ournalist Byron Young co-drives in his first ever international eventardine and Young finish the first leg of the rally 71st overallCompleting the first day of the world famous Monte Carlo Rally, driver Tony Jardine and rookie co-driver Byron Young admitted they were delighted with their ‘stunning start’ in the much celebrated centenary event.With 120 entrants competing in the opening stage, and just 79 making it to the end of the first leg, the ProSpeed / Daily Mirror team did well to claim 71st overall. Jardine commented, “I’ve achieved one of my biggest goals – I’ve actually started the famous Monte Carlo Rally! A massive amount of work has gone in by numerous people just to get us here, so you can imagine what a great feeling it is for us to now be driving over the famous mountain stages in the Ardeche region for the first time. Despite our nerves this morning, we soon settled and Byron’s amazing hard work on the recce paid off over the first three stages. I’m very happy with our finishing position tonight, especially as we are one of the little cars running at the back!”Young seemed relieved to get started, “I slept for about two hours last night before the rally start due to the schedule and the sheer amount of work that has to go into preparing for such an event. I’ve made 261 pages of pace notes from the recce and have been writing stories for the paper at the same time! I was scared until we actually got in the car and did a couple of stages, then I was fine, the experience is awesome. We have got a great team behind us and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”At the end of day one, the fourth stage was cancelled due to a competitor crashing out of the event. Thursday (20 January), the second day of the rally, will consist of four more stages for the media duo to tackle in their Kumho-backed Ford Fiesta ST 150.