WRC – Masterful Ogier clinches tenth Rallye Monte-Carlo victory, Rossel claims WRC2 win
2025 Rallye Monte-Carlo – Sunday report
Sébastien Ogier etched his identify additional into the historical past books by claiming a record-extending tenth victory at Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening spherical of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship.
Driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, Ogier secured victory by a margin of 18.5sec over his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans after a nail-biting last day by way of the French Alps.
Sunday’s decisive last leg threatened to show the tide. Ogier and his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans opted to hold 4 studded Hankook tyres and solely two super-soft slicks – an strategy that proved efficient on the icy roads of Avançon – Notre-Dame du Laus however left them weak on the drier penultimate check at Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante. There, Adrien Fourmaux shone on a full-slick setup, outpacing each Toyotas by a 23.9sec and 17.8sec respectively and momentarily threatening to disrupt the rostrum order.
Fourmaux, making his Hyundai WRC debut after an low season swap from M-Sport Ford, had hoped for drier circumstances on the rally-ending Wolf Energy Stage to maximise his slick tyre benefit. As a substitute, the icy Col de Turini levelled the taking part in subject, leaving him on the identical mixed-tyre setup as Ogier and Evans.
Ogier capitalised with one other stage win, whereas Evans held off Fourmaux’s late cost by simply 7.5sec regardless of a heart-stopping brush with a rock face.
“What a weekend,” mirrored Ogier, whose first triumph right here got here throughout Rallye Monte-Carlo’s IRC days in 2009.
“I do not know the place to start out, what a weekend. I feel I’ve had my fortunate star with me this weekend – my uncle, who we misplaced one 12 months in the past. I’m certain he was bringing me every thing and this one is for him. I don’t know whether it is my final [Rallye Monte-Carlo] now. It will be place to cease.”
The drama prolonged far past the rostrum battle, as Sunday’s treacherous circumstances wreaked havoc additional down the sector. Toyota’s Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta each slid off the highway on SS17, whereas Grégoire Munster’s M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 met an analogous destiny on the very subsequent stage.
Behind Evans, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak ceded fourth place to Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä on the ultimate day as a result of his personal tyre misjudgement. The pair completed simply 4.7sec aside, with each drivers now desirous to bounce again on subsequent month’s Rally Sweden as earlier winners of the snow-and-ice fixture.
Defending champion Thierry Neuville salvaged sixth place after a tumultuous occasion. A mixture of damaged suspension from an early crash, a deflated tyre and an unexplained electrical situation value him over 5 minutes, thwarting his hopes of defending final 12 months’s win.
M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean impressed with a strong seventh-place end on his Rally1 debut.
Rossel Reigns Supreme in WRC2
Yohan Rossel’s 2025 WRC2 title aspirations got an early increase as he wrapped up an emphatic victory within the class on Sunday.
A 12 months in the past, the Citroën C3 Rally2 driver edged out Pepe López by simply 4.0sec in a nail-biting end. This time, nevertheless, Rossel was in a category of his personal – cruising to victory with a staggering two-minute margin over his nearest rival.
Partnered with co-driver Arnaud Dunand, Rossel gained a powerful 15 of the occasion’s 17 phases and main the sector from begin to end. His flawless drive secured a PH Sport one-three end, with youthful brother Léo Rossel topping the WRC2 Challenger class and Eric Camilli slotting between them in second.
Behind the rostrum contenders, Jan Černy and Roberto Daprà thrilled followers with a fierce duel for fourth. Černy, piloting a Citroën, carried a slim 7.3sec benefit into the ultimate day and stretched it to 26.9sec over Škoda Fabia RS driver Daprà by the end.
Making a powerful WRC2 debut, Pablo Sarrazin claimed sixth, with Charles Munster, Maxime Potty, Sarah Rumeau and Filip Kohn rounding out the highest ten. In the meantime, within the WRC Masters Cup, Maurizio Chiarini emerged victorious.
Spherical two of the WRC takes place on the snow and ice of Sweden. The collection’ solely pure winter fixture relies in Umeå from 13 – 16 February.
