As the end of the event approaches we have asked the team to get some information through before the night leg begins as we know it is going to be quite a long day for them.
To get the rally back down to Monaco via the three elements of today’s competition in the Cols the crews had a much earlier and much colder start from Valence today.
Ice notes coming back from the ice crew are very much so more favourable today as the crew heads south on the way to Monaco and the warmth of the Mediterranean!
The service crew of Steve Bunce and Rob Kitchen were hoping to keep their tally of reaching all service points again today, a difficult task with the way that the route takes the rally up and over the many Cols…. a big well done to them so far!
On this rally sitting alongside Rob and navigating, Steve has learnt quite quickly the art of getting along effectively in a 3 ton truck. Especially with it loaded with the many variations of tyres needed, fuel, spares, tools and Simon’s many luggage bags!
The #TeamRPS Golf GTi continues to impress with its performance, handling and robustness, all credit to the many hours of preparation in the RPS workshop… the only problem reported today was that Lewis dropped his freshly made ham and truffle baguette under his seat on a link section. Not the first time apparently…
The first regularitie St Nazaire le Desert to La Motte Chalancon was a blast, 20km of flowing corners and no black ice to worry about.
Next up SR 13 was full of left and right turns along with many hairpins making the test extremely technical.
One more competitive section this afternoon before the guys make their run into Monaco.
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The team has reported back that today was a very difficult day.
First two regularities were very icey so service was arranged for the tyres to be changed over to studs just before the first competitive section.
The first test was 15km long and mostly black ice with some snow so #TeamRPS had to keep the focus with the car squirming and sliding across Col de Carabes up at 1260 metres.
Straight into the next test 23km down the road and the pair were once more faced with ice and snow on SR9 from Les Savoyons to Barcillonette. But with Lewis at the helm he successfully kept the car under control.
Things got even more technical on the following SR, with a 40km test again with ice and included two speed changes, penalties are high for getting these wrong so we are all eager to see the outcome…
The guys lost a chunk of time across the morning so they had been desperately trying to stay on time meaning they had to forgo the allotted service before the lunch control. Lunch was served by Charly and Angelo from the team’s logistics,it’s been reported that the Bratwurst and Espresso’s were brilliant and almost Michelin 5 star quality!
The afternoon was a mixture of sunshine, dry roads and speed changes again on two more tough regularities… All of them successfully managed and the car made it safe in Parc Ferme at the end of the day.
Simon said he’d enjoyed the day, everything had worked perfectly and how proud he was of Lewis’ ability behind the wheel so far through all of the many changing conditions each day.
After a last team dinner an early morning awaits – next stop… Monaco before the infamous night leg!
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Departing from Valence this morning the guys headed to SR4. There were villages to contend with in which you cannot go over 30 kph meaning you are constantly losing time until you exit the village. With 2km to catch up the lost time there was some quick driving on Lewis’ part, despite there being no ice they still managed to slide sideways narrowly avoiding a brick wall!
Back down onto the road section and the studded tyres needed to be fitted for SR5 & SR6. Once more the RPS service crew sprung into action getting the Golf prepped and ready to go.
SR5 included an average speed change while passing through a village which proved difficult for some crews, but not for Simon as he nailed it!
SR6 was the first time encountering a proper sprinkling of snow, much nicer to drive on than the sheet ice from before. A few slips and slides but they kept out of trouble and got to the end with the car in one piece!
A quick pit stop was made in Lamastre to remove the studded tyres before heading over for SR7 to end the day.
From SR7 the crew needed to head down to the time control in Tournon-sur-Rhône but the traffic was slow going and after much anxious waiting they managed to book in 2 minutes late.
In all the panicking at Tournon-sur-Rhône a miscalculation on their final time to check into the control in Valence unfortunately meant some penalty points were incurred. Not enough to end the rally though!
Tomorrow they will start by tackling SR8 which is being reported back as quite a challenge! But we are sure the guys will continue to smash it!
You can also follow along on our website: rpsrally.com/monte-carlo-historique-2023/ ... See MoreSee Less
