Monte's First Saturday Stage Cancelled
The first stage of the Saturday leg of the Monte Carlo Rally; opening round of the 2015 World Rally Championship, has been cancelled for safety reasons. The 12-mile Prunieres - Embrun stage was due to commence the day's action, but was called-off because large numbers of spectators had congregated, particularly in the closing miles of the stage which caused organisers concerned that safety could not be guaranteed if a car went off the road.
This cancellation reduces Saturday's first loop to just one stage; Lardier et Valenca - Faye, the longest of the event at 32 miles. The cancelled Prunieres - Embrun stage is on the scheduled to be repeated on Saturday afternoon. Sebastien Ogier now leads the rally by 1m45s over Volkswagen team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala after Sebastien Loeb's victory bid came to an end with an error on Friday's final stage. Loeb could not get his damaged Citroen back to service and had to retire from the day, incurring a 10-minute penalty for doing so and the nine-time World Rally champion will start in 15th place when the rally restarts today.
24th January, 2015