SS1: Sarrazin leads Rallye Monte-Carlo

Stéphane Sarrazin leads the centenary edition of Rallye Monte-Carlo after winning the first stage of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge season-opener, the 36.87-kilometre Le Moulinon-Antraigues test.

Peugeot 207 driver Sarrazin completed the stage in a time of 23m35.6s with defending IRC champion Juho Hänninen a scant 0.3s adrift in his Škoda Fabia following a thrilling start to the rally.

“It was very difficult and I was trying not to be too aggressive on the tyres,” said Sarrazin. “We had good grip but we have a long way to go.”

Andreas Mikkelsen, Henning Solberg and Nicolas Vouilloz all dropped time with punctures, while Petter Solberg said he was lucky not to suffer a deflation when he nudged a wall after running over a patch of loose-surface gravel.

Unlike the bulk of the leading runners who opted for a medium compound tyre, Bruno Magalhães chose a harder compound and reported difficulty building up sufficient tyre temperature. He also suffered brake problems towards the end of the stage.

Thierry Neuville stopped two kilometres from the end of the stage after hitting a wall, while Chris Atkinson is reported to have crashed his PROTON Satria Neo.

Overall positions after SS1