Francois Duval survived a scare to end the first day of the Rallye Monte Carlo as the top
Stobart Ford driver and on course for an encouraging fifth place finish overall.
Duval was fifth fastest in SS1 and sixth quickest in SS2 and all despite a moment in the opening test when he slid on a big patch of ice and into a small wall. Fortunately for the ex-
Citroen and ex-Ford works man his Focus suffered no major damage and he could continue on his way.
Speaking back in service, Duval conceded that he was lucky, before adding that he will make some change now to the set-up so that he is more comfortable with his Focus on day 2.
"There was a section of ice on the first stage and we slid into a small wall luckily without much damage but we didn't know where the ice ended so I think I was driving too slowly for a while on that section," he recounted.
"There was also a warning of some snow on stage 2 so we slowed down for that also.
"The car wasn't feeling exactly right for me tonight so we will make some changes in service for tomorrow's stages."
Duval wasn't alone though in having a few problems during the two night stages and his Stobart team-mates,
Gigi Galli,
Matthew Wilson and
Henning Solberg, who finished the leg in 7th, 13th and 14th respectively, all admitted that they too had some issues.
"We expected tonight to be difficult and it certainly was that," noted Wilson Jr. "The ice seemed to catch most people out as a lot of it was not there when the safety crews went through earlier. We had a spin near the end of the first stage which cost us some time but apart from that it has been OK tonight. In the dry the tyres are working really well but in the wet and slippery stuff they are a bit more difficult."
Subaru's
Chris Atkinson meanwhile, who finished the leg in fourth, also said that at times it was tough: "I'm happy with fourth from today and the times weren't bad. It's been very tricky though; at the top of the stage it was just ice, so I think everyone had a moment up there," he added.
