The World Rally Championship Monte Carlo opener is set for final stage showdown with 22.2s covering the top three after changeable weather conditions shook up the leaderboard.
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier is pursuing a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo win and managed to survive tricky icy conditions across the two morning stages, but his lead has been cut to 18.1s by team-mate Elfyn Evans.
Hyundai’s Adrien Forumaux however is firmly in the hunt for victory just 22.2s behind, but the Frenchman’s tyre gamble to take four slicks could prove pivotal. The Frenchman used his Hankook rubber to blitz stage 17 Digne-les-Bains/Chaudon-Norante, taking 23.9s out of leader Ogier on winter tyres.
If the afternoon’s final stage is dry and not covered in snow as forecast, he could be in the box seat to claim a maiden WRC win given his nearest rivals have opted to take more snow tyres than slicks.
Hyundai’s Ott Tanak briefly climbed to third after stage 16 but dropped back to fourth [+45.5s] after struggling on winter tyres on stage 17.
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera opted of the same tyre call as Fourmaux, taking four super softs and only two snow tyres. After surviving the ice patches in stage 16, the Finn was the only driver in the same time bracket as Fourmaux, just 4.5s slower than the Hyundai.
Rovanpera’s pace put the Toyota driver firmly in the fight with Tanak for fourth overall, sitting 3.1s adrift heading into the final stage.
Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville leapt from eighth to sixth overall [+5m28.4s] following drama in the extremely difficult stage 16 that put Toyota pair Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari into retirement.
Katsuta, who had been sitting in sixth, was first to hit trouble when he slid off the road 1.8km into the stage. Spectators attempted to push the GR Yaris back onto the road but their efforts were not successful.
Moments later Pajari misjudged the entry into a bridge clipping the concrete which resulted in a big impact and an instant retirement. Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen were reported OK following the crash.
The misfortune continued on stage 17 when M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster became the third Rally1 car to retire. The Luxembourger understeered into rockface, pitching his car into a violent spin with his Puma partially blocking the road.
M-Sport Ford Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean managed to survive the conditions to inherit seventh overall [+9m33.3s], while WRC2 leader Yohan Rossel moved into eighth ahead of Nikolay Gryazin, who suffered a puncture, and Gus Greensmith.
