There are four stages left of the opening round of the 2021 World Rally Championship season, and one of those will of course be paying additional points not just for the top drivers in the top cars, but also those plying their craft in Rally2 machinery.
The manufacturers will also be earning additional points from the final stage of the event, meaning even more is at stake than usual on the Monte Carlo Rally’s curtain closer.
WRC2 co-driver Alex Kihurani – one of those now eligible to score powerstage points – goes through the routes he will be navigating on Sunday.
SS12/14 Puget-Théniers – La Penne (8.03 miles)
You’re climbing most of the way on this stage, and then the last few kilometers are downhill but the road is really smooth, wide and nice and flowing. There’s nothing that’s really going to catch you out on it to be honest, which could be famous last words! But it’s probably the most straightforward stage of the rally.
SS13/15 Briançonnet – Entrevaux (8.89 miles)
The powerstage starts off on a mountainside that’s in the shadow so despite starting out dry, becomes full snow and ice as you crest the hill and go steeply downhill. It’s full ice with big snowbanks on both sides until eventually you get low enough for the snow to disappear and you’re on a heavily salted road but it’s still downhill. Basically the whole stage descends apart from the very beginning, so definitely a difficult ending.
