Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier clinched a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo victory after holding his nerve in a dramatic climax to the World Rally Championship season opener.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais kept in control in a final stage showndown to take a memorable win by 18.4s from Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans, with Hyundai’s new signing Adrien Fourmaux taking the final podium spot [+25.9s].
Eight-time world champion Ogier dominated the rally but it wasn’t without a couple of wild moments as the WRC ushered in non-hybrid Rally1 cars and the unknown quantity of new control tyres from Hankook.
Ogier would have led at the end of Thursday night had he not flirted with a ditch that cost him valuable time. The Frenchman bounced back on Friday to move into the lead on stage eight. Ogier survived another wild moment on Saturday but was able to extend his advantage to 20.3s.
Changeable weather and mix of tyre calls meant the opening round of the season was set for a final day sprint. Reports of snow on the final Col du Turini stage prompted Ogier and Evans to take four snow tyres and two slicks, while Fourmaux gambled with four slicks and two snow tyres.
The gamble appeared to initially favour Fourmaux having hauled himself up to third in the penultimate stage. It ultimately came down to a final stage shootout as conditions changed by the minute.
Fourmaux delivered a committed run but Evans responded to beat the Hyundai driver by 3.5s to hold onto second despite clipping a bank with the rear of his GR Yaris. The pair however, couldn’t stop 'Monte Master' Ogier from taking the victory, claiming the Power Stage in the process by 0.3s. over Evans to grab the five bonus Super Sunday points.
Kalle Rovanpera, making his full-time return to the WRC, found it tough adjusting to Hankook’s super soft tyres, admitting that he needed to change his driving style. It left him mired in fifth for the majority of the but was able to snatch fourth [+54.3s] from Hyundai’s Ott Tanak thanks to a smart tyre choice for the final stage.
Tanak was left to settle for fifth [+58.9s] having put himself in the victory hunt after a clean sweep of Saturday’s afternoon stages.
Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville endured a difficult start to his title defence finishing an eventful rally in sixth [+5m44.2s].
The Hyundai driver held a two-second lead after Thursday night following Ogier’s error but his rally began to unravel on stage six when he misjudged his braking into a tight right hairpin. An excursion into a ditch followed, damaging the left rear suspension on his i20 N. The Belgian managed to return to service having dragged his wheel behind him through the stage and briefly on a road section that incurred a €10,000 fine.
After losing almost two minutes following the incident, Neuville went off at the same corner on the second pass while carrying a puncture, one of the first suffered by new tyre supplier Hankook.
Neuville had held eighth position heading into Sunday’s final three stages but rose to sixth after Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari hit trouble on stage 16.
Katsuta had enjoyed relatively trouble-free rally until he slid off the road in slippery conditions. Spectators attempted to push his GR Yaris back onto the road but the car had become stuck resulting in an unfortunate retirement.
Katsuta’s exit was followed by that of team-mate Pajari making the first start of his maiden full-time campaign with Toyota. The Finn had also made steady progress through the rally although a wild moment on stage six knock a tyre off the rim.
But in icy conditions on stage 16 Pajari made heavy contact with a bridge putting him out of what would have been sixth spot.
M-Sport’s Josh McErlean faced a baptism of fire making his first start in a Rally1 car on Monte Carlo’s challenge asphalt roads. The 25-year-old Irishman grew in confidence as the rally progressed, reaching the finish in seventh on debut.
Team-mate Gregoire Munster emerged as one of the stars of the rally on Friday after an inspired tyre choice and impressive pace elevated the Luxembourger to fourth overall. However, his Ford Puma developed a terminal mechanical issue on the return to service that necessitated a repair that wasn’t completed until 3am Saturday morning.
Munster rejoined the rally on Saturday where he backed up his pace by scoring a maiden WRC stage win. A crash on stage 17 ultimately left the Ford driver without any points from what appeared to be a promising weekend.
In WRC2, Citroen’s Yohan Rossel claimed victory beating Eric Camilli by 1m23.3s, with Rossel’s brother Leo finishing third.
