The 2006 Monte Carlo Rally (formally the 74th Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo) was the first round of the 2006 World Rally Championship. The race was held over three days between 20 and 22 January 2006, and was won by Ford's Marcus Grönholm, his 19th win in the World Rally Championship.
Report The first event of the season saw many changes from the previous year. The new season saw just two full manufacturer teams compete (Ford and Subaru). Citroën supported a semi works effort through the Kronos team. Stobart increased their profile by creating a team using old Fords. OMV Peugeot Norway used the Peugeot 307 while Skoda maintained their presence through a team sponsored by Red Bull.
On the drivers front, Ford had a new lineup consisting of two time champion Marcus Grönholm and the promising young driver Mikko Hirvonen. Kronos used Citroëns twice world champion Sébastien Loeb alongside Xavier Pons. Subaru retained Petter Solberg with Stéphane Sarrazin and Chris Atkinson due to share the second seat depending on the surface. Stobart used a mixture of drivers alongside Matthew Wilson in his first full year. Manfred Stohl and Henning Solberg used the previously unloved Peugeot 307s. There were no places for Markko Märtin who fired an angry broadside before the Monte Carlo Rally at the direction the sport was taking. Toni Gardemeister lost his place at Ford along with Roman Kresta, both not doing enough to impress Malcolm Wilson during 2005. François Duval didn't find a seat after his erratic 2005 season, and there was still no place available for Colin McRae despite two promising performances for Skoda in 2005.
Results Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points WRC 1. Marcus Grönholm Timo Rautiainen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 4:11:43.9 0.0 10 2. Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën Xsara WRC 4:12:45.7 1:01.8 8 3. Toni Gardemeister Jakke Honkanen Peugeot 307 WRC 4:13:07.0 1:23.1 6 4. Manfred Stohl Ilka Minor Peugeot 307 WRC 4:13:26.2 1:42.3 5 5. Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC 2006 4:15:04.1 3:20.2 4 6. Chris Atkinson Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza WRC 05 4:16:46.3 5:02.4 3 7. Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 06 4:18:03.4 6:19.5 2 8. Dani Sordo Marc Marti Citroën Xsara WRC 4:18:59.1 7:15.2 1 PCWRC 1.(17.) Fumio Nutahara Daniel Barritt Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4:37:59.1 0.0 10 2.(21.) David Higgins Ross Butler Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 4:44:30.9 6:31.8 8 3.(29.) Nasser Al-Attiyah Chris Patterson Subaru Impreza 4:55:13.2 17:14.1 6 4.(39.) Stefano Marrini Tiziana Sandroni Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 5:08:59.1 31:00.0 5 5.(41.) Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Subaru Impreza WRX STI 5:12:08.5 34:09.4 4
Special stages All dates and times are CET (UTC+1). DayStageTimeNameLengthWinnerTimeAvg. spd.Rally leader1 (20 JAN) SS1 08:33 St Sauveur Sur Tinee - Beuil 1 22.22 km S. Loeb 15:14.0 87.6 km/h S. Loeb SS2 09:31 Guillaumes - Valberg 1 13.60 km M. Grönholm 9:37.2 84.8 km/h SS3 10:19 Pierlas - Ilonse 1 23.22 km Cancelled SS4 14:25 St. Sauveur Sur Tinee - Beui 2 22.22 km S. Loeb 14:43.9 90.5 km/h SS5 15:23 Guillaumes - Valberg 2 13.60 km F. Duval 9:43.3 83.9 km/h SS6 16:11 Pierlas - Ilonse 2 23.22 km M. Grönholm 18:47.6 74.1 km/h M. Grönholm 2 (21 JAN) SS7 07:53 Sigale - Bif. D10/D110 22.54 km S. Loeb 16:50.4 80.3 km/h SS8 09:06 St. Antonin - Toudon 1 20.22 km S. Loeb 14:41.2 82.6 km/h SS9 10:19 La Tour Sur Tinee - Utelle 1 18.73 km S. Loeb 15:41.5 71.6 km/h SS10 14:30 St. Antonin - Toudon 2 20.22 km S. Loeb 14:21.2 84.5 km/h SS11 15:43 La Tour Sur Tinee - Utelle 2 18.73 km Cancelled SS12 16:38 La Bollene Vesubie - Sospel 1 31.25 km S. Loeb 24:03.1 78.0 km/h 3 (22JAN) SS13 07:55 Col de Braus - La Cabanette 1 12.60 km S. Loeb 12:16.2 61.6 km/h SS14 08:23 Col St. Roch - Lantosque 1 14.45 km T. Gardemeister 11:20.0 76.5 km/h SS15 08:56 La Bollene Vesubie - Sospel 2 31.25 km S. Loeb 24:07.0 77.7 km/h SS16 11:44 Col de Braus - La Cabanette 2 12.60 km S. Loeb 11:38.5 64.9 km/h SS17 12:12 Col St. Roch - Lantosque 2 14.45 km M. Stohl 10:56.4 79.3 km/h SS18 12:45 La Bollene Vesubie - Sospel 3 31.25 km M. Stohl 23:02.8 81.4 km/h
Championship standings after the event
Drivers' championship Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR Pts 1 Marcus Grönholm 1 10 2 Sébastien Loeb 2 8 3 Toni Gardemeister 3 6 4 Manfred Stohl 4 5 5 Stéphane Sarrazin 5 4 6 Chris Atkinson 6 3 7 Mikko Hirvonen 7 2 8 Dani Sordo 8 1 Pos Driver MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR Pts
Manufacturers' championship Rank Manufacturer Event Totalpoints MON SWE MEX ESP FRA ARG ITA GRC GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR 1 BP Ford World Rally Team 14 14 2 Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team 11 11 3 OMV-Peugeot Norway 6 6 4 Subaru World Rally Team 5 5 5 Red Bull Škoda Team 3 3 6 Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team 0 0
References
External links Results at eWRC.com Results from the official site: WRC.com Results on RallyBase.nl