Frenchman Quentin Gilbert is the early leader in the WRC3 competition after taking maximum points on Rallye Monte-Carlo.
The 24-year-old was the only WRC3-registered driver to tackle the challenging event, so it was imperative that he made it to the finish.
His strategy was all about driving safely and within his limits, but he still came within an inch of throwing all of his hard work away on the first day when he slid off the road and dropped 30 minutes.
Thankfully, a group of spectators pushed his Citroen DS3 back onto the road and that enabled him to continue his charge to the Monte Carlo finish. He eventually completed the rally in 5h 18m 33s.
“I really thought my rally was finished when I crashed,” he said. “This was my first time in Monte Carlo and I knew what was at risk if I drove too quickly, but it was still easy to make a mistake.
“Luckily, I was able to continue very cautiously and I’m really pleased to start my season with 25 points. I have taken a lot of experience from this rally and I hope it will be useful for the rest of the year.”