WRC – Ogier extends lead on Saturday and closes on Tenth Rallye Monte-Carlo victory
2025 Rallye Monte-Carlo (spherical 1/14) – Saturday report
Sébastien Ogier is on the cusp of an unprecedented Tenth Rallye Monte-Carlo victory after one other flawless efficiency on Saturday, additional extending his lead on the iconic French Alps occasion.
The Frenchman, driving a GR Yaris Rally1 for Toyota GAZOO Racing, heads into Sunday’s ultimate leg with a commanding lead of 20.3sec, having delivered a measured and calculated drive via six difficult levels west of Hole. His and co-driver Vincent Landais’ efforts saved the chasing pack firmly at bay.
Regardless of milder temperatures providing respite from ice, Ogier needed to battle the hardest of the day’s circumstances.
His Tenth-place beginning place meant he confronted mud and unfastened stones left on the street by the vehicles forward, but the eight-time world champion used each ounce of his Monte-Carlo expertise to push on, extending his lead which stood at 12.6sec after Friday. Behind him, Adrien Fourmaux and Elfyn Evans continued their struggle for second place, whereas a fast-finishing Ott Tänak additionally staked his declare for a podium outcome.
Simply 4.3sec separated Evans and Fourmaux on the finish of the rally’s longest day, with the Welshman taking again management of second place after an exciting back-and-forth. Fourmaux, on what has been a surprising Hyundai WRC debut up to now, hit prime gear within the morning to grab second from Evans on SS11, however the Toyota driver fought again within the afternoon, edging forward as soon as extra.
Tänak got here alive within the afternoon after set-up tweaks unlocked extra pace from his Hyundai. He surged previous Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä on SS13, then set a blistering tempo on SS14 – successful the stage and beating Fourmaux by 13.3sec. One other highly effective run on the day’s finale left the Estonian solely 2.5sec adrift of his team-mate heading into Sunday.
Two-time WRC champion Rovanperä, who ended 27.9sec behind Tänak in fifth, felt that he couldn’t have carried out way more. His choice for quicker, flowing levels left him at a drawback on the day’s tighter, extra technical roads.
Greater than two minutes separated the Toyotas of Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari in sixth and seventh general, with each drivers relieved to have accomplished one other day with none main drama. The identical couldn’t be stated for Thierry Neuville, who languished eighth after an influence supply concern on SS10 price him round 50sec and stunted any hopes of a fightback after his Friday struggles.
For Grégoire Munster, the day was bittersweet. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver celebrated his first-ever quickest WRC stage time on Saturday’s opener, however after retiring with a technical fault on the ultimate liaison part again to service on Friday, he’s unable to problem his Rally1 rivals for an general place. With out the problems, Munster may have been within the combine for a top-five end.
Puma Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean made large strides, breaking into the highest 9 as he gained priceless mileage within the automotive. WRC2 Škoda Fabia RS Nikolay Gryazin was Tenth in a single day.
Rossel’s Rampage Continues in WRC2
In eleventh general, Yohan Rossel is on the right track to start out his 2025 WRC2 marketing campaign in emphatic model after additional extending his class lead on Saturday.
The French ace has been unstoppable up to now and maintained his good report of stage wins throughout all six of Saturday’s difficult alpine pace exams. That relentless tempo has seen him construct a powerful benefit of almost three minutes heading into Sunday’s decisive ultimate leg.
Much more exceptional is that Rossel leads a PH Sport Citroën C3 Rally2 1-2 in a single day. His youthful brother, Léo – making his WRC debut – delivered a standout efficiency by snatching second place from Eric Camilli’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the final stage of the day. The hole between them? A nail-biting half a second.
Jan Černý handed Roberto Daprà to say fourth, though the Tenerife-based Citroën driver stays over two minutes adrift of the rostrum. Daprà trails Černý by simply 6.3sec because the pair gear up for a tense battle via Sunday’s three-stage finale.
There was heartbreak for Filip Kohn, who appeared set to carry sixth earlier than dropping over eight minutes on the ultimate stage when his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 slid right into a ditch. That misstep allowed 19-year-old Pablo Sarrazin – one other WRC debutant – to inherit the place in his Citroën.
Léo Rossel’s stellar drive additionally noticed him lead the WRC2 Challenger class, which is open to rising stars but to say a WRC2 or WRC3 title in a Rally2 automotive or rating WRC producer factors. Maurizio Chiarini continued to dominate the WRC Masters Cup class for drivers aged 50 and over.
Sunday’s ultimate leg begins from Hole and contains three extra difficult levels because the rally journeys south to the end in Monaco.
