Eight-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier has taken the 10th Monte Carlo Rally victory of his career, further cementing his record as the event’s most successful driver.
Overnight rain – and on the upper reaches of the Col de Turin, snow – created a tire choice headache on the final day, with momentum swinging wildly in different directions depending on the Hankooks selected by each crew early on Sunday.
A mix of studded snow tires and extra-soft asphalt tires was the way to go on the morning-opening Avançon – Notre-Dame du Laus test; Ogier went fastest by four seconds. But on a mostly damp Digne-les-Bains – Chaudon-Norante, Adrien Fourmaux was able to put the hammer down, taking 23.4s out of the rally leader in one swoop.
That set up a winner-takes-all contest over the Col de Turini, where overnight rain had fallen and frozen to leave icy sections. Last-minute tire decisions mostly gravitated towards a mix of studded snow tires crossed over with super soft asphalt rubber.
While alternate tire strategies had mixed things up earlier on Sunday morning, choices mostly converged on the powerstage, La Bollène-Vésubie – Peïra-Cava, where Ogier demonstrated why he’s the rally’s most successful driver by pipping Evans to the powerstage victory by 0.3s.
I have no idea if this is my last one now. Maybe it would be a good one to stop.Sébastien Ogier
An emotional Ogier was relieved to finally have a Monte win to dedicate to his late uncle who’d helped him get into motorsport as a child, his relative’s death happening on the week of last year’s Monte Carlo Rally in which he finished second.
“I think I had my lucky star with me this weekend,” said Ogier. “It must be my uncle, who I lost one year ago. I’m sure he was bringing me everything. This one is for him.”
Ogier also hinted this Monte could be his very last: “I have no idea if this is my last one now. Maybe it would be a good one to stop.”
Evans held off Adrien Fourmaux for second place, putting it all on the line on the final stage. His rally nearly came apart entirely in the final mile of the rally, running off-line and understeering into a mountainside.
Mercifully for Evans he sustained only light bodywork damage to the rear left corner and pressed on, though the error ultimately cost him powerstage victory to Toyota team-mate Ogier.
A visually exasperated Evans said: “I wasn’t expecting that ice there. OK, we got through. Looks like it was alright. It wasn’t looking so good at one moment a kilometer back there!”
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Tänak's Monte fortunes looked very promising on Saturday afternoon. Sunday derailed his podium ambitions
Not having slick tires in his package hurt Ott Tänak at the very end, falling behind Kalle Rovanperä to fifth place on the powerstage. He was frustrated with his choice, suggesting his decision had been data-driven based on ultimately incorrect information.
“We could see that we didn’t get things too right this weekend quite often,” said Tänak. “Even this morning the metrics said the slick is two minutes slower and actually it’s a minute faster.”
Despite promoting himself to fourth right at the finish line, Rovanperä remained unhappy with his week’s efforts: “A disappointing weekend of course; not the result we wanted, not the pace we wanted, but at least we got some points. Let’s see in Sweden if we still know how to drive a rally car or not.”
Thierry Neuville and Josh McErlean completed the Rally1 runners in sixth and seventh place; Grégoire Munster, who’d already retired and restarted with an electrical issue on Friday, crashed out on the penultimate stage after understeering into a bank and damaging the front-left of his Ford Puma.
Yohan Rossel took an emotional victory in the WRC2 class, with his younger brother and team-mate Léo taking third place in the second Citroën C3 Rally2.
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Yohan Rossel had been favorite to win WRC2 and led by two minutes – but still felt the pressure to deliver on the final stage regardless
Despite a comfortable lead of over two minutes from second-placed Eric Camilli the elder Rossel still pushed hard on the powerstage, topping the times over the Turini by 13.5s. That led to a couple of moments where he understeered perilously close to rock faces and needed a grab of the handbrake to stay on course.
“For my family, too much emotion,” he said, struggling to hold back tears. “I think [about] at the start if it’s possible at the end, but in the stage it was completely crazy. Thanks to all my team because I don’t think it’s the driver that win this weekend, it’s the co-driver and the team strategy, the tire choice.”
Ogier leads the championship standings by six points from Evans, who was the fastest driver on Sunday to pick up five bonus points in addition to his four from the powerstage.
Fourmaux is the lead Hyundai in the standings after his podium finish, six points behind Evans, while Rovanperä has 18 points thanks to his strong Sunday showing putting him second-fastest on the final day behind team-mate Evans.
In a turnaround from the previous season, Hyundai struggled on Sunday: Neuville could only go fifth-fastest on the final day and failed to register on the powerstage, with his second-on-the-road position over the Turini compromising his speed. Tänak could only pick up a lone point on the powerstage to add to his fifth-place score.