Rallye Monte Carlo 2025, Sunday's Report

01/28/2025 04:11 PM

Onto the final day then of this classic event and what would the final 50km's give us? Overnight rain made the roads wet and then the clouds cleared which led to the roads freezing. There was also frost on the edge of the roads.

The different crews had to make their tyre choices as there would not be any tyre fitting zone before the end of the day. There was also the additional aspect that the power stage was only being run once.

First up then was SS16 Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 – 13.97 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Kalle. Adrien could only manage the eighth fastest time and lost third place to his teammate Ott, now 4.5 behind the 2019 world champion. There was drama for Takamoto who went off the road and couldn't get the car back on the road. Then Sami also went off at a bridge after losing control.

It all changed on the following stage, SS17 Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 – 19.01 km with Adrien taking an amazing stage win by 4.5 seconds over Kalle and Elfyn. He'd narrowed the gap to Elfyn to just four seconds and also reduced the gap to Seb to just 22.2 from over 46 seconds. Also, to exit on this stage was Greg who'd hit some ice and hit the side of the mountain leading to damage which put him out for the rest of the day.

Onto the final stage then, SS18 La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava [Power Stage] – 17.92 km and would the choice made by Elfyn and Seb to go with the studded tyres, or Adrien with the soft tyres and no studded tyres? Well, there was still quite a bit of snow and ice on the stage, particularly on the other side of the col du Turini. Well, the result showed that Seb and Elfyn took the right tyres to the stages as they set the pace with Adrien taking the third fastest time. Kalle was also on the pace and passed Ott for fourth overall.

Let's take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

"It's amazing to win this rally for the 10th time: it makes me incredibly happy and proud. This rally is the one that gave me the dream to be a rally driver, so if I could pick only one to win in a season, it would always be this one. This year it's been a huge fight up until the very last stage. We had changing conditions, difficult tyre decisions and pressure right until the end so I'm glad we managed to keep it under control. We definitely had some moments but to win this rally I think you always need a bit of luck too. It's a perfect start to the year for the team so we couldn't ask for anything more."

Elfyn Evans

"This was a typical Rallye Monte-Carlo, a bit more extreme than in recent years and it was a properly challenging weekend. I'm very happy to be here at the end with a decent haul of points. Today started off with some very tricky conditions, we made a change at the last moment to take four studded tyres and I wasn't sure it was the right call. In the end it seems there wasn't a lot between the two choices, and we had a pretty thrilling Power Stage to finish: we had a close moment a few corners from the end but thankfully we managed to get away with it."

Kalle Rovanperä

"Rallye Monte-Carlo is always tough, and it was especially so this year. For me personally it was a pretty difficult weekend. We didn't have the result that we wanted or the pace that we wanted but we have to be happy at the end to have got some pretty good points. Today was not a bad day for us: we just tried our best, kept consistent and it paid off. A big thanks to the team, now let's see what we can do in Sweden."

Takamoto Katsuta

"This morning in the first stage we knew that the conditions could be quite tricky, but we came to one right-hand corner that was frosty where we didn't have that information in our pacenotes. We were quite slow going into the corner, but the car went wide and got stuck in a small ditch which we couldn't get out of. Until then it had been quite a good rally, especially Saturday when the pace was good. It's a pity but I just need to refocus on the next rally in Sweden and try to do a good job for the team there."

Sami Pajari

"The approach for today was the same as before and we were not planning to push particularly hard. There was just one surprisingly icy braking point which just caught us out. It was an unfortunate end to our rally, as it been going according to plan until then. On Saturday especially we saw that the times were getting better, and the feeling was getting better and the confidence was rising. Everything felt under control so it's a pity to end the rally like this, but we will try to learn from what happened and look forward to Sweden."

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

"Monte-Carlo is always something special, and to have such a great start with Hyundai is really positive so I am really pleased with my weekend. We put a lot of pressure on Elfyn and Seb, but we couldn't push it that little bit more with that much snow on the road as we didn't want to risk too much. It's a shame, but it's a part of game – we have no regrets. Sweden will be good, for sure; we will be second on the road in the snow and the cold temperatures, but I am really looking forward to it."

Ott Tänak

"It was quite an entertaining weekend but still lots of positives to take away. We got some good points and can be a bit happier with the road position going to round two. There were some things we couldn't get right, but obviously the base was there. We will get it sorted and working, but it takes a bit of time. I am looking forward to Sweden, and we will be able to try the upgraded car for the first time so hopefully we will see an improved performance on that side as well."

Thierry Neuville

"All in all, it was a challenging weekend for us. It went wrong from the braking in the hairpin on Friday, and then the combination of our road position and the conditions today that didn't favour us. Today there was less ice than expected, and cars were going faster on slick tyres – it was a difficult Sunday. We can optimistic about what's coming next in Sweden; we will have a better road position and hopefully a better rally because of it, but we still need to make the most of it."

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Seventh overall at the Monte-Carlo Rally! What a way to kick off our Rally1 debut with the Ford Puma. It's been a massive challenge with so many new elements – new car, new team, new co-driver, and Hankook tyres – but we kept our heads, did our own thing and learnt every step of the way. The conditions have been so demanding, but it's been thoroughly enjoyable! Huge thanks to everyone who made this possible – we’re excited for our next event and to the snow of Sweden.

“It's been an unforgettable experience, and I'm proud of what we achieved out there. The boys and girls at M-Sport have been phenomenal!”

Grégoire Munster

"I think there are quite a lot of positives to mention, I think generally we had some good pace and really improved day after day. We posted a fourth-fastest time on Thursday, two second-fastest on Friday and then our first stage win in the morning on Saturday. So, we've been consistently improving, and we've learned a lot as well. Thanks to the team for working late on Friday night to fix the car so we could go again on Saturday. It gave us a chance to grab some more experience which was super important, especially because we're driving on the new tyres.

Oliver Solberg

"It's been such a positive week. Apart from this silly moment on Thursday night, everything has gone really well. We've learned so much about the new car and straight away I want to say a big thanks to Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and the team – all the people at Printsport have been fantastic in making me feel at home with the Yaris.

"I said before the start that it was nice to be part of this Toyota family and competing with the GR Yaris and this is really what I feel from doing the first event.

"The car was quite different from what I was driving before, but we did a lot of testing which really helped me find a good feeling. The times we were able to set were really strong, it was nice to win a lot of stages and I really think we had the pace to win this one. It's a little bit frustrating that we had this damage on Thursday night, but this is the game, this is the sport."

"I have enjoyed driving this car in some really tricky conditions on the Monte this week," continued Oliver. "The last day, over the classic Col de Turini stage, it was really tricky with the ice, dry Tarmac and some snow – it was impossible to find the perfect tyre choice – but we made the finish.

"Now, it's time for the snow and time to go home and compete in Umeå. As you can imagine, this is one of my favourite rallies for the year and I can't wait to take this Yaris to those roads."

Summary

Well, what a great start to the new season for Toyota. Seb taking his tenth victory in this classic rally was amazing considering his moment when he went off the road and fell behind. What came after that was a masterclass in driving.

Elfyn also had a fantastic rally as expected and led as well, maintaining great pace to keep himself in the podium positions throughout the weekend. This is a great start to his title hopes for this season.

Finally, Adrien had a brilliant first event at Hyundai and utterly deserved his sixth ever podium in his career. Taking a stage win along the way shows how comfortable he has become with his new car. There is every chance he and Alex could take their first win this year.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers' Standings 
After round 1

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers' Standings
After round 1