much fun driving uh especially for me in my uh the ballet where I’m born with so much support it’s
It’s a unique event so a lot of pressure a lot of expectation so many people uh are now thinking that it should be easy to win but I I I try to call them down always that you know we never know what’s going to happen on the Monte Caro
Rally but of course the target is to try to win it again and it sounds almost ridiculous to say that maybe on Sunday we’ll be crowning you as a 10 times Champion which is just ridiculous I don’t know if it’s ridiculous but yeah the number like I said the number are
Great so I uh I’m very pleased with that obviously whatever number come after that you know it’s it’s not what make you going forward it’s more like I say the pleasure driving this cars and I mean of course if if on Sunday we can shake the hand of The Prince and take a
Trophy home I will I have nothing against that that would be very nice you’re right and if you could please just summarize those answers very short in French for us for thank you s best of luck moving on to you Adrian back in the M sport Ford
Pummer and you must be glad to be back yeah really glad to be to be back the main go last year was to to be in the monteo with r one so I’m quite happy to be to be here today with the with the Puma uh we know it’s a difficult
Challenge for for me also it’s a it’s a one full season and uh so I want to I want to do well especially in Monte Carlo because before ring I was also spectator in the stages looking at the three guys driving so for sure for me
It’s it’s a really great pleasure to be next to them and to compete with them yeah you’re actually sitting on stage with two drivers who did the same route as you basically went to WRC 2 in M Sport and then launched back into wc1 and look at them now the future is
Bright for sure if if I have the same future it’s quite it’s quite good I will be more than a piece so so for sure I I hope to follow their their way and we know you’re fast but what’s your approach going to be on this
Rally well I I need to to find the feeling back with the with the rally one so I want to start progressively and we’ll see where we are actually I don’t know the pace I will have in the stages I just want to enjoy do my job and we
Know it’s Monte it’s a difficult one as SE mention we are in the dark first two stages with some Highs coming black ice so a lot of surprise in the stages so it will be a big challenge thank you best of luck and if you could summarize those answers in French please
Than thank you very much best of luck right we’ve got some questions which have just come in from the fans who are watching this at home um jabriel Jael for everyone who out of your fellow drivers would make the best co- driver and maybe you could just
Point who who do you think sitting next to you or the next one over would make the best Co driver Co driver yeah there are no Co drivers no go there for o Elvin no don’t fancy it on the notes leave it to Scotty I would like to have
O next to me I’m sure it will be really funny now that would be a thrilling experience I’m sure I can confirm I will not sit on any of these cars fair enough Prett Watson uh this is for you Elvin watching you in BRC to
Joining us in rale B do now leading the cars and the start ramp in Monaco what a road it’s been how does it feel to be right at the top of the spot running first on the road at the start of the 24 Championship you’ve kind of answered
This but a pretty special feeling I bet yeah definitely I mean uh my career’s had a few ups and downs of course um you know but uh by now of course um enjoyed a few a bit of success uh more more recently and of course it’s what we work
And and strive for so uh never take anything for granted and and hope we can continue it for for some Years yet thank you Elvin Geo wants to ask you a question Sebastian uh how many hours sleep do you normally get on average on rally Monte
Carlo affect you yeah during the week I mean it’s of course always an intense week I have to say so far it’s been okay the Ricky have been uh I’ve been I’ve been kind to us I had my normal I would say eight hours leing but of course when
The when the race is starting I think the the night going to be definitely shorter and uh we’re going to head up definitely toward what 7 six maybe but uh I usually you know still a bit from the old generation where I don’t spend so much time in watching video and
Because for me speed is sleep is important and and I don’t want to be tired otherwise I’m in a bad mood fair enough Costas toos from uh Greece wants to say hello to you o Hi O from Greece uh what have you found different in the hwc car since you’ve gone
Back colors are different otherwise I would say on the on the paper or generally the car is is quite similar I is obviously completely new which side didn’t drive and quite a bit of juning as well but uh yeah all together just all a bit better thank you
All right and one last one very quickly to Adrian at the end how much do you pay attention to the hybrid boost when it kicks in or do you not pay any attention to it well well I have some some lights on the car so I know that I have the
Boots on Boost or not so so at least when when I’ve got it I know it’s there and when I don’t have the lights then it’s not there so it’s the only thing I don’t want to spend too much effort and thinking about when I have it or not so
It’s the eest way thank you very much gentlemen I’m going to ask you to stay there very quickly we’ve got a couple of presentations to make firstly if we could ask uh Sebastian o we’ve got a special gift to you from Stilo it’s a miniature helmet made specially for you
Can we please invite managing director of Stilo helmet Paulo bonatelli to make the presentation and that is a spectacular looking helmet a little bit small Sebastian perfect replica very very good oh perfect perfect and I think we’ve got the pictures there and there’s one more presentation to make as well for Czech
Photographer Yan or I should say hza veronic winner of the WRC photo of the year for his amazing picture of Elvin Evans in Kenya last year Elvin if you could do the honors and present the award to hza it is an incredible picture well with the
Winner and uh a nice little gong there hza to go on the mantle piece at home when you get back home good luck with the pictures this year try and beat that one thank you gentlemen that’s it for now good luck on Raleigh Monte Carlo see you on Sunday May the best man
Win okay well thank you so much Emir and may the best man win I think it’s more than the best man I think it’s going to be the one that survives again through all of these difficult stages two of which Julian are going to play out in
Just a matter of hours now yeah it’s it’s a late night for them tonight and it’s been a long day you know traveling down from Gap this morning Shak down latees last night so they’re going to have to be kind of like on their game
They’re going to have to be kind of up with it and everything making sure everything’s okay they are being helped by the conditions and a potential less stressy Tire Choice going into those stages tonight because you know last year the years before it’s been quite mixed conditions it’s a lot more stable
For them yeah a lot more stable but it doesn’t make it any less difficult so that is going to be unfolding in the next few hours but earlier on here we had a launch well we had seen them both myself and to be honest myself and
Julian are on a bit of a blag for anything at the moment and well we both decided we quite like the Sebastian o car last year but take a look at this because Sebastian o launched his yarus and C Ro Pera launched his yarus as well
Here in Monte Carlo both of which look absolutely fabulous but I think we’re the we’re on the o side of that that Yus aren’t we to be fair I’ll take any of them okay right here right now I’m not bothered I’ll take any of them as long
As he’s got a full tank of fuel and I can get myself up the motorway I’m up for it um yeah exactly if we can get ourselves our bums on the seats then we will try and do now we are going to try and get uh some of our drivers and
Guests and people that are around into this little Studio set up that we’ve got in Monte Carlo and the first of the people that we are managing to get in is Chris Ingram because he’s a bit of a a man about Monaco at the moment it’s a
Bit of a a change this season all right so Chris thank you for joining us down here now I know that there’s a bit of a gridwalk going on over there but we’ve brought you over here tell us what’s changed with you well I met my girlfriend here last year and spent a
Lot of time here um did a few rallies in lower lower divisions last year to keep my eye in uh I’ve got a new new backer and um just really preparing for for this route this year in this rally and uh yeah I’ve got a new co- driver new
Car new team um and yeah I can’t wait to just can’t wait to start tonight it’s been a long time coming yeah a long time coming indeed Julian I got to say listening to all that Chris that’s like in at the deep end massively yeah H I
Feel really ready yeah I’ve not done a lot of rallying this last year but I feel very confident I’m in the best place I’ve ever been and yeah it’s going to be a long event but we’re going to try and get into a good good push tonight and and keep that Rhythm all
Rally you said as you say like you you you feel better than you ever had done cuz sometimes when you start a season you’ve had had half a day in the test or you’ve just had the Shakedown what’s different this time then um just me really I I know that I’m
Not going to get as much seat time as the other guys and the guys at the top of rally 2 in the car every week half of them are back by the manufacturer secretly um but I I’m on my own and I always have been and I accept that now
I’ve just got to do the best I possibly can do and believe in myself more than ever well there’s certainly some challenges out there tonight so what are we expecting from these two stages in the dark what I liked about your Shakedown was the brand new break
Situation we really are going into this brand new and ready to roll yeah exactly it’s yeah Shakedown was literally just check the car but um I love the dark Mony in the dark is for me the best thing the best thing about the sport so bring it on
I think before he leaves I I think we should maybe bring in Hannah he’s talked about his codo it’s a first ever World Rally imagine Hannah just come over here bringing starting your first looking at us I’m going to put you in the middle cuz we’re going to put you right on the
Spot here your first ever World Rally Casino Square I mean from here on it goes downhill doesn’t it may as well not bother no no no no I mean they’re all fantastic events but Monty Carlo is definitely a special one I know it’s especially special for Chris so it’s a a
Pleasure to be here alongside him out there wrecking we hear that we’ve seen the social media from the top co- drivers long days lots of work you got a new driver to learn how demanding has it been then so far for you yeah it’s been a lot of work um learning Chris’s peace
Not system and just being more and more familiar with it with every colum that we do but yeah it’s been it’s been an enjoyable week it’s been a good week and lots of learning slightly apprehensive for tonight no excited there we go that’s right answer all right guys I’m
Going to let you go because I think we’re interrupting your time great to see you good luck tonight thanks so much thank you very much okay I love that juliia no we’re ready to go we’re excited so that is the Chris Ingram lineup that we’re going to see tonight
There has been some changes now we were hoping to get our uh steo man in as well because then you know the man that emia just spoke about on the stage now Paulo is actually going to come in with us now with his helmet now we were paa we were
We were hoping that we would get a Yus but we’re also hoping that we might get one of these how cool are these where did this all start from so it’s Z replica of the helmet of O the regular one that he used in 2021 uh and when we win the the World
Rally Championship so we have also the replica of a special edition of uh of uh the same year when use in the very F last race uh in Monza and uh with the Salma win the the the championship basically and uh the you know you’re never getting this back from Julian now
This is going I’ve got a lot of hand luggage face and this is the last one is of K Roba the second title uh 2023 so it’s very cool also this one so we start uh producing some mini helmet that is a the replica of the helmet of this uh icon of
The WRC in order to give some special gift to our um to the the public basically to give someone special for them now I believe these are on sale are they up in the fan zone so you can get these in the fan Zone up a gap if you
Want to and of course on steelo’s website is that where we’re looking at for them we have information on the website in order to buy this or in order to find uh where to buy basically all right well thank you so much for showing those PA we really do appreciate that
And with that we’re going to bring Scott Martin into the mix as well so thank you we love those Scott if you can steal us one of those helmets on the way that would be good we’re quite liking those like those now Scott nice to see you for
The first time in 2024 you’re rubbing your eyes are we awake yeah I’m maybe getting all emotional um no no it’s uh quite nervous um yeah Monte Carlo nerves um always the same no matter how many times you do it they good nerves right they don’t feel good but yeah I think
It’s good to be nervous but when you say n is that you say it’s monado first round of the season I mean the weather’s a little bit kinder to to to the crews this year the a minute but is it because it’s the first round or is it CU it’s
Monte Carlo I think it’s both obviously it’s Monte Carlo um uh just everything that goes with that uh you know you mentioned the weather obviously it’s a lot nicer than what we’ve had in the past um which should make it a little bit I don’t know less challenging you
Don’t want to say easier in any way no no no so but anyway we know when the when the Sun goes down and we get into the dark you know uh there can be some surprises so I want to ask you about that actually when the Sun goes down
Obviously your senses are heightened particularly we hear a lot of drivers talking about smells of barbecues and things but when you’re up there there’s so many of those red flares and so many things what are your senses doing because you’re obviously concentrating so much but there’s a lot out there
Isn’t there yeah I mean I’ve described it in one way before but I don’t think I can describe it on TV but um it is like nothing else and yeah you you know I I remember the sensation when you get to your hospitality and you’ve parked the
Car up and you’ve had a a fairly decent run um the feeling is is like you’ve been yeah let’s say you’re a tumble dryer yeah not even close not even close but yeah it’s an amazing atmosphere um yeah driving at night is obviously really special but at night in Monte
Carlo when you have the minus temperatures is is even different and like you say the atmosphere with the flares and everything is is uh it’s really really uh spectacular but um but no uh it it just feels like you you should be doing something more you know
You feel prepared but then at the same time did I do this did I do that uh yeah it’s um yeah I guess it’s just the nerves it it makes you overthink sometimes but uh obviously really happy to be here we’re going to lead the field
Away which is a first time uh so even that’s quite special to be heading up there first on the road so uh we’ll try and enjoy some of it I don’t want to say this in the the nerve-wracking way but there’s a a lot of potential for you guys this
Season uh yeah I mean we’re just going to do everything we can um I feel like halfway through the season um Elvin really clicked with the car you know so there’s no reason why we can’t carry that on into this year so we’re going to yeah give it everything we can um and
Yeah just hope hope that we uh yeah hope that everything goes well and know be ready for for when it doesn’t um cuz that’s all all you can do really just try to do the best Scott enjoy it out there tonight thank you so much for coming in I’m just going to
Move us forward a bit actually julan because miles away we were just edging towards that start round I I can’t I I really we’re so lucky that we just got Scotland because he’s just uh described that beautiful Madness that comes with these stages tonight it is it is I mean
If the weather was a bit trickier he would be so much more nervous you know it’s so difficult so demanding but it’s special I mean leading the field away that adds extra pressure as well particularly for a co- driver cuz you’ve not got a car in front of you
Just to make sure you’re on the right kind of time and you D things coming out of the little parking area there onto here have I come in at the right minute up on the road section you’ve not got a car around you to kind of like I am
Correct I’m just checking my watch again just checking my watch again it’s all on your shoulder I me I think you can feel that you can feel the weight on his shoulders now we are hoping to get a couple more drivers up here and we will
Keep you a breast of that situation but one man that knows the Monty Madness is the Monty master and that is Sebastian o so let’s take a look at this because this man could be on course to make history once again this weekend the 2024 WRC season gets
Underway in traditional fashion with the most famous of them all the one and only rally Monte Carlo a special event on the global Motorsport calendar a very special event for one Frenchman in particular etime world champion Sebastian OJ testing the Toyota Yaris R1 ahead of the season opener the most
Successful driver of all time on Monty’s menacing mountains a record nine victories and hungry for more always I think you know I always mentioned that this rally for me you need to respect it more than any others uh the conditions are always so challenging for us which which in my
Eyes you have no guarantee you know it’s always start from uh from from zero again and even if yeah I’ve been incredibly successful in this rally it doesn’t give me any guarantee that I won’t I I I will I will be able to do the same this year so for sure I come
Here with the the same uh respect I always had starting this this difficult rally but uh yeah motivation is there his number are never really the main motivation uh make it 10 will be uh will be very special Sebastian o aiming for Monte Carlo Victory number 10 but taking
Nothing for granted Monty presents the toughest possible start to the season treacherous icy Mountain tracks some run in darkness changing conditions the ultimate test even for the very best it’s challenging to try to to focus on what you need to prepare and try to see the range of tires see the range of
Setup so we do our best today to be to be ready uh but you know winter condition uh always a bit of a lottery you never know what you’re going to have to for the rally we’ve tried today with some wet and a little bit wet snow condition and
Uh we hope we’ll be ready the car haven’t changed that much compared to last year so it’s some fine tuning things now we are entering the third season with the same car and I think uh the teams are well prepared so it’s more and more going to be small details who make the
Difference OJ once again very much the man to beat in the season opener Monte Carlo the Frenchman contesting a part-time campaign again this year an arrangement that appears to suit him and the toyot to team I’m happy obviously it’s it’s a choice and uh I have I I take this
Opportunity with both hand uh the last seasons have been uh have been fun for me even if I was not fighting for the championship like it used to be I still had a really good time with the team managed to secure some good result and
Uh I think we want to try to keep surfing this wave as long as we can and uh and that’s that’s the plan for 2024 starting with monteo of course for me uh it’s it’s a must do and uh yeah obviously uh yeah a lot of hopes for
This for this start event of the season for all his extraordinary achievements o Remains the second most successful WRC driver in history eight World titles to Sebastian loes nine so what about the temptation to match his countrymen in the WRC Hall of Fame especially if he gets off to another strong start could
There be a tilt at a ninth driver’s title I think I take the life and the rally life day by day rally after rally and um at the moment yeah the focus is on Monte but uh obviously when you’re not planning uh fighting for a championship the approach is a bit
Different like I say you focus on every single event you’re going to enter and and try to make the best of it and then well there we go that is the Monty master in action something just got a little bit snazzy around here though Oliver it’s it’s it’s nice right
Yes I think so and then will I like it I like it this is impressive all right well alliv soberg back for another run out here in Monte Carlo what are we expecting tonight ah it’s going to be tricky you know it’s never easy to start Thursday night in
Mono first kilometers of the of the year it’s always a little bit nervous but it’s nice to finally start yeah Julian we just saw Scott Martin saying how nervous he was is a lot of a challenge out there I think it’s a mix well I I’ve
Never started really what you got it but i’ would say it’s a mix of adrenaline anticipation nerves things like that it’s definitely a mix of everything I think because uh as I said first kilometers uh it’s always nervous when you stand on that start line and you’re
Going to go because of course you want to go flat out straight away but it’s the first first stage of the year you know so you want to just keep it calm what are we hearing weatherwise I mean we know it’s not as challenging as potentially it could be but what what
Are we hearing it’s going to be challenging enough now in the dark I mean it’s a classic proper stages and uh still going to be quite Dusty or like slippery on top then we will see uh maybe there is a bit of ice or Frost maybe in some places but we’ll notice
When we get there we’ll notice when we get there yeah fair enough I think it is all about that Oliver can you tell me a bit about what your season looks like where where we’re going for this year what the plans are I I don’t know yet
I’m starting now and then uh starting obviously for points in rally Sweden and uh and that’s all I know for now okay but feeling good in the car yeah yeah yeah it’s it’s the same car as last year more or less and now it’s a proper sod sod team behind which are really
Motivated and so am I so I’m really looking forward to it what what does that bring then you say it’s now a proper sced team what does that bring you then different to what you had last year more more testing more driving and uh yeah brand new parts all the time
Helps new parts always helps all right well Oliver yeah snazzy new outfit the boots I I’ve got they are amazing My Autograph a wolf in the forest they are amazing do you want to talk about what happened over the Christmas time did you go to some kind of fashion School
Designing school no but um his helmet’s great as well the crash basically wolf with to and but no I um you went in basically didn’t you I went all in for this season I collabed with with the death spray David H he did all the designs for chem block before and uh
You know we started working together now and uh yeah it’s really really cool it’s very cool yeah I bet you like it indeed all right well enjoy it out there tonight thank you okay thanks Oliver well with that we’re going to bring Sammy in Sam’s Sammy’s gone for more of
A traditional over all outfit which we we do like but still you are looking very sleek and it’s all a bit different for you this year as well Sammy yeah we have a brand new car we have the Toyota giar rally too so first of all it’s really interesting for for the drivers
But also I think a lot of people they are uh really willing to see how how the new car will perform so yeah there’s some small Ian not maybe pressure but always I would like to do well yeah I think a lot of eyes Julian will be on
This car in particular and Sammy not to add the pressure but there’s a lot of eyes watching on you oh I I think the car looks amazing even when I haven’t seen one properly properly like you year but we saw the test car I think the car
Looks amazing but how big a challenge how much mileage or kilometers have you done in that car um no honestly not maybe so crazy big mileage but we did basically three two three days testing on on tamak and another two days I had on on snow already uh to prepare little
Bit for for Sweden but honestly I feel really really good in the car so somehow the balance of the car is really neutral and it’s quite easy to drive so but okay the engine is very different to the other rally to so there is some will
Take some time to get used it a little bit but the talk is really impressive on this car so I I I wish it’s also really good on the stages for for new fans joining just just explain a little bit what is so different about the engine
And and how is the drivability different so basically with Toyota now we have three cylinders instead of the four like basically all the other other manufacturers are having now in the rally 2 class so um yeah the basically torque is really good with the engine that’s the main main thing on on paper
But also the engine is very light and the position of the engine is really let’s say back in the car but also really low so the all the weight of the car is really low so it makes the car easy to handle so there is some nice uh let’s say I don’t know
Compromises but nice Solutions with the car and I’m really excited to see how it can do and how important is it being in a a rally 2 car which has a manufacturer rally one team entry as well because to to potentially you’re hanging around with those people now you’re in and
Amongst how important is that in the career of Sami P I hope it can help but I mean of course it’s helping like this um some people who were developing the rally One Toyota before they were also taking some part in this this project with the rally 2 car so
There have been for sure really many professional people designing and developing the car so I think that’s the biggest help or Advantage we are having now with the rally 2 car so yeah it sounds like it’s going to be a very very exciting season for you so thank you so
Much for coming over here Sammy and joining us enjoy tonight yeah thank you you too thanks thanks Sammy we will Sammy but we’re in much more comfortable position okay well with that we have got the Hyandai team boss sirel beatable giving us an insight into what’s going
On at Hyandai this season so I’m going to hand over to that testing in the mountains of Southern France ahead of the new WRC season TI nille in the Hyandai rally 1 hybrid I20 2024 marks a decade since the teams returned to the WRC and they’re determined to celebrate the milestone in
Style a fresh management structure headed by newly appointed company president and team principal serial Abit tabul preparing for his second season in charge very much focused on bringing the good times back after three years of Toyota [Applause] domination Hyandai naming a five strong driver lineup for their 2024 campaign
Led by nille and former world champion o tanak the third car to be shared between Danny sordo light bille with the team since 2014 along with eseka Lappy and wrc2 Champion Andreas michon rally winners one and all an experienced and familiar lineup to a certain degree something that was commanded by Legacy
And history and loyalty that we want to show to some of our drivers and the fact that we believe in them thinking of Danny Soo has been with us uh more than 10 years we want to extend the journey together EP I think everyone knows that I have
Something with with EP because I know it can be quick I know I know what he’s capable of you know it was his his choice also which makes sense to us to move to a part-time program so we decided that was something interesting for for us and uh having the privilege
Of having a WRC 2 champion in mikelson with us also it’s it’s a great opportunity in particular in connection also for our ambition in in R to but that’s something different so part of that is the loyalty and seizing the opportunity with those guys but also
Part of that is also what we believe needs to be the appropriate response to Toyota we will have some part-timers and pretty strong part-timers with good World position and therefore we also need to have our own strategy in response to that Hyandai have won two manufacturers Titles since their return to the sport
In 2014 but the driver’s Championship has proved Elusive and that’s something AB is aiming to put right jenville five times runner up o tanak 2019 Champion with Toyota will lead the charge contesting all 13 events on equal terms to begin with at least I think there will be a bit like a
Prologue in the season the first part of the Season where I think um we’ll be very much free for all uh and will be I’m very keen on seeing what’s happening frankly I’m really looking forward two things those two in action in absolutely you know fair and equal chances in terms
Of equipment in terms of car in terms of development in terms of parts we are very lucky and privileged to be um funded enough and resourced enough uh to be providing an equality of chance to all all our crews actually but in particular o o and theory that will be
The first part of the Season then I’m interesting to see you know a second part in the season where Maybe we need to start thinking a bit differently starting planning uh differently seeing who can be strong and who can you know uh be strong at certain event or other
Event that would be the second part of the Season then there will be like there will be a prologue there will be an epilogue where we need to see really in in action and in concrete terms how we can optimize uh the the results from a team perspective or from a given driver
Perspective but there is a bit of time before we get there tville andro anak reunited on equal terms as they head into the new season but a real Prospect of Team orders coming into play as the campaign unfolds with one very possibly having to concede to the other Bill and
Tanak experienced Top Flight rally winners 19 WRC victories each set for a fascinating head-to-head showdown in the 2024 title race all they need is the Machinery in which to do the job the I20 rally 1 hybrid also a proven winner now available with improved reliability looking back at last year it
Was very clear that we had a car that was probably a bit dominating in terms of pace but actually our biggest en me was not Toyota it was ourselves it was our ourself by the by the T and fold that we inflicted to to us due to poor
Relability or on some occasions some operational issues and also some you know driver mistakes as as simple as that so every ating those issues it’s a big if it’s if it’s a big if but it’s also a big number clearly we would have had the car at the
Resources to be world champion without relability without operational issues and without some of the driver’s mistakes we know there will always be driver mistake but if we can eradicate relability issues if we can eradicate operational issues then we already have a very strong chain well there we go that’s what he’s
Expecting from this season now we are just having a look at some incredible images of that statue that you can see Julian up to my left which is here in Casino Square just where all the fans are gathering around so you can just see how many people are down here and one of
Those drivers that has moved from that grid area now into Casino square is Nikolai gzen so Nikolai it’s a bit of a change for you this year as well I see a bit of red flashing on your jacket not a bit but full red yes and we are quite
Happy with this uh decision so now we in the citran racing team and uh we’ll do this year together with Yan Rosell so it will be tough um season because both of us quite fast and on the test on the Shakedown everywhere we are so close so
Um I will try to keep um each of us like friends but it’s difficult to be super super friendly when you are compete each race again against each other but still the feeling inside the team this friendship between everyone in like owners managers and the engineers mechanics really nice so for the moment
Really feels good the car I really enjoyed we made some test program and small race before Monte Carlo so I already feel the car quite good so I think we are fully ready for um rally mon Monte Carlo just need to to do it with a cool head not to over push so
Early and we I think should be should be okay we will see also the weather because seems like it will be dry but um when the night is coming it’s can change everything yeah I think that’s the thing is it when Darkness Falls you don’t quite know what’s around you I like that
Two things one they’re friends for now and two you’re going to do it with a cool head I wonder how long the cool head can last in the out there in Monte Carlo well that’s it it’s going to be tough out there tonight but what’s the biggest difference like obviously being
A scer for so long what is the biggest difference that you find finding one working with a different team to the different car I would say uh maybe because we were doing some uh races on different cars the last year and in Italy in France uh but to be honest the
Adaptation was quite fast I was expect it will be not easy to adapt uh the first but to be honest from the first testing when we did on the sit and immediately I start to be confident so I think they also the car is quite easy to
Drive and also maybe my skills of adaptation was quite good so maybe this is all overall helped me to to be familiar with the car obviously yann’s got a lot of experience in that car does he have the upper hand a little bit knowing the team being French within
There and coming into this round yeah for sure he can speak on his language with the team it’s it helped a lot but we are uh still like when we communicate between each others we speak English so they they doing especially to make everyone understand so um no it’s we
Will see for sure the Yan have the good experience in this uh car and the team but um let’s see who are prepared better on the test what’s the ultimate goal the championship championship title that’s what you want the win races if you win the races you win the championship is quite
Obvious you know I absolutely love it Nikolai thank you so much for joining us I think you’re being hurried along as well so really appreciate it enjoy it out there tonight thank you thank you okay well it’s not just drivers and co-drivers that are here we have also
Got plenty of dignitaries now Julian I think you were the first to spot Prince Albert he is down with the cars and the drivers at the moment with tiar nille and uh of course some of the promoter team as well so there are rich and famous stars princes everybody is out in
Full force tonight to greet our drivers and co-drivers before they head out on what is a very difficult mission tonight yeah it will be difficult we got another driver here winner of WRC 2 in the central European rally uh n you changed cars and everything now why they change how happy
Are you moving into this season yeah I’m first first of all I’m really happy to be back here it’s kind of my home rally because I’m from n so it’s not far from here and uh yeah last time I did this rally was 2021 so three
Years ago so happy to be back this year yeah we changed the car and the team uh but I already drove this car in the same team two years ago in the French Championship so it’s a bit of a comeback and yeah I’m happy to have this opportunity and this year we already
Have uh most of the Season that is guaranteed so yeah it’s going to be interesting I guess obviously as we said you won in Central Europe so you’re quite used to it from nce how special will this be tonight coming over the star ramp in casino Square not far away
From home yeah it’s always a special event for me it’s my Fifth Fifth entry I guess when I was a child my dad brought me to the stages to see lob for example so yeah I have quite a lot of memories so it’s it’s always really emotional for
Me to be here and yeah I’m really excited to go all right well thank you so much we really do appreciate you coming to the studio and enjoy it out there tonight thank you okay well Julian I’m going to move you forward because it looks like the start ramp is about to
Begin that is one of our zero cars I think heading over the start ramp the rest of the cars will be coming up shortly but we were in the service Park earlier on and this rally in particular is All About Tires now last night Emir penlan went on an investigative Mission
With pelli to find out exactly what we can expect from the tires this weekend Mario Isela thank you for welcoming me into the pelli compound you’ve got a lot of tires here for this weekend yeah Monte Carlo you know is a special event where drivers have multiple choices that’s why we’re more
Tired than usually historically it is probably the most difficult rally for choosing tires but it’s dry so how’s that going to affect the allocation and you know the strategies for the teams for sure if it is dry it’s a bit easier to make the right choice uh typical
Monte Carlo with snow ice for glass it’s always the the most uh difficult uh part of the job and sometime Tire strategy is the key for performance is the key for the result of the rally in rying completely dry Condition it’s a little bit uh easier to to decide our tarmac
Tire is very versatile so it can be used uh in different condition but that’s a bit uh the secret of the rally we need to produce tires that are adaptable to different condition absolutely and I understand You’ve Got a Brand New new winter tire for this event as well which
Probably isn’t going to be used at all it’s a Pity but we continue to develop our product uh and uh it’s important to keep up with the speed of development uh and always Supply the best uh product if we cannot use this tire here this year
It will be for the future and for other championships and the championship is changing a little bit this year with Sunday of course extra points available on Sunday so is that going to change strategy and especially drivers may be running out of the perfect TI for Sunday
That’s a question more for the drivers what they want to do excellent well best of luck for the season you looking forward to it yes yes it’s our last year in uh WRC for the moment it’s a good buy it’s not a uh definitive um decision but
Uh of course uh we are happy to be here we are happy to run the last season together with those drivers that are the best in the world and uh happy to be here excellent thanks for your time enjoy rally monteal thank you well there we go so that was what
Tires we can expect from this weekend normally a lot of Tire Jeffy this weekend like you said it might be a bit easier now the volume has just pumped up here for one very good reason the start ceremony Julian is about to begin yeah it is it’s not cuz we’re going to go
Dancing on there or anything but no we’re not far away from the 2024 season starting and excitement nerves anticipation it’s all rolled into one and it’s all about to kind of like now listen the action did start yesterday in terms of Shakedown so just before we get
To this star ramp let’s just take a look to remind ourselves at what happened at Shakedown before the official start to Monte Carlo 2024 high in the outs the most most famous rally stages of them all and this year very dry and very very fast the Shakedown test stage the first of the
Brand New World Rally Championship season Elvin Evans was the first to try out the grip on this 3 and a/4 kilm long stage Evans last year’s runner up his first impression the roads were dry but there was no grip it’s back to the future for o tanic who returns to Hyundai and immediately
To showing signs of speed the Estonian was fastest on the first run which soon became Dirty a brooding new blank Livery for the Toyota yis SEO again favorites to win the opening round of the Season which will give him his 10th Victory overall in the Alps mountains north of the Principality Adin foro leads a young M sport lineup in this year’s pummer the Frenchman’s first job to make sure teammate greguar monster doesn’t beat him former concerned about a differential on his car Today Andre melson was blown away by the speed and the performance of the rally on Hyundai his first taste of the Sport’s best Machinery melson back in rally one for the first time since 2019 O tanic the fast of the very first test stage this year
In a time set on the afternoon’s first run Elvin EV a 10th of a second behind him on the run then nerville oier and katsuta the citans of grien and rousell set the fastest times in WRC 2 all right well it is that time let’s do this let’s start rally Monte Carlo
2024 well welcome along everyone I know anticipation is high ahead of the two stages this evening but of course we have to go through the the beautiful formalities in Casino Square the ceremonial start royalty on hand Elvin Evans and Scott Martin are first on the road this evening and first to dive into
The darkness later on let’s see if we can uh maybe CLE lot of people on hand to watch as the guys head over the start Ramp position last year what what are you expecting this year for this rally Monte well of course it’s it looks like a drier version of rale monteo than what we’re used to having up in in the Gap area but of course that still doesn’t mean to say this rally is
Straightforward uh still the conditions are are quite changeable there’s a possibility of of Black Ice Still so uh it’s not going to be a straightforward T rally still and and the stages will be technical conditions are a little bit different to what we’re going to expect and as Elvin Evans said chenny it’s
Looking quite dry out there but you know as soon as Darkness Falls you never know what can happen out there all of sbur mentioned it a little bit earlier on when he was chatting with kir and Julian it’s still going to be difficult let’s not take that away from this rally it
Doesn’t need the ice in the snow to make it complex no it’s going to be a really tough rally I think as I said we we were discussing earlier the average speeds are going to be higher which reduces the margin for error when the car’s moving
Around a little bit you know if you’re going that much quicker and and yeah you know I think it’s become a rally of of Tire strategy more than anything else trying to save those soft tires for for Sunday which is now a big part of the
Game in the new Point structure so um yeah for Elvin Evans and and for all the drivers they’ll be working out what the best tire strategy is when to run the super soft when to run the soft and and everything else so yeah look it’s a it’s
A um it’s going to be an interesting rally there’s no question about that bexi yeah it certainly is a thriller as always to open the uh the season rally Monte Carlo I think even if you’re not into rallying you have heard of rally Monte Gallo all the drivers have tided
Themselves up over Christmas they’ve all elvin’s got a lovely haircut he looks lovely tiry as well they just get a bit more bedraggled as the year goes on the pronunciation of V surname catches many a commentator around to be fair it’s a toughy is a toughy On For the fight wi here in mon fight the tile this year when you look at the the lineup that we have how close it could potentially be we’re a world away obviously from the final round in Japan at the end of the season but I like this
Moment I have to say just before a rally and certainly just before the start of the Season everyone is equal right now no one has a point on the board anticipation is right up there you just don’t know which way it’s going to go and this is potentially my favorite
Moment of a rally because everything is just up in the air you don’t know which way it is all going to play out and I love that I think Cali you know who’s spend a bit of time away and he’s he’s going to be doing a part program
Sharing car with Sebastian o which is super exciting for us because we’re going to see them dropping in and out of rally which is brilliant but if C were doing the entire Championship we’d be sat here going he’s the favorite now you’ve got Elvin Evans you’ve got tville
You’ve got o there’s nothing to choose between them and as well when CI and Seb turn up you can guarantee they’re going to be on the pace and scoring points as well so you can’t completely discount those guys either I think we’re set for a brilliant championship and a great
Battle between this man and his teammates here in Newville yeah absolutely back to hundo then for o tanak grab a couple words with him also find out how he is feeling ahead of the two stages this evening and of course this whole weekend at the fifth position last
Year here on the r Monte Carlo um what are your what are you feeling tonight it’s uh yeah definitely uh in a way a bit more excited and uh some may nervous as well definitely every new new start new season uh creat a bit excitement and uh Monte is always uh
Quite a demanding one to start the season uh but still same time looking forward in a new guard new team so um yeah a lot to discover right what are the specifications of the rally mono if if there is some specifications for you I mean yeah winter time going into
The Alps uh especially now tonight in the in the dark so it’s it’s definitely going to be a bit tricky with the with the weather and then even if the weather’s been daytime quite nice night time it can still freeze so uh I guess uh we need to just make sure that we
Find the icy places to see somei Flags they’re they’re everywhere yeah they get around the Estonian fans don’t they all supporting this man he’s got a hell of a following it’s look he’s he’s a superstar in Estonia of course he is and you know well deserved I think it’s
Always it always has been exciting watching o tanak even early on in his career as we said royalty watching on then flagging away the drivers from the start Casino square is where it’s at right now up into the Alps though for the stages well it raised a good point you
Know previously on rally monol traditional rally monol where we seen snow and ice you could get to the end of the stage and a driver might have dropped 15 seconds and and it was probably the only 20 seconds even probably the only rally of the Year
Where we didn’t go oh that’s bad because you know that they might make it up on Tire Choice somewhere else that’s kind of been because of the conditions been pushed to on side so we’re going to see you know more of a Sprint montala where you can’t afford to lose any time you
Know yeah absolutely and that is the case and you mentioned tires earlier on and we heard from Mario Isola from perelli of course you know there’s four options this weekend it’s the soft it’s the super soft and obviously the the winter tire and the studded winter tire but the soft
Is now the one that they’re all going to be looking after because that is going to be the most used option throughout the weekend so the strategy changes a little from what we’re used to when there is a little bit of ice around but let’s turn our attention to a man who
Knows how to get onto the top step of the podium here he been here a few times has he he’s been here a few times Seb Seb for has got nine rally Monte Carlo wins one of those in the IRC Championship eight of them at wlc I mean he just knows how to do it I was you know I’m kind of Lucky in a way because I was here for that IRC Victory
I was covering the championship at the time when that happened and I just you can’t be that old bets I tell you what for 29 I’ve done well but I remember the absolute Elation that he felt um winning that event back then you know it was it was his first
Rally Monte Carlo win and it was something really special indeed and I don’t think any you know what it doesn’t matter how many wins you’ve got it’s always going to be special here because it’s one of the absolute Legendary Classic Events on the calendar it’s like winning this winning Safari winning uh
Rally Finland you know it’s the one the drivers and co- drivers all want on their checklist absolutely you know it’s the it’s the jewel in the crown isn’t it all eyes are on it it kicks off the year and it’s they said it’s got so much
History so much Heritage it is the one that everybody wants to win for Sebastian o it’s made all the more special by the fact that you know it’s his home event it’s you know so yeah I think for for Seb he’ll be here he’s got no pressure and he’ll be absolutely bang
On it as I hope for this man takamoto katuta I reckon I’m his biggest fan top no you to rival me with that sorry sorry he’s a great great guy isn’t he I’d love to see him do well this year he’s got a huge amount of support and he really did
Show us in Japan last round last year what we could see this year let’s hear from him how do you feel yeah of course nice to be here for the new season and always uh exciting start in Mont Caro so so yeah very happy to see the many fans here of course and
Uh we will be in a big strange now so very exciting the best uh the the best place for you it was in uh last year at the sixth place here on the IMC yeah but we tried to be even more higher so that’s my target this this
Year that’s that’s your turn if you want uh so see you on Sunday ear in the in the in Monaco okay with a with a large smile thank you have a nice ter is always smiling that Michelle muton with a with a Japanese flag I I only caught
It in the corner of my eye somebody was I didn’t say I only caught the Japanese flag but uh if it wasn’t her either way there’s a Japanese fan down there having a great time I only caught it in the corner of my eye if it wasn’t her I’m
Really sorry Michelle no I think she’s busy at the minute but I I’m not sure she’s there at the moment I don’t know but I don’t think it was but it was definitely a Japanese flank we can confirm that Jenny we absolutely can if you’re just joining us for our coverage
Ahead of rally Monte Carlo as you can see we’re at the ceremonial start Casino square is where it all kicks off from hang on no definitely not toich wow that is a fruit basket heading your way and a box of chocolate and some champagne you’re in big
Trouble so much it all kicks off this evening we’ve got two stages in Darkness this evening which we are very much looking forward to it’s Taker and Aaron who are just about to head over the ramp and head out on their way into the hills they’ve got quite a distance to
Travel our first stage the coverage of that first stage this evening gets underway at 8:30 local time here looks great doesn’t it from above yeah looks brilliant from above it’s the only time some of these drivers a lot of them I’m sure have parked outside the casino in their Lamborghinis Ferraris
And whatever else but for many of these drivers it’ll be the first time that they’ll ever and maybe the last time they’ll ever park a car outside on these start and finish RS it always looks so good and it’s an amazing Atmosphere little bit of trepidation of course ahead of what is going to happen out there across the weekend four days ition but for Andre melson I don’t think there’s a bit of trepidation at all it’s all smiles right now he is back where he
Wanted to be in a rally one car back at the top level of the WRC he’s our WRC 2 champion of course from last season with t Erikson his co-driver alongside the dream was to be back at this level he is it’s a partial season
With Hundai and he is going to grab it and run with it yeah it’s going to take him a little bit a little bit of time to settle into the car there’s no question about that as you said the margins are so fine between everybody but um
Brilliant to see him back as we said do you feel just before uh the the first uh the first session yeah I feel I feel great it’s good to be back uh in the rally one category um this rally has always been uh I always had good results
Here you know Inc and rally 2 and hopefully we can add another good result this year everything is very new new car new team so I have to get used to things but uh step by step you will win this year I think uh well in this rally you never know
Because uh it’s a very difficult event but I think with the conditions this year was quite warm I don’t think we’ll see a lot of snow and ice so it will be more a normal asphalt tarmac rally um so I need more time to be challenging for
The win I think but uh we’ll enjoy so have a nice rally see you on Sunday with a large smile yeah I hope so Merc I don’t think that’s going to go away for the whole weekend to be honest no I spoke to him last night he’s obviously
Extremely excited to be here and um and Keen to get Keen to get going and doesn’t look pressure to score points really is on o tanak and and tierry Newville at the start of the weekend you know so um it’s all all going to be about adapting and you know we heard his
Comment at the end of Shakedown yesterday how fast it was out there and you know he’s got to get used to this car and this is not an easy rally to adapt to anything on even if you were on a push bike it wouldn’t be an easy rally
To adapt absolutely not and look it’s but he’s in a positive mindset he’s in a positive frame of mind and he’s obviously being looked after well down at how you so you know that all counts and that’s all worth time and I think uh Andreas will surprise us um when we see
Him on events this year imagine us sitting there now the Cafe De Parry having a little bit of coffee watching on the ceremonial starts fairly significant contrast to our commentary Booth bexi it is a fairly significant contast and not even coffee here right now but those uh lovely
Ladies and gentlemen are in Prime position there I’ve got a banana here you can have if you want I’m good I’ll pass thank you very much plenty more cars to head over this start ramp this evening or this afternoon really it’s just 8 minutes past 5 what do we call
This afternoon or evening early evening I think be okay well we’ll go for that shall we evening yeah and look the guys all the drivers the guys and girls down there they’ll all be just itching to get going you know this is obviously the start of the rally it’s a formality that
That’s been part of rallying for a long long time and um you know it’s great to it’s a great way to kick off the year in a beautiful place but they’ll all now be just wanting to get out onto the stage and get going absolutely we’ll hear from Edan for
Fantastic to see him in a rally one car with M sport Ford pap for then get on their way if you want to take a bit of a shout at who you think your top three are going to be this weekend or who are your top three for
The weekend you can let us know use the #w WRC live as ever across social media so we can see what you’re chatting about certainly on Twitter join the conversation use that hashtag I’m not going to put you on the spot and get you
To give us a a top three quite yet Jenny unless you want you know you’ve got them in your head I’ll wait you’re going to wait you’re going to wait to see the first stage are you that you know that is I’ll wait until you do put me on the
Spot okay and until that point my lips are sealed but look genuinely that’s a good thing isn’t it though you know you’re going into an event and we we don’t really know Sebastian oier is is um I think for me a clear favorite he doesn’t really have to a championship to
Think about he wants to score points more than anything he knows what he’s got to do and he’s got all the local knowledge and he’s been here and he’s done it before and at this level with with the you know as I said the margins are so fine all of that counts
Absolutely it does we saw Greg monster step into rally one Machinery at the back end of 2023 he had quite the experience uh within the rally one car and for this season it’s the full season I mean it’s a huge opportunity for him we’ll hear a
Little bit from him now find out how he’s feeling that’s Louis Moyer’s son waving there we go I definitely got that one right that’s 100% great to see him here representing uh Toyota but yeah I’ll give you a gold star back on your badge for That For We look forward to seeing what they can do across the season we spoke with Team principal Rich millonaire earlier at the the meet the crew session here in gap and you know it’s a young Squad they have this year but I find that exciting because you see a driver really build
And really start to evolve and You Know Rich was saying that you know they’re hopefully going to Target a few podiums this year and it’ll be interesting to see as the season moves on how much greguar certainly improves because he’s coming in as the real youth the squad
For Mo has a bit more experience than he does yeah I mean I think you’ve summed it all up there pretty perfectly be he’s he’s going to come into the year and he’s got to he’s got to keep his head he’s got to you know not let the
Pressure get to him and not get involved in other people in you know kind of fights with O tanak and tville it’s it’s seat time it’s all about seat time and experience and and that is lacking for Greg the only way only way he’s going to
Do it is by keeping the car on the road he’s got to keep the car between the hedges and just keep building that and and as you said I’m sure throughout the year we’ll see some surprises from him but for now it’s about gaining experience Yan Rosell now and have a good day F for so and there we go that’s Yan Rosell who took his first rally Monte Carlo win back in the WRC 3 class in his championship winning year in WRC 3 obviously the rally two Victory as well last year but he me mentioned at Shakedown he wanted to do it on the road
This year last year we it was a bit of a gimme wasn’t it it was he was second overall but Gren who was the fastest got given a penalty that dropped him back and then he yoan Rosell was the eventual winner but some what I really like about
Rossell is that he came in as a you know real tarmac specialist at first but he developed his his knowledge on gravel his performance on gravel really really sha and that winning Championship winning year for him in WRC 3 was something special I’m Keen to see what
He can do this year yeah this his seventh Monte Carlo start isn’t it you know and as you as you said a bit of a TX verus and again the conditions this weekend should play into his into his Hands what are expecting this year for you for your team on the irmc just to win simp the shortest interv I’ve ever heard excited as usual the night stages in the first so it’s the best way of start because it’s not um easy for everyone so
I think uh we will do our best so the only way well any to it’s time it’s time for you so have a nice rally and see you on Sunday I think it’s pretty clear what uh the intention is yeah what his plans are for the weekend just to win and thing is
Becks as well like you can’t again so we can’t call it in W in rally one you can’t call it in rally 2 either this this such a hotly contested Championship there’s some you know drivers that we have seen competing in the WRC in rally
One you know competing in in WRC 2 or rally to so look there’s it’s it’s such a tight lineup and I think it’s so good for the championship we said yesterday during the commentary Shakedown you know even the the Juniors you know 19 entrance so it’s it’s really strong in
These in those those other categories absolutely it is Oliver soberg I love the new livery on this car and his helmet is something special as well um he was having a chat with kir and Julian earlier on and they were asking has he been to design school
Because he is looking pretty fly heading into rally Monte Carlo this year I’m excited to see what solbo can do across the season now he speaking English or French here I Wonder you Chang your car this year same car different team okay same car different team so what is U what are you expecting this year on the Rally monteo For The Goal the goal is uh is is to try to win you know uh of course every time
And uh it’s going to be a long tough rally but really looking forward to it well you you are from a family um a car family we are a rally family you know a rally family big big rally family and uh we are the world’s biggest Motorsport
Family uh together so yeah it’s very very special what what what do you speak for when uh when you meet uh each other only car on Christmas we are everyone together uh we are about maybe 20 people and we only speak about cars olber see you on Sunday see you on
Sunday he’s mentioned that quite a few times before and so is PETA you know when they’re all together the family are just constantly talking you even say you know Petra has said you know my mom has just turned around and said look Christmas day it’s Christmas dinner stop
Let’s just have you know a meal without talking about rallying but it’s impossible they all love it they all abely passionate and then it’s silence silence nothing said for an hour should we talk about cars again yeah okay off we go absolutely let’s talk it all through again four days of competition
Here chenny it’s you know we’re in for the Long Haul with rally Monte Carlo aren’t we you know and it’s you know they’ve started wrecky on Monday as well it’s been a a busy old week for the drivers and co-drivers how all the crews Sammy py now then any Malin
In welcome in Manu thank you thank you hey it’s a last year no rally yes because you were sicka you were sick last in 2022 we at the 22 position this year let’s see I at least better than last year so now start the r but yeah it’s um
Really interesting new car it’s a new car yeah really new car looks amazing yeah like you can see it’s an amazing car AB it’s your Chief where you to go yeah you need to ask them R project with Toyota the Yaris has been I would say one of the most hotly anticipated cars to enter competition in this category we’ve really been looking forward to seeing it uh you know we can see them now proudly flagging off the car all the the yares that we see
Entered this weekend there’s four of them they’re all with third party teams has privately entered toyot says they’ve been developed this car has been developed for the customer base yeah absolutely and then we’ve seen we’ve seen sneak previews of it haven’t we and and there’s been as you said a lot of
Anticipation around the car and um you know I think there’s no question it’s going to be quick out of the box and there’s some quick drivers in it this weekend as well you can’t read too much into what happened in Shakedown um that’s just a matter of going out and
Making sure everything’s working really so you know once they start driven in Anger I’m sure that we’re going to see some um some hot times from those yares car Nicholas see man there we see him in the hyai this year saw him in a couple of cars last year actually because he was competing in the scoda we saw him in the Volkswagen Polo as well so he knows how to adapt to a new Yol yeah settled
That’s right that’s right beex settled on a uh settled on a Hyundai hasn’t he and um and he’s been saying very positive things about it so yeah look again he’s a man who’ll be quick this weekend in that Hyundai great to see him there um and and he’s got a bunch of
Experience his fifth start here at Monte Carlo so um you know he has had a bit of seat time in that hyai I’m sure he’s going to be fine Now we move on to Pepe Lopez he was third in WRC 2 last year in rally mon it was a very special Event what is your mind at the start this afternoon well really looking forward to this R it’s a rally that I really like is the most important rally for me in the world so let’s try to to make a a good result for the team and uh let’s
See the rest of the year how it Is it’s time to go see you on Sunday here on the casino of course okay you and have a nice rally Pepe Lopez as you said one of the most important rallies on the championship calendar for him and this is the last call we will see now across
The ramp we will uh be back commentating of course on the stages a bit later but we’re going to hand down back to Monaco and back to miss Kiri blore not really similar well there we go that was the start R I think you might have just
Caught me yawning there as the sun goes down it’s not time for bed at all because we have got two stages to come your way tonight the first of which starting at about 8:30 Pepe Lopez goes behind us now as I was saying two stages tonight the first of which is half of
Ciseron so that is going to be one to watch now you can have a look at the Times these are local times to us here keep your eyes on those times for our viewers all around the world but it is two stages tonight and plenty of action
Okay well the cars will continue to come over the start R Chris Ingram is the next of those cars feeling quite positive wasn’t he when you spoke to him yeah yeah I know a lot of this is is the the mentality of it all that appreciation and that that kind of I can
Do it the belief in your own ability and not worry about what other people have got or haven’t got do your best job that’s all you can do but in every everything in life though do your best job and just maximize what you can do
Yeah well I hope you are going to be with us tonight to see who will do the best job through these stages now Julian we enter the dark your favorite favorite type of rallying is in the dark we have got a big night ahead of us yeah two
Proper good stages in the dark for me Tac driving in the dark there’s nothing better than than that put it into Monte Carlo it even gets even better if it can you know so the cars look fantastic low slung absolutely brilliant so add a little bit of maybe some Frost I’m not
Going to say ice cuz we don’t believe it is ice there might be some Frost who knows what can happen who knows the what what can happen with the conditions being more stable it should be a better should it could be a closer fight sometimes when
We were in there in 2018 virtually won the rally on the first stage so yeah but this first stage alone tonight is one to watch the magical Monty Madness that will unfold in front of your eyes tonight is well worth watching now Chris Ingram’s rally here in Monte car for
2024 has just begun yes he went through Shakedown but this is the starting point now once these cards have gone a lot of these fans will head up to the stages as well there’s traffic out there Galore as well because there are so so many fans
Trying to get to those stages so Julian final thoughts for the weekend I just want to see a really close fight because sometimes Monty as we just said can be won in the first night if there’s tricky conditions I want to see a good close fight O’s got
To be favorite going for number 10 but tanak on fire elvin’s got a great chance Newville wants it there’s plenty of opportunity I just want a nice good big fight I want a big fight as well are you ready for this our season will again in
A matter of hours 8:30 is where you need to be to join us for the first bit of action from Monte Carlo 2024 well from Casino Square for myself Julian Porter and the rest of the team it is goodbye but not for long the action is on its Way I
16 Comments
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing🇯🇵🗾🇬🇧🇫🇷🇯🇵🇮🇪がんばれ❗️
TOYOTA🇯🇵GR YARIS RALLY２🇫🇮🇫🇷🇪🇸🇫🇷がんばれ❗️
Beckie the poetry of Rally cars❤😊
Piękny sport.
HYBRID CARS FAST
Havnt watch rally for good 20 yrs but i insta recognized Peters Solberg son 🙂
Making learning seem effortless
Where's Kalle (now) ?
If you guys put this much effort into posting the after rally review instead of the build up you would have so much more views .I still watch the 98 to 2008 rally reviews
i was waiting for see this moment.
What pilot do you think will win this year i think that Kalle Rovampera or Sebastian Oigier
best of luck to Chris & Hannah on their exciting new adventure!!
Wo ist denn der Walter? 🤔
How come Ian Beal’s setting them off? 🤔🤣🤣🤣
Where Citroen Peugeot VW Audi Subaru Mitsubishi
Be awesome if y’all would live stream the race on YouTube
ma gli "italiani" DOVE SONO ? 😂