🔴 Shakedown LIVE | WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo 2024

Summary

The script covers the shakedown stage of the 2024 Rally Monte Carlo, the season opener of the World Rally Championship. It features interviews and commentary with several top drivers including championship favorites Sebastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tanak, as they test their cars and share expectations ahead of the rally. Other key storylines highlighted are Andreas Mikkelsen's return to a works WRC team, the emergence of young talents like Takamoto Katsuta, and intrigue around the new Toyota Yaris Rally2 car now competing in WRC2.

Takeaways

• 😃 It's the start of the 2024 World Rally Championship season with Rallye Monte-Carlo
• 😎 Hyundai, Toyota and Ford are the competing manufacturers this season
• 🏎️ Sebastien Ogier goes for a 10th Rally Monte-Carlo win this weekend
• 🏆 O. Tanak returns to Hyundai alongside Thierry Neuville for the season
• 👀 All eyes on how the new Toyota and Hyundai rally cars perform
• 🌨️ Tricky weather conditions expected through the mountain stages
• 🚗 17 stages total over 4 days, starting Thursday evening
• 🎉 Excitement for WRC2 with experienced drivers like Loeb, Greensmith and Rovanpera
• 🤞 Chris Ingram makes his WRC return after securing sponsorship
• 🏁 Tight competition expected between Tanak, Neuville and Ogier for the Rally Monte-Carlo win

Q & A

What event is this video script about?

The script is covering the shakedown stage at the start of the 2024 Rally Monte Carlo WRC event.

Who is leading after the first run of shakedown?

Ott Tänak was the fastest on the first run of shakedown.

What changes have been made to Hyundai's car for this season?

Hyundai's car has undergone weight saving, with updates to the front, rear and cross members to improve performance.

What is new for Toyota's car this season?

Toyota has a completely new engine producing more power, while keeping the same torque levels.

Who are the favorites to win Rally Monte Carlo?

Sebastien Ogier, Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville are considered the favorites to win.

What allows WRC2 drivers to have pacenote crews this year?

New regulations for 2024 allow WRC2 drivers to have pacenote/route note crews.

What challenge will drivers face due to conditions?

Lack of snow and ice means faster speeds, with more issues from mud being dragged onto the roads.

What is the new Toyota Yaris rally2 car?

It is Toyota's new 4WD rally2 car that is competing for the first time in WRC2.

How many stages make up Rally Monte Carlo?

There are 17 stages that make up the rally route.

When does the rally finish?

The final day of Rally Monte Carlo is Sunday.

Outlines

00:00

🏁 Overview of events and excitement ahead in Rally Monte Carlo

The opening paragraph provides an overview and sets the scene of excitement ahead in Rally Monte Carlo. It mentions key drivers to watch including Elvin Evans, Tanak returning to Hyundai, and Sebastian Ogier going for his 10th Monte Carlo win. There is anticipation over the competition between the top drivers in new and updated cars.

05:00

🗣️ Elvin Evans and Ogier interviewed on preparations and aims

Elvin Evans discusses constant improvement required even when experienced at top rally events. Ogier talks about the iconic nature of Rally Monte Carlo, aiming to win again in his updated Toyota car against limited competitor numbers.

10:01

🚗 Car updates and impact on tandems Tänak/Neuville and Greensmith/Solberg

Paragraph focuses on car updates for Hyundai with potential reliability vs performance tradeoffs. The tandem partnerships of Neuville/Tänak at Hyundai and Greensmith/Solberg at M-Sport are discussed, expecting close competition to spur each other on.

15:03

📽️ Experienced returns to WRC: Mikkelsen and Fourmaux

Highlights experienced drivers Mikkelsen and Fourmaux returning to or entering the top WRC level this season. Pressure and expectations on each driver differ, with Fourmaux guiding the M-Sport team.

20:05

🌟 Rookies Grjazin and Ingram make WRC2 debuts

Paragraph introduces rookies Grjazin and Ingram making debuts in competitive WRC2 field. Grjazin is carefully managing slippery conditions while Ingram expresses delight at returning to beloved Rally Monte Carlo.

25:06

🔎 Toyota, Hyundai, M-Sport car updates and impact

Summarizes visual external updates to Toyota, Hyundai cars and M-Sport's weight reduction focus. Toyota has a new engine aimed at boosting power. How these updates translate to performance is still unclear.

30:08

🤩 WRC2 championship intrigue with veterans and rookies

The depth of talent in the WRC2 championship is highlighted, consisting of experienced veterans and promising rookies. The combination introduces excitement and intrigue over the season.

Keywords

💡rally

Rally refers to rally racing, which is a motorsport competition held on closed public or private roads. Rallying is mentioned frequently throughout the video script, as the video is previewing the 2024 Rally Monte Carlo, the first race of the World Rally Championship season. The script discusses different rally drivers, cars, teams, and provides analysis of the upcoming rally.

💡Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo refers to the location where the Rally Monte Carlo takes place. Rally Monte Carlo is one of the most famous and challenging rallies in the world. The narrow mountain roads around Monaco provide a difficult tarmac surface for drivers. The script mentions Monte Carlo many times when previewing the rally conditions and analyzing driver performances.

💡Shakedown

In rally racing, shakedown is a short practice stage before the official start of the rally, where drivers test their cars. The video script covers the shakedown stage for Rally Monte Carlo, showing the preparations drivers are making and getting commentary on their test runs.

💡tarmac

Tarmac refers to the asphalt surface that Rally Monte Carlo is held on. Tarmac provides less grip than gravel or dirt surfaces, making racing more challenging. The script discusses how the tarmac stages in Monte Carlo provide a difficult test for drivers.

💡snow

Snow is mentioned many times in the script in relation to the weather conditions at Rally Monte Carlo. Heavy snowfall can make the tarmac stages extremely slippery. There is analysis around whether snow will impact racing conditions this year.

💡pace notes

Pace notes, also called route notes, contain detailed descriptions of the rally course provided to drivers by co-drivers. The script mentions how having pace notes could help some drivers in Rally Monte Carlo's difficult conditions.

💡WRC2

WRC2 is a support category in the World Rally Championship for professional driver entries in Rally2 cars. Several WRC2 drivers doing shakedown runs are covered in the script.

💡Toyota

Toyota is one of the manufacturer teams in the World Rally Championship. The script looks at updates to Toyota's Yaris rally car and the performance of Toyota drivers like Sebastian Ogier.

💡Hyundai

Hyundai is another manufacturer team in the WRC. The script discusses Hyundai's updated i20 car and analyzes the return of ex-champion Ott Tänak to the Hyundai team.

💡M-Sport Ford

M-Sport Ford is the third manufacturer team in the WRC, using Ford Fiesta cars. The script looks at M-Sport's two new drivers, Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith, ahead of Rally Monte Carlo.

Highlights

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Transcripts

I love the fact that he said that

because it's so true isn't it you know

the day that Elvin Evans gets to any

kind of stage end and actually says he's

happy I think I might faint but that's

his character isn't it I love the way he

just admits that I think it's the

character of pretty much everybody who's

competing at this level isn't it you can

never be 100% happy because then you're

not improving so like I think I think

everybody kind of feels that way a

little bit um interestingly beex you

know we were walking around earlier and

chatting to the guys down that cast had

some had some fairly major updates

hasn't it it's been on a it's been on a

major diet they stiffen up the cross

member the rear cross member a little

bit so um it's it's it's it's a it's an

evolution of what we've seen last year

yeah and if you take a look around the

car you'll be able to to notice some

differences to the front and the rear

and uh weight saving has been one of the

main things the team has been working

on to come into the 20124 season they're

always working it's a constant Evolution

to try and make the cars as you know as

perform per pointed as possible yeah

it's listen the lighter you can be you

want to be you don't want to be carrying

any extra weight it's as simple as that

the lighter you are the faster you go

but it always comes as a cont compromise

doesn't it so if you're if you're

lighter then the compromise is

potentially uh reliability um and it

will remain to be seen um you know

whether or not the hyund and those

updates have been the right thing the

right way to go but for sure the lighter

you are the quicker you go and it's been

and it's as I understand it a

significant diet

[Music]

terer good to see you it's time to get

going again with a brand new season how

you feeling about everything yeah I'm

feeling good I mean uh looking forward

to another season it's good to be here

again um and yeah um it's going to be

exciting that's for sure so uh yeah I

hope we're going to have a good start of

the of the weekend and yeah in those

conditions uh it's going to be still a

tricky event so yeah let's do it and uh

try to make a good show and have fun and

bring home a good reason he's absolutely

right it is still going to be a

challenging event regardless of the fact

there's not the snow and ice that they

they had hoped there would be now maybe

one of the most you know widely talked

about changes is the change back for o

tanak and Martin yoya into hyai huge

season ahead look for all the drivers

but interesting to see what they can do

now back in this team and it is its

150th WC start here yeah the stats

between tanak and tier n Villa are are

remarkably similar aren't they you know

n 19 wins each uh both have got 21 power

stage wins each and uh as you said 150

150th WRC start for tanic 156th this

weekend for for tier Newville so top

trumps wise there's not a lot to choose

between them there is going to be

fireworks between these two Lads during

the year and uh Ser AB beable he's a

lucky man to have both tiar Newville and

o tanak on the books you know there's no

question these are two Top Class drivers

a former world champion and of course

tiry nville I think he's finished second

five times um and they'll both be going

going at it hard this year so trying to

manage and temper those two very

different personalities is going to be

interesting as the year plays

[Music]

[Applause]

out

all it's good to see you that's bigest

through Shakedown so far tomorrow you

start your 150th wlc event with it and

you're back with high end ey how does

that

feel yeah it's uh yeah the numbers are

numbers but uh yeah still quite exciting

and bit nervous as well you know to

start the new year new car again so uh

always a bit of challenge you know even

I've been here before still a bit

unknown but we'll try to

maximize yeah I'm sure will try to

maximize it it it is it doesn't matter

how many times you've done this event

because you never can predict what the

conditions are going to be out there I

mean we may be saying now you know

there's not a lot of snow and ice but

the temperatures will drop tomorrow

night will we head up into the hills

into the mountain sides Thursday night

stages in darkness you just don't know

what it's going to be like can we call

him the master of Monty Sebastian oier

WC wins here one in IRC as well to make

a total of nine so going for 10 overall

rally Monte Carlo victories this weekend

and he said before you know he doesn't

do things for the numbers he loves this

event this is the one he always wants to

do every year I'm not sure you know a

season would be right for Seb if he

hasn't started it in Monty it would be a

bit strange us sat here and not commenta

on Sebastian o in Monta Caro wouldn't it

as you said he is the master of Monte

massive support for him here as well we

were down at Toyota earlier were fans

were just swarming all over the place to

try and get a picture with him or an

autograph or something look it's it's

brilliant to have him here and you say

he doesn't do things for the numbers but

I can guarantee to you he's here to win

this rally this weekend and and if you

had to place a bet that's where I'd be

going absolutely I think a lot of people

would agree with you there we'd love

your thoughts though on who you're

putting on the top step of the Monty

Carlo podium in 2024 big hello to

everyone K is watching wherever you are

around the world right now I hope you're

going to be joining us for Magical Monty

throughout the weekend let's

see it's good to see you it's the third

season with these cars now how close do

you expect the competition to be this

weekend as you're hunting your 10th

Monty win yeah there is unfortunately

not so many cars like you say from this

Rana eight cars is pretty poor means the

sport need to do something but uh yeah

we are here and uh we want try to enjoy

the week this car looks very good this

year yeah the the black is shoting well

I think to the yis so hopefully the

speed will follow as well the car looks

good there's a new engine as well coming

into uh this event lots to talk about on

the Toyota which we will throughout this

weekend well taker just got a little bit

hot there didn't get down through the

gearbox he was struggling to get the car

stopped uh yeah as you said beex new

engine completely new power unit in that

um in that Toyota um producing a little

bit more power torque levels are the

same but um but yeah completely new

engine um it remains to be seen how it

performs throughout the the the weekend

but let's we don't really see engine

failure so much in the WRC so I don't

think that's an enormous issue it's just

a an improvement on what was what was

previously

there takamoto cat still I'm sure Tenny

riding high on that confidence building

rally in Japan where he set stage win

after stage win and really gave us a

full on glimpse of what we could

potentially see from him this year he's

just getting better and better isn't he

beex and and as we saw in Japan you know

I actually felt for him because he

deserved way more than he than he left

Japan with I would love to see takamoto

Catu to get his first win and he is he's

just such a nice bloke he's a real nice

guy genuine down to earth fella and yeah

I'd love to see takamoto doing doing

well this year Andre Mickelson rejoins

Hundai also on a parttime program this

year Torin Erikson alongside and they

are of course our WRC 2 champions from

2023

before we talk about though let's hear

from Tak T it's good to see you a brand

new season what sort of a Monte Carlo do

we have in store this year yeah of

course uh nice to be here as always and

uh it's going to be big TR in Monte car

so yeah for sure like we came back now

on the Gap area so stage is uh very

tricky and uh nice so we try to enjoy

and the push and uh we will be very

difficulties for sure but uh we will

manage it

the road's quite dirty in sections as

you can see right here where we're going

through some uh some mud and yet another

reminder on your screen of where you can

find us this weekend we've got 17 stages

of rally Monte Carlo to Delight you with

and it all kicks starts on Thursday

evening with two stages in the

darkness you seriously don't want to

miss it just coming back to the

pollution that you're seeing on the road

there that's going to be a fairly major

factor this weekend isn't it because the

cars are in if we don't have that snow

nice the cars are traveling that much

quicker and if they making big cuts all

that wet mud's going to get pulled out

across the road so the cars that are

running a little bit later will get

hindered by that by that mud that just

appears across the road in front of

[Music]

[Applause]

them for Nicholson this has been a long

time coming hasn't it back into rally W

Machinery he was delighted with the news

that he would be rejoining the

team it was the goal to get back behind

the wheel of a rally one car he's really

enjoyed himself in rally 2 he's proven

that by the wins and the championship

wins on the board but this is where his

heart lies right at the top of the sport

of course he's you know got WRC wins

under his belt already yeah I mean you

look at what Andreas melson did with

with volksvagen and everything else

there's no question he deserves a in a

rally one car um probably doesn't have

that it'll just take him a little bit of

time to um to settle in but um but great

to see him back no

question it's good to see you and it's

hard to not be very excited on your

behalf you're back at the top level how

does it

feel it feels sorry for the word [ __ ]

fast uh for sure something different

they will enjoy this weekend build step

by step but uh yeah one thing you do the

the the test stage up and down down the

whole Road you think you're comfortable

and then you arrive to a proper stage

and like everything is approaching

quickly so uh have to adjust but uh

we'll be

good nothing like a bit of colorful

language to Kickstart the season

apologies if you were offended I am sure

you weren't but that is how it feels

forre he Ain wrong it is fast

yeah but he's so right isn't you know

everything is just that much quicker

yeah it's going to take a little bit of

work bit of time for him to just get

back in into that zone but that will

happen quite quickly absolutely he'll

get into the rhythm of it and there as

you said in testing you go you go

testing eventually end up learning the

road and you don't have the

the the the competition around you kind

of spurring you on so it's not really

until you get into a rally and onto a

stage like you said where you really

start where you just unlock in your head

that extra bit of pace you're going

You're just chasing those extra tense so

um yeah for for Andreas he's an excited

man uh to be back with hyai and um yeah

I think it's it's great let's talk about

Adrian foro now because again for him

it's back behind the wheel at the top

level a driver who impressed last year

with with M sport fordward in the rally

2 Fiesta yeah and now he's got the break

to be back at the top it's a huge now

opportunity for him yeah he's he's kind

of leading the team isn't he and uh and

this is his teammate Greg monster but um

Adrian obviously with just that little

bit more experience he's he's kind of

leading the team I actually think

personally there's a bit more pressure

on on Adrian than there is on greguar

because he's coming in he is having a

learning year this man right so he's

here to get time in the seat to finish

rallies the last thing Adrien foro wants

to do is have Greg moner beating him so

Adrian needs to be aware of all that

stuff Adrian it's good to see you and

it's good to see you back at the top

level it's a great opportunity how

excited are you well I'm really excited

because we are in France it's Monte

Carlo new season for me for sure uh so

honestly I just want to to to go good

way to do well this year and uh we'll

see well for the run now it's not really

good we have something more on the car

so we need to go back to service okay

what's wrong already the diff I don't

know okay well they will come back to

service hearing Gap this Shakedown stage

is not too far away it's only about 5 km

outside of Gap itself itself they've

been using this road since

2016 so it's quite quick to get back

into service and the mechanics will have

a good look at that car yeah Adrian 11

seconds off the pace on that run through

there so clearly something something a

Miss in that in that puma and I'm sure

the uh the M sport boys and girls will

be on top of that and get it sorted in

no time okay Greg W monster then as you

said big learning curve this year but we

know we saw him in a rally one car last

year on two occasions and I thought he

did really well for himself you know he

really showed himself off to his best

Advantage it was a big it was a big step

up and he really did rise to the

challenge I think I think we need to to

talk about this a little bit more and it

is it is such an enormous Step Up and

the margins are so fine it really does

come down to experience and time in the

seat and and and and that's what he's

trying to trying to get and and as you

said I don't think in those couple of

appearances we saw last year he didn't

show himself up at all and he deserves

that seat um he's just got to keep his

head in the right place not overcook it

and and and keep the thing between the

between the hedges it'll be interesting

now yeah I know okay it's the the

opening round but to see the contrast

from now until we get to Japan at the

end of the season and see how much he's

developed

let's take our first look then at rally

2 WRC 2 is where we're at with Yan

Rosell was such an exciting Championship

to watch last

year let's hear from greguar first

though greguar it's good to see you and

it's uh time to do Monte Carlo in a

rally one car how you feeling about that

yeah it's incredible for sure not uh not

a good first one but uh we enjoy uh

tires a bit cold in the beginning uh

much more muddy than expected so uh just

took it

carefully yeah we can certainly see a

lot of pollution out on the road there

and as he said just taking it carefully

no heroics through there it's Shakedown

B yeah exactly it's Shakedown the the

the purpose of Shakedown is to get

through the stage make sure everything's

working make sure everything's right get

settled into the car we're not rallying

yet we're not we're not against the

clock yet it's Shakedown so you know he

just needs to as you said needs to play

it smart and listen he's going to have

more of that this weekend the the stage

getting dirtier and dirtier no question

about that so that's going to be a

common theme for him and I suspect we'll

be hearing him say a lot at the end of

the stages Nicolai gr is in then with

citrin this year you can see him poised

ready to go on Shakedown just a bit of

an update you've all been voting for who

you think is going to take the win on

the rally OJ is coming out on top at the

moment tanak is second favorite to win

Newville third favorite win at the

present moment let's see if that changes

over the course of the next 24 hours

before stage one

begins forol ging then a change of car

heading into this season something new

to adapt

to just looking at sections of the road

where there is dampness and certainly

we're going to see that you know

tomorrow night when we kick off with the

the night stages just depends how low

the temperatures get whether we do see a

little bit of black ice out there

tomorrow night or not Yan Rossell though

has completed let's have a chat with

[Music]

him Yan it's good to see you it's time

to start a new season you were the

winner in wlc 2 here last year so I

guess you have a lot to live up

to yeah the goal is the same but uh the

plan is to win on the road now yeah same

team it's like my family and I continue

with them uh during 10 year and now it's

time for win and how did the car feel

now in Shakedown well it's good it's

very

strippery yeah we will see tomorrow but

I think it's a really challenging this

week what he means by we need to win on

the road this time is that he was second

overall last year and it was Nikolai G

in who taken the win but then was handed

a penalty and dropped down so this is

back in the service area now here in gap

it's Elvin Evans having a chat with ruy

his engineer alongside the the black

Toyota Yaris it looks great in that it

looks so it looks so sharp and listen

Elvin will have just gone done that run

come back and uh they'll just be giving

that car a quick once over maybe making

some little changes here and there but

there won't be any any massive

significant changes at this at this

point we switch now then into the car of

Oliver Solberg and Elliot

Edmonson now they are not scoring points

within wrc2 here in

Mont it's going to be a he's kind of

teammates with with Gus greensmith who's

not actually here this weekend and like

tier nville and oan hyundi I think

Oliver and Gus are going to Spur each

other on they're going to have a

fantastic battle they're good mates they

get on well but I think the WC 2

championship and not just WC the junior

Championship is is going to be it's

going to be absolutely banging all

throughout the year so 19 entrance in

the junior WC that is just incredible

ncol G's just pulled in Let's cross out

and hear from

him Nikolai it's good to see you and I

guess you're quite happy to see that

you're faster than your teammate already

on the first pass of Shakedown some big

changes for you this year how does it

feel yeah the big changings uh and I

hope it's I feel it's in a good way way

changing so I feel really nice in the

car the stage already dirty compare with

the first passes of WC cars but uh stage

is nice uh the car is nice let's see I

mean uh for me this stage is quite not

typical for the race I think the race

will be more clean maybe some stages

like this but uh it's nice I just need

still to find the small tunes for the

car for my uh type of driving but I'm

still quite familiar with this and one

thing to mention seeing as he is talking

about you know the pollution on the road

the dirtiness you know the new regs for

this year for wrc2 allow them to have

rout note Crews yeah that's massive it's

one thing you know the drivers are

really calling out for last year

Michelson was very vocal on it and that

change has been implemented so they now

can have root note Cruise yeah it's

massive and on events like this it makes

it makes such a big difference B it

really does I think you know those guys

are now going into the stages with with

more information about what lies ahead

um it's safer and and we'll see the I'm

sure we'll see the times closer as a

result as well so I think it's a good

move we got a class act in the uh the

car route Note crew wise for Oliver and

Elliot Eric Camy and Denny jured don't

get much better than that as a bit of

experience there isn't it Den still

knocking about it's

brilliant what a legend Sammy py now and

Annie Malin

in and again this pairing not scoring

points this

weekend and this is the Toyota yis rally

2 which has been talked about a lot over

the past year what was

that you back time for a brand new

season how are things in there H I was

very muddy um so quite quite tricky but

yeah I'm trying to just trying to to

feel it a little bit yeah last year I

believe you got 10 stage wins at rally M

Cara what's the target for this weekend

I didn't win the rally last year did I

so the target is to win the rally that's

[Music]

easy target well not easy target but

easy objective he knows that's what he

wants to do I think it was just a rock

flying past the wind screen then we saw

for Sammy P that might have been picked

up or a bird high speed a rock or

something didn't it the other thing as

well was the sun starting to drop as the

car was as the as the guys were heading

down the hill there it's just they're

just blinded by the Sun so you can see

the visor have a look back at that

moment oh there it is it's just a rock B

licked Up Normally it comes in the other

direction I think that's the first time

I I've ever seen it going in front of

the car normally you see him coming up

towards it but it's just been caught and

flicked

up so fantastic to see this car now in

competition within wrc2 it's been a huge

amount of testing done over the past

year approximately 15,000 kilometers of

testing to get the yis ru up and running

and ready for competition mode within uh

the World Rally Championship yeah we've

had little sneak previews of about been

a lot of hype around this car in the in

the rally 2 championship and um yeah

it's great to see it out turning a wheel

in anger and um I think it's going to be

interesting to see how how it you know

it gets on this weekend and particularly

when we start to move to gravel as well

there's been an awful lot of gravel

testing I think it's you know there's no

question it's a strong package isn't it

yeah absolutely it is so 5.2 seconds off

the time of grien there for Sammy py

gin's fastest time

28.8 on Shakedown and the fastest time

within the Ry One cars was for tanak

with 2 minutes point4 of a second as we

switch to Nicholas Sean now and yanic

Ro fantastic performance from them in

the central European rally last

year Sam it's good to see you it's all

very exciting a brand new season it's

great to see you in this car as well

tell us a bit about the targets for the

weekend yeah for sure it's a new

challenge uh I think for me and oh I

mean for us and for the team exciting

but also I think many people are

following how the how the new car is

doing so let's see I hope we can do fine

but um let's see it it will be a really

tricky rally anyway what's it like to

drive yeah it's a good really good just

quite tricky in there now on the

Shakedown quite muddy so so I took it

really carefully but it's

fine yeah I think he's right you know

there are a lot going to be a lot of

eyes on that car this week again to to

see how it's going to do and we've also

got in the Aris Brion bouier who is a

former winner of rally Monte Carlo back

in the IRC days and he was second

overall within WRC here as well and

pushing for the lead that year stepan Le

also inis so interesting drivers and car

combinations it's big big names the WRC

2 Championship isn't it I mean lots lots

of those guys have been have been in you

know the WRC have been in WRC cars in

the past and plenty of experience with

WRC cards in the past so it really is a

it really is a fantastic field of

drivers in in the WRC 2 um in the rally

2 category this year

[Music]

y so for Nicholas C tomak is where his

heart absolutely lies we've seen some

Stellar performances it was great to see

him back as part of the championship on

a more regular basis last year let's see

what he can do at rally Monte Carlo that

time is on the board trim 5.4 seconds of

drift of G in the weather will play into

his hands as weekend if we don't if we

see a little bit less snow and ice you

know his previous Tac experience I think

we'll we'll will'll start to play into

his into into his favor a little

bit n it's good to see you it's been a a

few years since you've done rally Monte

Carlo what's it like to be back here

yeah I'm very happy because it's kind of

my home rally so yeah happy to be back

after 3 years and yeah should be more

dry than usual but I hope we'll

enjoy you can almost guarantee it chenny

that next week it'll just hammer it down

with snow you just know don't you back

in the uh the service Park here in gap

now then I love these shots you know

when o is talking to the engineers and

you know it's the hand movements and the

gestures and you're trying to read into

the body language to see how he's

feeling it's great shots yeah you can

see so it's a slightly different bumper

rear bumper on the back of that that

high unai compared to last year's car

and the front as well it's not carrying

that that overhang lip that was on the

on the front of the bumper the Yaris is

pretty much the same car with the ex

externally uh suspension wise as well

it's just that the the engine is

completely new engine isn't it so um so

that was that was obviously a joker for

for Toyota as

well Chris Ingram now and Hannah

mckillop which is fantastic to see Chris

here at the start line of rally Monte

car well the Shakedown start line at

least um you know it's a huge amount of

effort and work gone into getting the

the sponsorship to be able to compete

this year sitting alongside him is

Hannah who has you know a good amount of

co- Driving Experience under her belt

but not at this level this is her first

ever WRC event what a baptism of fire to

come to Rally Monte Carlo call the notes

it's a whole different ball game isn't

it Chris just looks like he's just

trying to generate some heat in the

tires or something like that he's just

weaving left to right and he's on and

off the brakes and you basically you're

just using the the brake disc as an oven

to draw heat into the tires we saw him

do is he was coming immediately off the

um off the start line just to try to

generate some hea in there it's a tricky

little stage this p and the last thing

you want to do is is get caught out

damage the car you know on a Shakedown

stage we have seen it happen in the past

so really for these guys as I said it's

just a matter of getting through the

stage clean neat and tidy not damaging

the car not giving the mechanics the

engineers any extra work to have have to

do going into the start of the rally and

um it's just about just getting a feel

for for where you are making sure that

everything's okay we go rallying

properly tomorrow all that said though

some of the drivers have had their best

ever results after a bit of a whoopsy

shake down

T pet Solberg in

Corsa yeah it's it's quite incredible

those uh those kind of stories anyway

see the amount of pollution that's

getting pulled out huge Now isn't it and

you know was it Nikolai gzen said some

stages might be like this but the

majority are are quite clean there's not

so much opportunity for cutting but this

is looking you know Farm like that's

where that's where people are are

potentially going to get caught out I

think as the as the rally progresses

um it's it's going to be a very

different rally monola but I don't think

it's a bad thing yeah Chris just taken a

little bit easy very early on the breaks

there he's just beding himself in and

you know he's no slouch Chris Ingram is

a is a real talent behind the will rally

I think we all going to be Keen to see

what happens within WRC 2 again it's a

really good entry you know you've got

some strong names there as we take a

little look at the uh the mountain Sid

this water right alongside the service

Park here in gap it is incredibly

picturesque out

there right that was a little bit odd it

looked like it was in a straight line

yeah no that I think that's all

deliberate he's it could be that he's

beding in brakes or he's something like

that he's all deliberate I don't

necessarily think it's a massive it's a

it's a

problem I might be wrong but it it

doesn't look to me like

that's well let's find out we'll be

heading over to uh the stop control in a

couple of moments but at least I really

hope there's not an issue there for him

in the first St I think it's more just

hopefully Molly can can get a bit more

information out of

him so a time for him at

2337

then it's an odd time to do it at the

end of this at the end of the stage

though he looked like he was trying a

bit harder towards the start didn't he

so let's see if there is any kind of

issue let's see what the explanation

is Chris it's great to see you back in

the World Rally Championship we just

have to ask first of all were there any

issues in there I've got completely

brand new breaks so I need to get them

ready get them ready for the first stage

but yeah I'm so happy to be here great

to be back in WRC and mon Carlo my

favorite rally best rally in the world

in my opinion thanks

you can you can almost hear the absolute

Delight in his you called it it is just

beding in the brakes yeah um ahead of uh

competition so yeah and that's that's

what Shakedown is is is about isn't it

it's just about coming in getting the

car sorted and where you need it to be

so yeah just better in a new set of uh

pads and discs ahead of ahead of

tomorrow but he looked so happy it was

genuine you know it was genuine so happy

to be here and I really hope they have a

great weekend we got to keep an eye on

this man as well Stephan lefair he's got

so much experience hasn't he beex and um

again in that Toyota yis rally two car I

think he's going to be running right at

the business end this weekend I I think

he is you know we've seen superb results

for him on Tac events over the years and

he plays it so cooly as well he's got

everything under control

lefair Andy maroy back alongside

[Music]

him and it's 6.6 seconds off the fastest

time which is still Nikolai G in on run

one of

[Music]

Shakedown let's get in and find out how

he's feeling ahead of the first round of

the

season stefane it's good to see you and

it's great to have you back in the wlc

and in this car it looks amazing what

are your expectations for the week uh

it's hard to know exactly when it's a

it's a new car but uh yeah anyway I'm

here with a new car new team and uh yeah

we looking forward and we are wey to be

here so we do the maximum for for the

best as we

can huge anticipation then ahead of the

first stages tomorrow oot tanic the

fastest through on run one of Shakedown

for us here on Wednesday him and Martin

there just uh going over the notes

confidence I'm sure you know for every

driver heading in to the first round no

one ever says that they're supremely

confident you never know what Monte

Carlo is going to throw at you

weatherwise condition wise the stages

are challenging whether or not they're

covered with ice and snow whether

they're completely bone dry they offer

up the ultimate tarmac challenge

performances will be so so close out

there so this is how it looks then after

run one of Shakedown tanak was the

fastest through on that run Elvin Evans

was just a tenth of a second behind then

it was Newville OJ katsuta Michelson and

monster Nikolai gr is in so far at least

the fastest through within WRC 2 then

rossel and sobber to complete that top

10 and then we've got Adrien foro who

did have a bit of an issue he was making

his way back to service immediately

after run one then Lopez and and

pyy Elman Evans just looking over as the

mechanics work on the car ahead of

heading out for more runs here at

Shakedown let's take a look at what

we've got coming up across the weekend

then schedule wise put this into your

phones or whatever you do to keep track

of what's Happening we Kickstart on

Thursday we will be live from4 3 in the

afternoon right up until qu 11: at night

with stages 1 and 2 and of course all of

the ceremonials start and buildup then

Friday Saturday Sunday make sure you

don't miss it rally Monte Carlo is

Iconic it's going to be a thriller of a

season and we will look forward to

seeing you across the weekend for now

though from myself beex Williams and

Mike Chen it's

[Music]

goodbye