WRC 2
Rossel charges to WRC2 lead in Monte-Carlo
Léo Rossel emerged at the head of the WRC2 field on Friday at Rallye Monte-Carlo.
The Citroën C3 Rally2 driver ended the day 39.6sec clear after capitalising on a difficult morning for overnight leader Eric Camilli, who was caught out by the changing conditions on Friday’s opening stage.
Camilli had led Rossel by 15.3sec after Thursday’s opening three stages but admitted to being too cautious in SS4, losing almost 50sec and surrendering the advantage. His troubles deepened on the following test when he slid into a bank and stalled, dropping him to fourth overall.
That opened the door for Rossel to take control, while Nikolay Gryazin remained firmly in the fight during his debut outing in the new Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 integrale. Gryazin effectively carried Lancia’s WRC2 challenge after early favourite Yohan Rossel was sidelined on Thursday night when steering damage forced him out of contention.
Camilli regrouped in the afternoon and mounted a strong recovery drive, reclaiming second overall by passing Gryazin on the penultimate stage of the day.
Behind the leading trio, Roberto Daprà held fourth, while Arthur Pelamourgues impressed on his WRC2 debut by claiming a stage win on SS4 and ending Friday sixth overall behind Pablo Sarrazin.
