Jardine out of luck on Rallye Monte-Carlo debut

British television presenter Tony Jardine says he achieved his ambition on Rallye Monte-Carlo despite failing to finish the centenary edition of the event, which took place from 18-22 January.

Jardine, who was co-driven by Daily Mirror newspaper journalist Byron Young in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta ST, was in 71st overall on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier when he crashed on ice on the road section heading to the final stage of day two.

“It was a huge let down to exit the rally, especially as Byron was doing so well on his first ever international event,” said Jardine, whose exploits were featured in Eurosport’s extensive coverage of the rally. “However, it was always an ambition of mine to even get as far as the first stage – so we have achieved that.”

Co-driver Young added: “Tony actually had to put the car into a wall to stop us from sliding any further down the hill. We had cars going off the road behind us and in front of us all hitting the same patch of ice as us. The most frustrating thing is we could see the time control for the start of the eighth stage in the valley way below, but we just couldn’t reach it!”
– Credit: IRC Series.