Teemu Suninen said goodbye to Rally Monte-Carlo in the first timed special. The Finn, accompanied by Mikko Markkula, lost control of the Ford Fiesta WRC in the last part of the stage. The accident was severe, including overturning, causing significant damage to the vehicle.
Suninen came very fast, setting the best time of the stage, half a second ahead of Ott Tänak. Despite his good feelings with the car during the tests and the start of the stage, it is a painful mistake for the interests of his team, greatly diminished by the coronavirus crisis. And even more so when it comes to the first day of competition.
Richard Millener, M-Sport Team Principal, has sent an important message to his driver before the WRC + cameras: “We have worked very hard over the last few weeks to be on this rally. We also did four days of testing to get this reward. It is disappointing“.
In addition, he added in relation to the accident and what the team discussed before starting the test: “We wanted to have both cars at the finish line of the test on Sunday. Now, from the first stage, we only have one. We made it clear from the beginning that it would be a very long rally”.
At the moment, after two stages and, surprisingly enough, Adrien Fourmaux is the top-ranked driver in the team -with the Fiesta Rally2-. The Frenchman is second in the WRC2, nine seconds behind the lightning-fast Andreas Mikkelsen. Fourmaux has a 2.8-second lead with Gus Greensmith, the lone WRC survivor. Both close the “top 10” of the general classification.
