PEUGEOT UK’S GUY WILKS AND PHIL PUGH SCORE FIRST PODIUM IN MONTE CARLO

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Peugeot UK celebrates at the 100^th anniversary of the Monte Carlo rally as its new driver pairing takes third position in this toughest of rallies.

The Monte Carlo rally is probably the most famous rally in the world and one of the most difficult. Taking place over three days, it combines fast mountain roads with ever-changing weather conditions. Usually the rally is run on snow-covered roads but this year it started on tarmac stages with no snow!

The 2011 ‘Monte’ was the first time that Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh had driven for Peugeot UK in the Peugeot 207 S2000 and was the third time that a Peugeot UK team had contested the rally.

After two years crashing out of the ‘Monte’, the pressure was on to secure a good finish. Prior to the start of the rally, Guy and Phil had undertaken two days of testing in the local area. However, the planned testing of the car in all likely conditions usually confronted on the rally did not go to plan, as the traditional snowfall was nowhere to be found.

As Peugeot UK’s Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh lined up for the start, they were in a new car, in a new team and had no experience of driving the car on snow. Then the organisers decided to nominate them as the first car to start the rally!

The first stage of the day was 36.870km and, as they finished the stage, they set a time which would be the third fastest. They left the stage in third position overall. The next three stages than saw the new Peugeot UK crew continue to set good times as they gained experience of their Peugeot 207 S2000. As the cars returned at the end of the first day to the Service Area in Valence, Guy and Phil were in a very respectable fifth place and the leading IRC Championship pairing.

At the start of the second day there was still no snow on the first two stages, the first of which was a fast and twisty 21 km run up to over 1200m.  The temperature, however, had dropped to minus six.

The Peugeot UK 207 S2000 rally car can carry two spare wheels. Swapping the tyres for the two worn front tyres on the road section before stage two, enabled Guy and Phil to set the seventh fastest time, dropping just 9.6s. After the stage, the cars returned to the Service Area to get ready for a re-run of the two stages.

As they headed back to the Service Area, the weather started to change and the snow finally materialised. Suddenly the dry tarmac of the stages was starting to turn white as snow began to fall. The drivers and teams now had to make a difficult decision, deciding which tyres they should select for the rapidly changing conditions.

By the time Guy and Phil arrived at the start of the first stage, the stage was completely covered in snow. Unfortunately, the weather information that had been available to them at the Service Area had indicated the snow was not too deep so they chose to fit winter tyres and not studded ‘snow’ tyres.

On reaching the stage it was clear that the choice of a studded tyre would have been the best choice. Now Guy and Phil were faced with their first drive of the Peugeot 207 S2000 on snow, and not on the best tyre option.

Just over fifteen minutes later, they emerged from the stage only 24.8s off the fastest time and setting the third fastest overall stage time. This, however, did not tell the whole story. All the drivers who had previously been in front of them on the leader board had not mastered the difficult conditions as well as Guy and Phil in the 207 S2000. Rally leader, 2010 IRC Drivers’ Champion, Juho Hanninen dropped 1m 54.2s, Petter Solberg 1m 49.0s, Freddy Loix 39.7s, Stéphane Sarrazin 36.7s and Jan Kopecky 1m 14.6s.

Suddenly the leader board of the rally had completely changed. The rally had a new leader, Bryan Bouffier, who had jumped from seventh place by setting the fastest overall stage time and now led Stéphane Sarrazin by 3.1s, making it a Peugeot one - two. Guy and Phil moved up to fifth place just eight seconds behind the previous leader Juho Hanninen who dropped to fourth.

The snow continued to fall and it was now a case of a second run through a snow covered stage, for most of the crews, and not on ideal tyres. However, nobody could have predicted what was about to unfold.  Ex WRC driver François Delecour driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 had been the only top running driver to have opted to take studded snow tyres when the cars left the Valence Service Area and now the choice was perfect!

Delecour set the fastest stage time and jumped up the leader board to finish the day in second place overall, behind new rally leader Bryan Bouffier in another Peugeot 207 S2000. Guy and Phil drove a brilliant final stage setting the fourth fastest time in ever worsening conditions, placing them fourth overall. As the Peugeot drivers leapt up the leader board, Juho Hanninen and Skoda team mate Jan Kopecky tumbled down the order as they struggled in the difficult conditions, dropping 2m 46.2s and 7m 04.8s respectively. As the second day of the rally finished, there was a completely new leader board and the stages of the Monte Carlo Rally had at last turned ‘white’.

The final day of the rally saw all the remaining crews tackle a single stage, close to Valence, before they headed south to Monte Carlo. The snow found on the stages on the previous day had disappeared and the first stage of the final day was now dry tarmac.

The starting order for the final day saw Guy and Phil start in seventh place; a strong run through the stage resulted in them setting the third fastest time and successfully passing the last test before the run down to Monte Carlo. Now all that lay ahead of the Peugeot UK team and the finish of the rally was a long drive down to Monte Carlo before the final four stages on the legendary, Col du Turini.

The Principality of Monte Carlo became the final home for the rally and the legendary F1 Grand Prix circuit provided the base for the new Rally Service Park. The next four stages would consist of two runs, up and down the famous Col du Turini. As Guy and Phil started the first run, they were in fourth position, less than a minute off the leader and 8.1 seconds behind third place driver Freddy Loix.

If the Peugeot UK crew were to achieve a podium position, they needed to make up 5.7 seconds on third placed driver, ex WRC driver François Delecour in another Peugeot 207 S2000.

After a change to softer tyres they tackled the first stage, the uphill run over the Col du Turini. With more grip from the tyres they closed the gap on Delecour to just 2.7 seconds. However, fellow Peugeot 207 S2000 driver Stéphane Sarrazin raced up the stage setting the fastest time and moved into third position, pushing them down to fifth place. It would now all depend on the final downhill stage to determine the final positions in the rally. Guy and Phil’s objective was to take more than 2.7 seconds out of fourth place driver Delecour and take at least fourth place.

As they raced back down towards Monte Carlo, they set a time of 13m 24.8 seconds and now would need to wait to see if this was good enough to move them into fourth place. They waited nervously as Delecour tackled the stage and, as he crossed the end of the stage, he set a time of 13m 30.2 seconds - they had taken fourth place by 2.7 seconds.

As all the cars headed back to Monte Carlo, there was still one more change to the final order to take place. Peugeot Sport driver Stéphane Sarrazin, who set the fastest times on both of the final stages, took a time penalty into the final service stop, promoting Peugeot UK’s Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh into third position overall – giving them a dream start and a podium finish on the 100^th Monte.

Final Positions – 2011 Monte Carlo Rally

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