First experience of Rallye Monte-Carlo for Kogure and Yamamoto

One of the oldest and most famous rallies in the world, Rallye Monte-Carlo is known for the varied conditions that can be found on the asphalt roads of the French Alps. This year’s edition lived up to that reputation, with icy and frosty sections on otherwise dry stages, plus plenty of mud and gravel being dragged onto the road.

Kogure and Yamamoto therefore embarked on the first event of their second seasons driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car with the target to gather as much experience of these conditions as they could. They started well in this regard, safely completing the demanding opening stages held after darkness on Thursday evening, and then getting through a full day of action on Friday amid inconsistent conditions. Yamamoto did go off the road and get stuck in SS7 but managed to rejoin, while Kogure had to stop and change a tyre in SS9.

On Saturday, conditions were generally better but there were still some challenging sections, and Yamamoto would get caught out on an icy corner in SS12, going off the road and hitting a tree. He and his new co-driver James Fulton were able to restart for the final day on Sunday, and ended the rally with a strong sixth-fastest time in the Power Stage over the famous Col de Turini in icy conditions.

Kogure and his co-driver Topi Luhtinen completed every stage of the rally as they avoided major mistakes and finished up 13th among the 31 Rally2 crews who took the start.

Quotes:

Juho Hänninen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program instructor):
“We knew before coming to this rally that it was going to be a big challenge for Hikaru and Yuki and that’s how it proved to be. We were a bit unlucky in that our three days of testing before the event were in really good, dry conditions, and then in the rally the conditions were more challenging than in recent years. So it was really difficult for them but they managed OK. Yuki had this mistake on Saturday on the ice and there’s something for him to learn from that, but it was nice to see him came back well on Sunday with good pace. Hikaru meanwhile drove all of the stages which was positive experience for him, and next time they do this rally it will be easier with this knowledge.”

Hikaru Kogure:
“It’s been a good experience driving my first Rallye Monte-Carlo. This event is something special and you can’t really gain this kind of experience on other rallies, so it felt better to drive quite steady and bring the car to the finish. From the start it wasn’t easy because we had quite typical conditions for this event – a lot of ice and mud – and it was difficult to read the grip. On Saturday it was drier so I could have more confidence, but then on the last day there was again a lot of mud and ice, so it was hard to find the rhythm. Still, I think we learned and improved a lot during the weekend so it’s been good.”

Yuki Yamamoto:
“I found this rally to be very demanding, and probably the most difficult asphalt rally I have ever done. When the roads are dry it’s not so bad, but the rain before the rally and overnight made it much more difficult with the mud and ice. It was very good to experience how to drive in those different kind of surface conditions. On Saturday I underestimated this icy corner in SS12, based on the references I had from previous stages when the ice patches weren’t so bad. Thankfully the team could fix the car and I enjoyed the final day when I think we had a good approach. I also felt straightaway very comfortable with James in our first rally, so thank you to him – I’m sure we will have a good season together.”