Swede takes control in treacherous conditions on Thursday.
Oliver Solberg emerged from one of the most punishing opening legs in recent Rallye Monte-Carlo history with a commanding early lead, as snow, ice, fog and darkness combined to deliver a brutal Thursday night in the French Alps.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver mastered the treacherous Esclangon / Seyne-les-Alpes test to seize control of the rally and then safely negotiated a fog-shrouded finale to end the opening leg 44.2sec clear of team-mate Elfyn Evans after three stages.
Despite freezing temperatures, heavy rain and rapidly deteriorating conditions, tens of thousands of fans lined the Alpine roads - braving the elements to experience Monte-Carlo’s trademark atmosphere first-hand.
Evans had struck first on the wet opening stage at Toudon / Saint-Antonin, but the rally was turned on its head in SS2. Run entirely in darkness and coated in slush, snow and sheet ice, Esclangon / Seyne-les-Alpes proved decisive as Solberg delivered a sensational drive to go fastest by a staggering 31.1sec.
“My god, that is the craziest I have done in my life,” Solberg admitted. “In the beginning my driving was really bad, but then on the snow I thought I’d just go for it.”
The closing test of the night, Vaumeilh / Claret 1, added yet another twist. Heavy fog reduced visibility to near zero and, after just seven cars had completed the 15.06km stage, it was red-flagged on safety grounds with notional times applied to the remainder of the field.
Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier set the fastest time among those who ran before the stoppage and climbed to third overall by the overnight halt, but Solberg still managed to extend his advantage over the second-placed Evans.
“It’s incredible - an incredible start,” Solberg said. “I need to breathe a little bit now because it was the most difficult night of my life so far. It’s been good fun - challenging, but good fun.”
Behind the leading Toyota duo, Thierry Neuville recovered from a confidence-sapping opening stage to end the leg fourth overall, while Adrien Fourmaux followed closely behind in sixth despite briefly finding himself in a ditch in SS3 as dense fog made it difficult even to locate the road.
One of the standout stories of Thursday night was the assured Rally1 debut of Jon Armstrong. The M-Sport Ford driver stunned the field with the third-fastest time on SS2 and ended the opening leg fifth overall, despite a small overshoot and contact with a bank late in the night.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta ran seventh overnight after adopting a cautious approach in the opening stages, prioritising survival as conditions worsened. He was followed by Grégoire Munster, who battled through power steering problems to hold eighth place.
Further back, Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon completed the treachorous opening leg ninth overall, while WRC2 frontrunners Eric Camilli and Léo Rossel rounded out the top 10.
The extreme conditions also claimed early casualties with Sami Pajari and Josh McErlean both sliding off the road and into retirement on SS2.
Standings after Thursday (SS3 /17):
1. O Solberg / E Edmondson SWE Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 43m10.3s
2. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +44.2s
3. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1m08.6s
4. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1m25.9s
5. J Armstrong / S Byrne IRL Ford Puma Rally1 +1m34.5s
6. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1m44.8s
