Continuing our exclusive coverage of motorsports that Americans don’t seem to care about we’ve got a recap of the 81st running of historic Monte Carlo Rally. Histroy was made and the final chapter of one man’s amazing career is being written so hit the jump for all the details.
First of all I’d like to apologize for the photos in this post. While they are nice pictures, they aren’t from the current WRC season or the Monte Carlo Rally. Apparently, all our top secret media sources are having technical difficulties. That being said you should probably check out the respective Flickr galleries by clicking on the pics, as there’s a lot of nice work there that deserves to be seen.
There were two key stories that made this particular Monte Carly Rally an historic one. The reigning 9 time consecutive WRC champion Sebastien Loeb is participating in his finale Monte Carlo Rally. Loeb, who has utterly dominated the sport for the past decade, will be contesting only four events this year, while focusing on other racing series including the possible development of a Citroen WTCC entry for the 2014 season.
Loeb continued his winning ways in Monte Carlo by finishing well ahead of the field. Despite the treacherous conditions which saw nearly all the top finishers struggle as Loeb reached the top step with a finishing time that was an impressive 1:39.9 ahead of the young gun, fellow Frenchman Sebastien Ogier. This is Loeb’s 7th Monte Carlo victory.
Volkswagen also set history at this weekend’s rally with Sebastien Ogier claiming the first WRC stage victory for VW on the opening stage. The new VW Polo R showed excellent pace and reliablility, carrying Ogier to the second step of the podium and showing the rest of the field that VW is making a serious effort for it’s debut 2013 season.
Finally, here are some highlights from the wet and snowy day two.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEWDR2pUCwo&feature=share&list=UUlPhtCEhU0eC6Q5rGZU-TFg