Japanese driver Fumio Nutahara made the perfect start to his challenge for this 2006 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, taking a comfortable victory on the opening round in Monte Carlo today. Britain’s David Higgins ensured a one-two for the Lancer Evolution at the end of three difficult days on the French Alpine stages north of Monaco.
Nutahara, who had never competed on this rally before, had plenty of reason to celebrate when he returned to Monaco after the final day’s six stages. He said: “I have three firsts today: it’s the first time I competed in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, the first time I competed with Yokohama tarmac tires on the snow / ice and the first time I competed with my new co-driver Daniel Barritt. To win under these circumstances is fantastic. It’s definitely the hardest rally I have ever done. I am very, very happy!”
Heavy snowfalls in the days leading up to the event made conditions difficult for the crews. Traditionally these roads provide a mixture of snow, ice, slush and dry asphalt – this year was no different. The start of the rally was delayed for the Production Car drivers; they did not compete on the first three stages, due to traffic congestion in the area around Saint Sauveur, north of the rally’s base in Monaco. When the competition did get underway, on the fourth stage, Mitsubishi driver Jasen Popov (Bulgaria) was fastest.
Popov held the advantage for two stages, before Nutahara moved ahead. Higgins had been second, despite a broken driveshaft on SS4, but slipped further down the leaderboard after brake problems in stage six. Saturday morning’s early stages provided some of the trickiest conditions with ice lining the roads before the sun had chance to melt it. Subaru Impreza driver Nasser Al-Attiyah pushed hardest and was rewarded with the lead, before Popov moved back past him in SS9. With the roads drying out on Saturday afternoon, Nutahara made the most of the extra power and torque available to him in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and led the rally again.
From that point onwards, Nutahara was never headed again. Unfortunately for Popov, he crashed off the road at high speed on the final test on Saturday, La Bollene Vesbuie-Sospel, which includes the notorious Col de Turini. Despite the car falling a long way off the mountain, both Popov and his co-driving brother Dilian emerged uninjured.
Nutahara withstood intense pressure from Al-Attiyah through the first couple of stages this morning, before the Subaru driver also crashed, but still made third position at the finish. That promoted Higgins from third to second. While Nutahara’s rally had been trouble-free, Higgins had struggled on his debut in the Production Car World Rally Championship.
David was also driving with a new navigator for this rally, Ross Butler. The British crew had trouble with their pace notes on Saturday and then punctured the front-left tyre on SS14. They were forced to stop and change the tire, dropping them two minutes. Happily for them, they still made the finish and the perfect result for Mitsubishi.
For Nutahara, this was the perfect rally. He said at the finish: “The torque in the new car is very strong. The Lancer Evolution VIII, the car I drove last year, was very good already, but this new car is even better. We have a lot of power from very low down in the rev range – and it goes to higher revs than before. It is a joy to drive this car. The conditions on the rally have been so difficult. All of the time you don’t know what is coming around the next corner. Will it be dry or ice or snow? You just never know. I have also to say a big thank you to my co-driver Daniel, we had no problems at all. We worked very well together, and also to Yokohama for giving us such great tires that worked in all of the conditions.”
Higgins was relieved to make the finish, saying: “I knew if we could get to the end of the rally there was a good chance we could get quite a few points. That’s exactly what we have done. I knew this was one of the toughest rallies in the world and it’s certainly lived up to that reputation.”
Italian crew Stefano Marrini and Tiziana Sandroni took fourth place in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII after a problem-free event.
Behind the leading Production Car runners, Tibor Cserhalmi was the fastest of the remaining Group N drivers in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evoluition VIII.
At the front of the field, Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen had plenty to celebrate as well, winning their first ever Monte Carlo in a Ford. The Finnish pair had led the event from stage six onwards, after Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena crashed their Citroen. Loeb recovered from eighth position to end the event second, just beating the Peugeot of Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen on the final stage.
The next round of the Production Car World Rally Championship is Rally Mexico in March 2-5
