Peter Lyon
January 26, 2025
The 8-time world champion, Sebastien Ogier of Toyota Gazoo Racing, maintained composure to capture a record-tying 10th Monte Carlo victory in the World Rally Championship season opener.
In a final stage showdown, Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais maintained dominance to defeat Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans by an impressive 18.4 seconds. Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai’s recent acquisition, finished on the final podium [+25.9s].
The rally was dominated by Gazoo’s Ogier, although there were a few exciting moments as the WRC circus introduced non-hybrid Rally1 cars and an unspecified number of new control tires from Hankook.
If Ogier hadn’t wasted time flirting with a ditch, he would have been in the lead at the end of Thursday night. On Friday, however the Frenchman recovered to take the lead on stage eight. On Saturday, Ogier managed to increase his lead to 20.3s while surviving yet another wild incident.
Due to a combination of tyre calls and fluctuating weather, the season’s first round was a final-day sprint. Fourmaux gambled with four slicks and two snow tires, while Ogier and Evans took four snow tyres and two slicks due to reports of snow on the last Col du Turini stage.
Ogier Captures All-Imporant Power Stage
In the penultimate stage, Fourmaux managed to pull himself up to third place, suggesting that the gamble initially paid off. As the situation shifted minute by minute, it finally came down to a final stage shootout.
Despite scraping a bank with the back of his GR Yaris, Evans responded to Fourmaux’s run by beating the Hyundai driver by 3.5 seconds to hold onto second place. But the two were unable to prevent ‘Monte Master’ Ogier from winning, capturing the Power Stage by 0.3 seconds over Evans to earn the five extra Super Sunday points.
Making his full-time comeback to the WRC, Kalle Rovanpera acknowledged that he needed to modify his driving style since he had a hard time getting used to Hankook’s incredibly soft tires. He spent most of the race stuck in fifth place, but a wise tyre selection for the last stage allowed him to pass Hyundai’s Ott Tanak and into fourth place [+54.3s].
After dominating Saturday’s afternoon stages, Tanak put himself in the running for victory, but was forced to settle for fifth place [+58.9s].
Thierry Neuville, the reigning world champion, had a rough start to his championship defence, ending an exciting rally in sixth place [+5m44.2s].
After Ogier’s mistake on Thursday night, the Hyundai driver maintained a two-second lead; nevertheless, his rally started to fall apart on stage six when he miscalculated his braking into a tight right hairpin. His i20 N’s left rear suspension was damaged after an excursion into a ditch. After dragging his wheel behind him through the stage and for a brief period on a road segment, the Belgian was fined €10,000 but was able to resume duty.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
From the get-go, it seems as though Toyota is going to be the team to beat again this year, especially after they pulled off a victory coming from behind at the final rally in Japan last year. The only question is whether the Toyota Gazoo cars and drivers this year are as good on snow and dirt tracks as they are on tarmac.
