The 2011 Monte Carlo Rally has been won by Bryan Bouffier, driving a 207 for Peugeot France. It will be a win to remember for the 32-year old Frenchman who hails from a town called Die (in the Drome region, where Valence is located), as amazingly, he’s never scored a single point in the IRC before this.
French champ Bouffier finished the rally 32.5 seconds ahead of second placed Freddy Loix (Skoda) and 1m19.7s ahead of the third placed Peugeot UK car of Guy Wilks. Bouffier’s teammate Stephane Sarrazin was originally third after winning four stages of the rally, but since he’s just driving this round of the IRC, the Le Mans racer took a time penalty to help Wilks. Sarrazin was fourth.
It’s freezing cold and snowy in the mountains when we were there to experience the famous Col de Turini yesterday night, and tyre choice was the key factor in the tricky conditions. It’s never easy, as conditions vary between different parts of a stage, and some parts may be bone dry with other parts covered in ice. We felt this for ourselves in the van travelling to the stages.
Bouffier went for a combo of snow and studded tyres that saw him climb from seventh to first. The biggest loser in the weather roulette was IRC defending champ Juho Hanninen. The Skoda man led the rally with a comfortable margin in the early parts, but eventually finished sixth. France’s 48-year old Francois Delecour, also in a Peugeot, was fifth. Ex world champ Petter Solberg was as high as second on his IRC debut but was another victim of tyre choice. He retired 13 km from the finish with an alternator failure.
By the way, winner Bouffier has some connection to Proton. He was actually the lead development driver for the Proton Satria Neo S2000 back in 2008. Third placed man Wilks drove for Proton in 2009 as well. Unfortunately, current drivers Chris Atkinson and PG Andersson bowed out on Day 1. Read our previous post here.
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congrats to peugeot.. lucky for them neo s2000 is out of the race, if not the result might be different, heheh..
Impressive, Monte magic reversed everything and both Solberg and Hanninen’s dream of winning the Monte were completely quashed by the end of Day Two.
Despite Peugeot’s win it is obvious that the tyre lottery played a big part in Monte. Solberg as well as Skoda’s decision to follow his choice of inter tyres pretty much undid their own efforts. However, what really impressed me is Skoda’s zero technical problem for all four of its leading drives (Hanninen, Kopecky, Loix and Vouilloz), in addition to their great performances just show how Skoda has really matured in terms of their technical expertise over the years.
skoda have been a reliable rally car since they first join rally…
remember skoda felcia kit car??
Back when Skoda was in WRC they never win haha… even hard to get into top 5, and many people calling Skoda crappy, slow cars… 2005 and Redbull Skoda in 2006 were complete disasters… mainly due to the people behind them not doing a good job.
I still supported Skoda though cos they’re the underdogs… and Colin McRae running 3rd in Rally Australia 2005 before he retired on the 3rd day was probably the most exciting thing about Skoda back then.
However since they switched to IRC they really put in a lot of effort and changes were made to the management and the crew and it’s a relief to see that they succeeded in making it a really competitive team. Something that Proton should learn from.
congrats peugeot and team…sorry for Proton team
Dear Protong
Guess u still have a long way to go…., so please put on some serious and ‘real’ R&D on your road car techno before u even dare to contest yourself.
Regards,
A sincere request from a Malaysian who drive a Protong…
Anno 2011, a car brand has no airbag for new cars?!?
Excuse me but you will be global player with this handle!!!???!!!
The world is not which you see from your warm seats in tangjum malim, open your eyes… or it will be late!
Best regards, from an expert. ( former middle east and balkans strategic department expert by Daimler AG in Untertürkheim)
For bashers: The truth is hard to accept, sorry ladys!
Proton exports with an air bag in each vehicle. They tailor towards the laws of the country.
Just because they have no airbags here doesn’t mean that they don’t overseas.
Not defending them but it’s not because they don’t have airbags in cars here that they’re not doing well on a global level. As a strategic department expert, you’d know that.
Part of strategic development lies in brand recognition. These rallies will help that. They obviously have to do better but it’s a step in the right direction.
well.. in case you didn’t notice yet. former middle east and balkans strategic department expert by Daimler AG in Untertürkheim, Proton isn’t a global player yet.
Congrats Team Peugeot.
Im sure the Neo S2000 will rebounce back ang give some tough competitions ahead. Looking forward a great year for Malaysian Motorsports achievements.
Sold my Proton years ago…. Driving a Peugeot now… Handling wise, cannot compare! You need to drive one to know… Go test drive a Peugeot today, and then you decide what I say here is right or wrong!!
BTW, Danny, this sentence needs to be changed… “By the way, winner Bouffier has some connection to Proton.” It should be “By the way, winner Bouffier HAD some connection to Proton.” Bouffier got NO MORE connection wit Proton so, it should be HAD… not HAS…
As True Malaysian, I’m proud of Proton. However, before you dare challenge your car at international level, be prepared with every aspect. One thing, if Proton really represent Malaysia people, lets the driver is Malaysian as well. Engine?? are they using upgrade proton engine or other engine manufacturer…..
i think there has been a lot of discussion and information about the team, the engine they use, and why there is no malaysian driver over the last year and a half(there was a malaysian driver btw, you can search paultan for the story). also, the team has gotten results in the past, and like any motorsport, anything can happen. but proton can hold its head high, because they are competing with very large teams with very big budgets and still get some results. anyways.. to judge the team on one result out of the whole year.. i think thats a little too premature.