Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson were on course for a podium finish on Rallye Monte-Carlo until a disastrous tyre compound choice on Thursday’s brace of snow-hit stages dropped them out of contention. Despite falling from second to seventh, Solberg and Patterson are now on the final run to Monte-Carlo. Co-driver Patterson explains what lies in store on the final day in their Peugeot 207.
SS9: Montauban sur l’Ouveze-Eygalayes (29.89 kilometres)
“Friday is an absolute monster. We’ve got a really early start and a long road section of 120 kilometres to get to the start of the stage. The stage is very technical, possibly the most technical of the rally, and very narrow. It’s on a wider road up to a ski resort but some sections are on broken tarmac. Then you climb onto a new road and the surface changes, making tyre choice crucial. You’ve also got to remember that you’re a long way from service at this point.
“Afterwards you’ve got the 230-kilometre road section down into Monaco. I’m really looking forward to that because for me, at that point, the back of the rally is broken and you can get yourself to Monte-Carlo for a bit of a breather, some lunch and maybe a short sleep, before it all kicks off again with the big night of Monte-Carlo.
“On the long road section it’s all about passing time. We’ve got music and there’s a bit of French pop supplied by the engineers, which can be quite entertaining at times.”
SS10 and SS12: Moulinet-La Bollene-Vesubie (23.41 kilometres)
“This stage is really the Col de Turini stage. It starts in a village and climbs up through all the famous hairpins before you get to the actual col itself. Even if it’s not snowing, there will be snow at the top by the side of the road and you hope some of the spectators don’t throw too much of it onto the road but it’s the chance we take. It’s a very steep downhill section where you push like hell.
“You get a real sense of adrenalin and it’s really hard work. But it keeps the brain working and it’s a great challenge to get the pacenotes 100 per cent right.”
SS11 and SS13: Lantosque-Luceram (18.81 kilometres)
“A difficult final stage with the surface conditions changing all the way through. There’s a lot of up and down and it’s very narrow with rough old Tarmac through forests. There’s quite a bit of moss on the road so it’s permanently slippery. When there’s ice down it becomes very difficult indeed. The road opens up at the top of the col. You’ve also got no forest cover so it’s potentially going to be dry.”