Pierre Campana was pleased to bring the first day of action for this year’s World Rally Championship to a generally trouble-free conclusion in Monte Carlo this afternoon, lining up in eighth position on the overall classification after the opening four stages of competition.
Conditions were mixed on this opening day with dry weather making for clear conditions in SS1 and SS3 but lingering snowfall from previous days made for tricky second and fourth stages with snow and icy conditions giving all drivers a tough time.
Joining the MINI WRC team and driving the #52 MINI John Cooper Works WRC car, Pierre got off to a very good start in the opening stage, the 36.87km Le Moulinon-Antraigues stage, completing a solid opening run in sixth position.
Pierre opted to run with two studded tyres for the 30.48km Burzet-St. Martial stage, taking a cautious approach in the difficult conditions, with around 10km of snow and icy conditions. A spin during the stage affected his time but he still remained in the top ten overall at the stage’s conclusion.
A repeat of the opening two stages in the afternoon enabled Pierre to improve his overall position despite a few spins that lost him some time. Even with a spin around 15km into the third stage, Pierre took the seventh quickest time to reduce the time deficit to his nearest rivals. In the fourth stage, with snow still present for around 6km of the course, Pierre ran again with studded tyres but endured two spins and with a stalled engine on each occasion, he lost more valuable time. Even so, he was able to move up to eighth overall heading into the second day.
Thursday’s schedule will see a total of six special stages, a repeated series of three stages, totalling 65.88km.
Pierre Campana: “It has been a day of mixed feelings really. It was good to get the first rally of 2012 off to such a strong start this morning with the sixth fastest time, but we knew the priority for today was completing all four stages with minimal trouble. The snow and ice conditions in the second stage, and again in the final stage of the day, made for difficult driving and required a sensible approach. After finishing the first two stages in an overall tenth place, it was good to make some progress in the afternoon to end the day in the top eight. I had a few spins during the day which the telemetry indicates lost me exactly 55 seconds of time overall but the important point is we made it to the end of the day and that is positive considering the tricky conditions. The MINI John Cooper Works WRC car has performed well all day and we find ourselves well inside the top ten which is good. Tomorrow is another day and we have six stages to contest, so this is our immediate focus.”