The controversy, usual in this event, is this time fueled by motocross legend Tony Cairoli who complains that Valentino Rossi and his friends have WRC PLUS category cars offering 80 more horsepower and better brakes: “The gap is high, the Plus should be in a separate ranking. I will try to win the normal race. This time I started without making any mistakes but maybe the podium will elude us.”
Meanwhile, like a squirrel collecting these nuts, Valentino Rossi won the 4 special stages of the day with much greater gaps than in the previous edition.
SS 3, “Parabolica 1”, 9,6 km:
Valentino Rossi precedes Teemu Suninen by 12,4 seconds and Roberto Brivio by 12,8. Tony Cauroli, 4th, manages to place his “simple” WRC 1.6 in front of the 4th WRC PLUS of Alessio “Uccio” Salessi.
SS 4, “Autodromo”, 8,8 km:
The 4 leading men are the same, while Alessio “Uccio” Salessi, 8th, also bows to Piero Longhi, Alessandro Perico and Stefano d'Aste.
SS 5, “Parabolica 2”, 9,6 km:
This time, Alessio “Uccio” Salessi manages to appear behind the irremovable Valentino Rossi and Teemu Suninen while Tony Cairoli bows to Alessandro Perico, Marco Bonanomi and Roberto Brivio.
SS 6, “Grand prix 1”, 44,8 km:
The justice of the peace! Valentino Rossi takes another 16 seconds from Teemu Suninen and 24 from Roberto Brivio, with Alessio “Uccio” Salessi placing the 4th WRC PLUS in 4th position.
In the general classification, Valentino this evening has a comfortable lead of 49,6 seconds over Teemu Suninen and 1 minute 21 seconds over Roberto Brivio while Alessio “Uccio” Salessi positions the 4th Ford Fiesta W RC PLUS ahead of the first WRC 1.6 by Marco Bonanomi.
The logic respected, and suffice to say that barring a twist of fate, the Doctor sees victory looming while there remain 3 special events and the Master Show to compete on Sunday.
Saliamo a bordo con @ValeYellow46
al #MonzaRallyShow#SkyMotori @Autodromo_Monza pic.twitter.com/bJ0SJsUw3t- Sky Sport MotoGP (@SkySportMotoGP) December 8, 2018
Videos of the first day :
