Introducing the ‘ice note’ crews…

They get up in the early hours of the morning and leave their hotels while everybody else is fast asleep. After warming up the cars used by the crews during recce, they then head out to the stages to make corner-by-corner corrections to their driver’s pace notes, as a function of the conditions they encounter in the mountains…

The top drivers have complete confidence in their so-called ‘ice note’ crews whose mission is to cover each stage two or three hours before the competitors’ due start times. In addition to correcting the pace notes, their job is to estimate how the conditions are likely to evolve and this information is priceless when the moment comes to choose tyres back at the Service Park. It’s a role that calls for considerable experience, and this year’s 'ice noters' certainly have plenty of that…
The most experienced ice note crews are undoubtedly those who have been recruited by Evgeny Novikov: François Delecour (winner of the event in 1994) and veteran co-driver Denis Giraudet. The pair can claim more than 30 Rallye Monte Carlo starts between them, while their debuts on the winter event date back to 1984 and 1981 respectively. They are still very active, though, and finished sixth (François) and fifth (Denis) on last year’s event.
Fellow Ford driver Juho Hänninen can also count on the help of somebody with bags of experience, namely Lasse Lampi. The Finn made his WRC debut in 1977 (with co-driver Pentti Kuukkala who will be in the car this week) and worked very closely with Mitsubishi in the days when the Japanese make was at its peak, securing three victories in the Principality with Tommi Mäkinen. “Lasse has helped me to fine-tune my notes over the years,” says Juho, “so he knows my system very well…”
Meanwhile, Mads Ostberg (Ford) will benefit from a blend of experience and family ties, since it is his ice notes will be in the hands of his own father, with Mikkelsen’s ex-co-driver Ole Floene in the right-hand seat. “I did my first rally as my father’s navigator when I was 14,” relates Ford’s new team leader. “I owe everything I know to him!”
Thierry Neuville (Ford) has known his ice-note driver, Markus Meyer, for a long time, too. “We were at school together. When we were 18, we decided to compete in a rally in a rented car, with me as the co-driver. The first stage was cancelled and we crashed about 10km after the start of the second one. That’s when I decided to switch to driving,” laughs the Belgian.
In contrast to these longstanding associations, there are some new ‘combinations’ in place this year. For example, Sébastien Loeb’s long-time friend Dominique Heintz is busy looking after the multiple world champion’s racing team, so former works Citroën and Ford driver Patrick Magaud has stepped in. Similarly, Volkswagen’s Sébastien Ogier has been forced to find a replacement for Alex Bengué who has replaced the late Philippe Bugalski as test and development driver at Citroën Racing. The ex-French champion’s shoes have been filled by Nicolas Vouilloz, winner of the inaugural Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).
from  best-of-rallylive