The pair are competing in the traditional Devoluy Rally, located northwest of Gap, the central hub of the Monte Carlo Rally. On Saturday, four special stages were run, with Fourmaux setting the fastest time on three of them.
Fourmaux was especially impressive on the third stage, the La Bachassette speed test measuring just over 24 kilometres. The Frenchman recorded the fastest time with an 18.6-second margin over Solberg. In the overall standings, Fourmaux holds a 22.7-second lead.
Solberg also claimed one fastest time, as the Swede—driving Toyota’s Rally1 car—beat Fourmaux by 3.4 seconds on the final stage of the day, which was run in the dark.
Solberg’s father, Petter Solberg, shared footage from the evening stage on social media. The conditions are certainly suitable for Monte Carlo testing, as the roads in the Alpine-based event are partly covered in ice and slush.
As can be seen from the video below, the conditions are truly wintry. Of course, some of the stages are also run on dry asphalt.
The Devoluy Rally continues on Sunday, with six special stages still on the schedule. In third place is Hayden Paddon, who will share Hyundai’s Rally1 car next season with Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo. This time, however, the New Zealander is competing in Hyundai’s Rally2 car. Over the four stages, he lost two and a half minutes to the leader.
The iconic Monte Carlo Rally is scheduled for 21–25 January.
