Bryan Bouffier was the surprise leader of Rally Monte Carlo after the opening day of action on Thursday as Team Citroen Abu Dhabi pairing Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg both made good starts to their respective World Rally Championship (WRC) careers with the French manufacturer.
Changeable weather conditions that saw some stages start in the dry, only to end in heavy snow, led to chaotic scenes. The unheralded Bouffier, who has only competed in six WRC events before this, finished out in front in his M-Sport Ford with a lead of 38.8 seconds.
The Frenchman told Autosport: “It’s working well. The car is fantastic and that’s helped me a lot in these conditions.”
Meeke, who had played down his expectations of a good result before the event, clearly found the conditions to his liking as the Briton took second place, just 0.7 seconds ahead of former Formula One driver Robert Kubica, who had led the first two stages on Thursday.
Meeke lost time in the afternoon’s three stages compared to the morning’s trio, and he said: “I’ve never driven on this winter tyre in these conditions and I’m struggling for confidence. If you don’t have the confidence here, you can lose a lot of time.”
World champion Sebastien Ogier had struggled initially, down in ninth at one stage, but posting the fastest times on the final two stages moved the Frenchman up to fourth in his Volkswagen, pulling ahead of the second Citroen of Mads Ostberg, who is fifth, in the process.
Five more stages take place on Friday before the event ends on Saturday with a further four.
sports@thenational.ae
