Ogier closes in on record-extending 10th Monte Carlo Rally win

Sebastien Ogier is on the verge of an unprecedented 10th Monte Carlo Rally victory after another flawless performance at the FIA World Rally Championship season opener on Saturday to further extend his lead of the iconic, French Alps-based event.

The Frenchman (above) heads into Sunday’s final leg with a commanding lead of 20.3s in his factory GR Yaris Rally1, having delivered a measured and calculated drive through Saturday’s six challenging stages west of Gap. The eight-time WRC champ, who’s chosen to run only part-time in the 2025 WRC, and co-driver Vincent Landais’ neat-and-tidy day’s work kept the chasing pack firmly at bay.

Despite milder temperatures offering respite from the icy conditions seen on the opening leg, 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 locally raised driver used every bit of his vast Monte Carlo Rally experience to push on, extending his lead which had stood at 12.6sec after Friday. Behind him, Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans continued their fight for second place, while a fast-finishing Ott Tanak also staked his claim for a podium result in his Hyundai.

"It's always better to have this [time] as an advantage, but of course there are still some tricky stages to go,” said Ogier.

Just 4.3s 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 after switching from M-Sport Ford, hit top form in his i20 N Rally1 in the morning to snatch second from Evans on the day’s second stage, but the Toyota driver fought back in the afternoon, edging ahead once more.

Tanak came alive in the afternoon after setup tweaks unlocked more speed from his Hyundai. He surged past Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera on the first stage after the mid-day service, then set a blistering pace on the next, 12.96-mile Aucelon/Recoubeau-Jansac 2 – clocking fastest time and beating Fourmaux by 13.3s. Another masterful run on the day’s final stage left the Estonian only 2.5s adrift of his French teammate heading into Sunday.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak put himself in podium range after a Saturday afternoon charge. Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

Two-time WRC champ Rovanpera, who ended the leg 27.9s behind Tanak in fifth, felt that he couldn’t have done much more in his GR Yaris on his return to full-time WRC competition after a part-time program in 2024. The Finn’s 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, who’s embarking on his first full Rally1 campaign, 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 reigning WRC champ Thierry Neuville, who languished eighth in his Hyundai after a power delivery issue on the day’s first stage cost him around 50s and blunted any hopes of a fightback after his two costly offs on Friday.

For Gregoire 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’d restarted with a hefty time penalty and was 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.

It was a case of “what might have been” for M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster, who set a fastest stage time but is out of top-10 contention. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

On the positive side for M-Sport, Munster’s teammate, Puma Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean, made huge strides, breaking into the top nine as he gained valuable mileage in the car.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Nikolay Gryazin is the leading WRC2-spec car, holding 10th overall in his Skoda Fabia RS. But with the Bulgarian electing not to include the Monte Carlo Rally as one of his seven point-scoring events (a decision he’ll come to rue?), Citroen C3 driver Yohan Rossel is on course to start his 2025 WRC2 campaign in emphatic style after further extending his class lead. 

The Frenchman has been almost perfect so far and maintained his perfect record of stage wins among the point-scoring drivers through all six of Saturday’s stages. That relentless pace has seen him build an impressive advantage of nearly three minutes heading into Sunday’s decisive final leg.

Even more remarkable is that Rossel leads a PH Sport Citroen 1-2 overnight. His younger brother, Leo – making his WRC debut – delivered a standout performance by snatching second place from Eric Camilli’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the very last stage of the day. The gap between them? A nail-biting half a second. 

Citroen’s Yohan Rossel is almost in a class of his own among the WRC2 points-scoring entries. Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

Sunday’s short, sharp final leg starts from Gap and includes three more tricky stages totaling 31.63 miles. It closes with the 11.13-mile La Bollene-Vesubie/Peira Cava test as the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage, before the cars head south for the ceremonial finish in Monaco.  

1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h42m48.2s

2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +20.3s

3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +24.6s

4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +27.1s

5 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +55.0s

6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m43.7s

7 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +4m09.9s

8 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m17.5s

9 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +8m25.4s

10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 non-points) +8m33.0s

11 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 leader) +8m37.8s

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