WRC: Ogier leads Toyota 1-2 in Rallye Monte-Carlo win to open '25

Ayer a las 10:11 AM

Sebastien Ogier led a Toyota 1-2 in WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo win from Elfyn Evans to open 2025, as Adrien Fourmaux is third.

Friday –

Sébastien Ogier staged an impressive comeback on Friday at Rallye Monte-Carlo, vaulting from third to first overall as Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans fell victim to the treacherous Alpine roads. Ogier, chasing an unprecedented 10th Rallye Monte-Carlo triumph in this season-opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship, began the day on the back foot after an off-road moment on Thursday's third stage cost him around 20sec. By Friday evening, however, the Frenchman had turned the tables, leading the rally by 12.6sec thanks to a masterful drive on the ice-kissed stages.

Ogier's Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 team-mate Elfyn Evans initially dethroned overnight leader Thierry Neuville on the opening stage, edging ahead after shading the Belgian by 2.8sec at Saint-Maurice – Aubessagne 1. Neuville's hopes of reclaiming the lead were dashed moments later when he limped out of La Bréole – Selonnet 1 with a damaged rear-left suspension, a costly consequence of running wide on a downhill hairpin.

Evans, a four-time runner-up in the drivers' championship, saw his lead reduced to just 1.5sec by midday. A spirited response after service helped him extend the margin to 7.9sec, but disaster struck on an icy section in Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes – La Bâtie-Neuve. A half-spin on a treacherous patch handed the stage win – and the rally lead – back to Ogier. The Frenchman, energised by competing on roads just a stone's throw from his home village of Forest-Saint-Julien, extended his advantage further with a commanding performance on the day's finale.

With Neuville and Ott Tänak both facing setbacks – Tänak clipped a telegraph pole on SS6, damaging his i20 N Rally1's bodywork – it was Adrien Fourmaux who carried the Hyundai torch. On his first WRC outing with the team, Fourmaux showed promise with a stage win and two second-fastest times, securing the final podium spot just 1.6sec behind Evans.

Two-time WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä also found his rhythm after a measured start on Thursday. The Toyota ace won the morning's opening stage and climbed from sixth to fourth by day's end. He ended 24.3sec behind Fourmaux but held an 8.8sec cushion over Tänak, whose SS6 moment required a shopping list of replacement body panels.

Grégoire Munster delivered one of his strongest performances to date, securing consecutive second-fastest stage times in the morning loop. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver ran as high as fourth before a tyre deflation on the penultimate stage dropped him to sixth overall, but worse was to come as an electrical fault on the road section after the final test forced his retirement.

That meant that Takamoto Katsuta rounded out Friday in sixth, ahead of Toyota's young star Sami Pajari. Neuville, down in eighth, lost more time on the second pass through La Bréole – Selonnet, suffering a tyre deflation that caused him to slide wide at the same corner where he had faltered earlier in the day. Yohan Rossel led WRC2 in ninth while Nikolay Gryazin completed the top 10.

Saturday –

Sébastien Ogier is on the cusp of an unprecedented 10th Rallye Monte-Carlo victory after another flawless performance on Saturday, further extending his lead at the iconic French Alps event. The Frenchman, driving a GR Yaris Rally1 for Toyota GAZOO Racing, heads into Sunday's final leg with a commanding lead of 20.3sec, having delivered a measured and calculated drive through six challenging stages west of Gap. His and co-driver Vincent Landais' efforts kept the chasing pack firmly at bay.

Despite milder temperatures offering respite from ice, Ogier had to battle the toughest of the day's conditions. His 10th-place starting position meant he faced mud and loose stones left on the road by the cars ahead, yet the eight-time world champion used every ounce of his Monte-Carlo experience to push on, extending his lead which stood at 12.6sec after Friday. Behind him, Adrien Fourmaux and Elfyn Evans continued their fight for second place, while a fast-finishing Ott Tänak also staked his claim for a podium result.

Just 4.3sec separated Evans and Fourmaux at the end of the rally's longest day, with the Welshman taking back control of second place after a thrilling back-and-forth. Fourmaux, on what has been a stunning Hyundai WRC debut so far, hit top gear in the morning to snatch second from Evans on SS11, but the Toyota driver fought back in the afternoon, edging ahead once more. Tänak came alive in the afternoon after set-up tweaks unlocked more speed from his Hyundai.

He surged past Toyota's Kalle Rovanperä on SS13, then set a blistering pace on SS14 – winning the stage and beating Fourmaux by 13.3sec. Another powerful run on the day's finale left the Estonian only 2.5sec adrift of his team-mate heading into Sunday. Two-time WRC champion Rovanperä, who ended 27.9sec behind Tänak in fifth, felt that he couldn't have done much more. His preference for faster, flowing stages left him at a disadvantage on the day's tighter, more technical roads.

More than two minutes separated the Toyotas of Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari in sixth and seventh overall, with both drivers relieved to have completed another day without any major drama. The same couldn't be said for Thierry Neuville, who languished eighth after a power delivery issue on SS10 cost him around 50sec and stunted any hopes of a fightback after his Friday struggles. For Grégoire Munster, the day was bittersweet.

The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver celebrated his first-ever fastest WRC stage time on Saturday's opener, but after retiring with a technical fault on the final liaison section back to service on Friday, he's unable to challenge his Rally1 rivals for an overall position. Without the issues, Munster could have been in the mix for a top-five finish. Puma Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean made huge strides, breaking into the top nine as he gained valuable mileage in the car. Nikolay Gryazin was 10th overnight, while Yohan Rossel extended his lead in the WRC2 category and also sat 11th overall.

Sunday –

Sébastien Ogier etched his name further into the history books by claiming a record-extending 10th victory at Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship. Driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, Ogier secured victory by a margin of 18.5sec over his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans after a nail-biting final day through the French Alps. Sunday's decisive final leg threatened to turn the tide.

Ogier and his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans opted to carry four studded Hankook tyres and only two super-soft slicks – an approach that proved effective on the icy roads of Avançon – Notre-Dame du Laus but left them vulnerable on the drier penultimate test at Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante. There, Adrien Fourmaux shone on a full-slick setup, outpacing both Toyotas by a 23.9sec and 17.8sec respectively and momentarily threatening to disrupt the podium order.

Fourmaux, making his Hyundai WRC debut after an off-season switch from M-Sport Ford, had hoped for drier conditions on the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage to maximise his slick tyre advantage. Instead, the icy Col de Turini levelled the playing field, leaving him on the same mixed-tyre setup as Ogier and Evans. Ogier capitalised with another stage win, while Evans held off Fourmaux's late charge by just 7.5sec despite a heart-stopping brush with a rock face.

The drama extended far beyond the podium battle, as Sunday's treacherous conditions wreaked havoc further down the field. Toyota's Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta both slid off the road on SS17, while Grégoire Munster's M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 met a similar fate on the very next stage. Behind Evans, Hyundai's Ott Tänak ceded fourth position to Toyota's Kalle Rovanperä on the final day due to his own tyre misjudgement. The pair finished just 4.7sec apart, with both drivers now eager to bounce back on next month's Rally Sweden as previous winners of the snow-and-ice fixture.

Defending champion Thierry Neuville salvaged sixth place after a tumultuous event. A combination of broken suspension from an early crash, a deflated tyre and an unexplained electrical issue cost him over five minutes, thwarting his hopes of defending last year's win. M-Sport Ford's Josh McErlean impressed with a solid seventh-place finish on his Rally1 debut, while Rally2 competitors Yohan Rossel, Nikolay Gryazin and Gus Greensmith rounded out the top 10. Rossel's standout performance earned him an early lead in the WRC2 championship.

Result: https://www.wrc.com/live-timing?liveTimingMenu=overall_livetiming&stage=FINAL&championshipId=287

[The story is as per press release]

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