Solberg masters snow, ice and fog to take huge early WRC Monte Carlo Rally lead

Oliver Solberg (above) emerged from the Monte Carlo Rally’s opening leg with a commanding early lead, as snow, ice, fog and darkness combined to deliver a brutal Thursday night in the French Alps for the FIA World Rally Championship’s iconic season-opener.

Solberg, who’s been added to Toyota Gazoo Racing’s factory Rally1 lineup to replace open wheel-bound two-time WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera, mastered the treacherous 14.79-mile Esclangon/Seyne-les-Alpes test to seize control of the rally. He then safely negotiated the fog-shrouded Vaumeilh/Claret 1’s 9.4 miles in his GR Yaris Rally1 to end the opening leg an incredible 44.2s clear of teammate Elfyn Evans after three stages.

Despite freezing temperatures, heavy rain and rapidly-deteriorating conditions, tens of thousands of fans, many toting colored flares, lined the Alpine roads – braving the elements to experience the Monte’s legendary atmosphere first-hand.

Evans had struck first on the wet opening stage at Toudon/Saint-Antonin, but the rally was turned on its head in the second test. Run entirely in darkness and coated in slush, snow and sheet ice, Esclangon/Seyne-les-Alpes proved decisive as Solberg delivered a sensational drive to go fastest by a staggering 31.1s.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans (above) was fastest on the opening stage, but fell behind his flying teammate Oliver Solberg as conditions worsened.

"My god, that is the craziest [stage] I’ve done in my life,” Solberg admitted. “In the beginning my driving was really bad, but then on the snow I thought I’d just go for it.”

The closing test of the night, Vaumeilh/Claret 1, added yet another twist. Heavy fog reduced visibility to near zero and, after just seven cars had completed it, it was red-flagged on safety grounds with notional times applied to the remainder of the field.

Nine-time and defending WRC champ Sebastien Ogier, who was born and raised in the rally’s base town of Gap, set the fastest time among those who ran before the stoppage and climbed to third overall in his GR Yaris by the overnight halt. But Solberg still managed to extend his advantage over second-placed Evans.

“It’s incredible – an incredible start,” Solberg said. “I need to breathe a little bit now because it was the most difficult night of my life so far. It’s been good fun – challenging, but good fun.”

Behind the leading Toyota trio, Thierry Neuville recovered from a confidence-sapping opening stage to end the leg fourth overall in the best of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1s. His teammate, Adrien Fourmaux, was 18.9s further back in sixth, despite briefly finding himself in a ditch in the final stage as the dense fog made it difficult even to locate the road.

Splitting them, and one of the standout stories of Thursday night, was an assured Jon Armstrong making his Rally1 debut for M-Sport Ford. The Northern Ireland driver stunned the field with third-fastest time on the second test and ended the opening leg fifth overall, despite a small overshoot and contact with a bank late in the night.

The Monte’s a tough place to make your Rally1 debut, but M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong excelled in fifth overall.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta held seventh at the overnight halt after adopting a cautious approach in the opening stages, prioritizing survival as conditions worsened. Behind him, WRC returnee Hayden Paddon completed the treacherous opening leg eighth overall in his first top-tier start for Hyundai since 2018.

Of the other Rally1 contenders, the extreme conditions claimed early casualties, with Toyota’s Sami Pajari and M-Sport Ford Rally1 sophomore Josh McErlean both sliding off the road and into retirement on the second stage.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, all eyes were on the debut of Lancia’s Ypsilon HF Integrale Rally2. In the Italian marque’s first WRC start since 2000, Nikolay Gryazin finished best of the two factory entries, albeit 13th overall and fourth in class. But it was Skoda Fabia RS driver Eric Camilli leading Leo Rossel’s Citroen C3 in a French 1-2 at the sharp end of the WRC 2. Both had excelled in the conditions, holding ninth and 10th overall, respectively.  

Lancia’s Nikolay Gryazin lies 13th overall and fourth in WRC2 after a steady debut so far for the returning marque’s Ypsilon HFs.

Friday is expected to bring more of the challenging conditions, with the morning stages set to add sections of sheet ice and black ice to the slush and snow experienced on Thursday’s dramatic openers. Six stages make up the leg, adding up to 80.1 miles of classic Monte Carlo Rally jeopardy.

WRC Monte Carlo Rally, positions after Thursday/Leg One, SS3
1 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 43m10.3s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +44.2s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m08.6s
4 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m25.9s
5 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) +1m34.5s
6 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1mm44.8s
7 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m24.0s
8 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m55.2s
9 Eric Camilli/Thibault de la Haye (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +3m31.2s
10 Leo Rossel/Guillaume Mercoiret (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +3m46.5s

• Watch the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage action from the Monte Carlo Rally LIVE on RACER Network and the RACER+ App on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 7am ET.Plus, for a deeper dive into the FIA World Rally Championship, check out the WRC Magazine Show on RACER Network. Catch the latest episode on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 10.00pm ET and Friday, Jan. 23 at 1am ET.

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