WRC 2 in Monte-Carlo: Greensmith maintains Pro lead

Gus Greensmith finished Friday’s first full day of Rallye Monte-Carlo with a comfortable lead over WRC 2 Pro rival Kalle Rovanperä.

Gus Greensmith finished Friday’s first full day of Rallye Monte-Carlo with a comfortable lead over WRC 2 Pro rival Kalle Rovanperä.
The M-Sport Ford Team driver claimed just one of five available stage wins during the day – following the cancellation of SS3 – but maintained a mistake-free run to finish 11min 18.1sec ahead of his Skoda rival.
Greensmith had just one moment of concern as he lost the brakes of his Fiesta R5 in SS4 but a roadside repair prior to the next stage minimised the time loss.
Rovanperä was quicker than Greensmith on four stages but was unable to make up much of the time he lost in a crash on Thursday.
Bonato pulls clear in WRC 2
Yoann Bonato claimed a hat-trick of stage victories in his Citroën C3 R5 as he extended his 12sec overnight lead in WRC 2 to 1min 47.4sec.
The Frenchman was rarely troubled as his rivals encountered difficulties on the ice-covered asphalt stages.
Yoann Bonato holds a comfortable lead in WRC 2
Nicolas Ciamin was the first to hit problems. Starting the day in second, the Frenchman lost almost three minutes changing a wheel on his Volkswagen Polo R5 in SS4. He lost another three minutes in the final test to plunge to seventh.
Ciamin’s misfortune benefited Adrien Fourmaux. The Ford Fiesta R5 driver had a clean run through the day’s stages and a fastest time in SS8 moved him up to second.
Slowed by wheel damage on SS3, Guillaume de Mevius ended the day third in his C3 R5, 7.0sec behind Fourmaux.
Ole Christian Veiby finished the leg fourth, despite stopping to change a wheel on his Polo R5 during SS4. Top three times in the afternoon loop allowed him to open up a 1min 34.9sec gap to Rhys Yates in fifth.
Gregoire Munster ended the leg in sixth in his Skoda Fabia R5, after losing more than two minutes on SS6.
Head to WRC+ to watch All Live from Rallye Monte-Carlo, including every stage broadcast live, breaking service park news and expert studio analysis.

wrc.com