In the shakedown of the 92nd Rallye Monte-Carlo held yesterday in the late afternoon at Route de la Garde (3.28 km), ACI Team Italia driver Roberto Daprà secured the seventh fastest time among WRC2 competitors (9th among RC2), positioning himself between the Toyotas of Solans and Léfébvre. A promising start for ACI Team Italia crew Daprà and Luca Guglielmetti, the reigning European champions in RC4, who are competing at Monte-Carlo in the Skoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo of Delta Rally. The upcoming events include Croatia in April, Portugal in May, Sardinia between late May and early June, Poland at the end of June, Latvia in mid-July, and the Central European Rally in October. For the 22-year-old driver, this marks his second world championship event; two years ago, he had participated in the Monaco rally, but the route was entirely different.

"During the shakedown," commented the ACI Team Italia driver, "I had fun and immediately felt comfortable with the car, which I need to get to know better. I have only a few kilometers in the Skoda, that I drove only at the end of the last season at the Monza Rally." Daprà talked about the race. "This Monte-Carlo is very challenging," he continued, "because, in the European Championship, I never encountered such dirty conditions given the expected weather conditions. We anticipate a rally with stretches of dry and very muddy sections. Overall, we found only 4 km of ice on the route in the first special stage on Saturday, Esparron-Oze. It's a new experience, in a rally practically new for us, as there's only one stage similar to two years ago when we participated in Monte-Carlo in a Fiesta Rally 4. The main goal is to finish the race and have a lot of fun; being here is already something great. Also the stages, compared to the recce, could be even drier since the temperatures are rising. Starting the race at night with the Sisteron stage won't be a walk in the park, but it's all good; we are here to learn."

THE RALLY. The 92nd edition of the Rallye Monte-Carlo consists of 17 special stages with 324.44 km of timed sections. It starts this afternoon with the departure from the Principality of Monaco scheduled for 16:52 from the iconic Place du Casino, followed by the all-at-night first stage Monaco-Gap covering 46.20 km of timed sections. Two specials are on the agenda: Thoard-Saint Geniez (21.01 km) and Bayons-Bréziers (25.19 km). The return to Gap is expected to be late at 23:11. Tomorrow, the second leg of Gap-Gap with 105.72 km of timed sections divided into six specials. On Saturday, another leg of Gap-Gap will cover 120.40 km of timed sections. Finally, on Sunday, the final leg Gap-Monaco will include only 52.12 km of timed sections divided into three specials: La Bréole-Selonnet (18.31 km), Digne les Bains-Chaudon Norante (19.01 km), and the power stage of La Bollène Vésubie-Col de Turini (14.80 km) at 12:15. The final award ceremony will take place at Place du Casino at 16:15.