Video: Watch the WRC stars lose it on the Monte's black ice
The effortless ballet of a seasoned pro in a racer at the peak of its tune, putting in a shift among similarly well-heeled and talented peers, can go some way to dulling the senses of us naive and adoring spectators.
Seeing them all go at it weekend after weekend, circuit after circuit, stage after stage, you can easily mistake the ease with which they dispatch these challenges for ease of the challenge itself. If you ever wanted to see the pros meet their match, the Sisteron stage on the Monte Carlo Rally should do it just fine.
Car and driver combos that would otherwise slice through the most challenging terrains in motorsport are reduced to pirouetting on the ice – their sophisticated all-wheel-drive systems, honed aerodynamics and fire-spitting power plants rendered inert by the zero-grip conditions. It’s a pertinent exercise in perspective. Even the best have rough days at the office.