- Ivan Watson
- Feb 5, 2025
- 12 min read
FIA World Rally Championship - Mixed conditions creates epic showdown in Monte-Carlo
French drivers dominate on tarmac as Sébastien Ogier wins his record tenth Monte-Carlo rally after competitors falter in icy conditions and Yohan Rossel cruises to WRC2 victory.
DAY 1 - THURSDAY
A new season sees familiar faces take on unfamiliar machinery, with the rally starting under the stars at the famous Monte-Carlo rally on Thursday night. In Rally2, many of this season's favourites to win the championship opted not to score points for the WRC2 category, but instead use Monte as a testing ground for their new cars and teams. Most notably strong favourite Oliver Solberg, who is trying to follow the footsteps of rival Sami Pajari who earned himself a seat in a Toyota Yaris Rally1 after narrowly beating the former to the WRC2 championship last season, is now in a Toyota Yaris Rally2 after moving away from Skoda. In Rally1 the big news saw Adrien Fourmaux opting to leave M-Sport at the end of last season, where he has spent his entire career since 2019, to move to Hyundai hoping he could turn his podium finishes into wins.
Ogier looked likely to end the day in control of the rally after winning SS1 and SS2 before having a big moment in SS3 sliding off the road with the back end of his Toyota Yaris Rally1 catching a fence post. Luckily for him, he would not suffer any substantial damage and would make it to the end with just lost time and a bruised ego. The day would end with reigning champion Thierry Neuville in first, the perfect start to the new season for him.
Solberg’s new era at Toyota couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start after he had to stop just four minutes into SS1 after suffering a puncture. Fortunately it would have no effect on his championship after opting not to score points at this round. Otherwise, Rally2 was rather uneventful with no one taking major risks on the first night and Rossel claiming stage wins in all three stages in the WRC2 category ending the day just +7.2s shy of last years teammate Nikolay Gryazin in Rally2, who like Solberg opted not to score points. Gryazin switched from Citroën back to Skoda for 2025. SS3 was however red flagged after Rossel’s pass due to unsafe spectators meaning that many Rally2 drivers would get nominal times.
DAY 2 - FRIDAY
Friday morning started with temperatures near freezing in icy conditions, with drivers opting for studded tyres for maximum grip. M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster looked set to claim his very first stage win with an impressive run but would unfortunately be pipped by Rovanperä by +1.4s. Solberg would impressively finish the stage fourth overall beating several Rally1 cars and almost ten seconds faster than the next Rally2 car. Rossel would continue his sweep of WRC2 stage wins, beating fellow Frenchman Eric Camilli by +1.7s.
The drivers would then head to La Breole for SS6, as SS5 would be cancelled entirely due to unsafe spectators once again. The final morning stage would dramatically shake things up, with reigning champion Neuville misjudging an icy corner sliding off into a ditch which would break his rear left suspension. He would eventually make it to the end of the stage, however with only three functioning wheels, therefore losing a heap of time. Ogier’s luck would continue as he too would slide off hitting a bank but once again would get away rather unscathed, which would not be the case for teammate Sami Pajari who hit the same bank but punctured his tyre. Hyundai’s bad fortune would continue when Ott Tänak misjudged a fast left hander, going off into a ditch as well as hitting the rear of his car on a telephone pole. The Estonian would keep his foot pinned and miraculously manage to make it to the end of the stage with his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 missing its entire rear right quarter panel and boot. The good news for Hyundai was that this was the last stage of the morning loop, and as both cars would make it back to service, their mechanics would be able to work on the cars. They would successfully get both ready for the afternoon stages. More good news for Hyundai is that their new signing Fourmaux would claim his first stage win for the team, beating former teammate Munster by +4.2s.
The icy conditions continued to catch drivers out in SS7 and SS8, with Evans winning the former and Toyota teammate Ogier winning the latter, after Evans got caught out on an icy corner going into a half-spin. After an impressive morning finishing second in two stages, Munster would unfortunately receive a puncture in SS8 losing around thirty seconds. In WRC2 Rossel continued to dominate, winning SS7 and SS8 and winning the former overall in the Rally2 category. As the sun began to set, the question would be; who would be leading the rally going into the weekend?
Once again the icy conditions came into play, as Neuville would not learn his lesson from the first pass in SS6, locking up and going off in an identical fashion as he did earlier. Luckily he would not damage the car this time, however would claim at stage end that the accident was caused by a puncture and that it was the reason for him going off and finishing over two minutes off the lead time. Ogier claimed another stage win, beating Fourmaux and teammate Evans. Solberg would claim his fourth Rally2 stage win with Rossel finishing just +4.1s behind, making it a clean sweep of WRC2 stage wins on both Thursday and Friday.
Ogier would go into the weekend in the lead by +12.6s over teammate Evans, with Fourmaux leading the charge for Hyundai +14.2s behind the lead. Munster’s impressive showing saw him in fourth before unfortunately dropping down to sixth after his puncture in SS8 but his bad luck would continue when an electrical gremlin on the road section going back to service would make him unable to reach the service park and therefore M-Sport would have to retire the car. Rossel led the Rally2 category over Gryazin by +21s but most importantly would lead WRC2 by over two minutes, with Camilli in second and his younger brother Leo Rossel in third.
DAY 3 - SATURDAY
Saturday saw the return of Grégoire Munster in his Ford Puma Rally1 after M-Sport managed to solve the issue overnight and opted to super rally the car in order to give Munster valuable seat time. Munster returned the favour straightaway in extraordinary style by claiming his first ever WRC stage win in SS10 by +0.8s. Bad luck would continue for Neuville, as a technical issue caused him to stop and reset the car mid-stage, losing around fifty seconds. The rest of Saturday would run without any major drama. Tänak won SS11, 13, 14 and 15 getting himself back up in contention for a podium place, ending the day just +2.5s off Fourmaux. A great recovery considering he ended Friday morning missing the majority of his car. Fourmaux and Evans would jostle for second position throughout the day with Evans ending the day just 4.3 seconds ahead of the Frenchman but a further +20.3 seconds off teammate Ogier, who would remain in control of the rally. Rovanperä would continue to struggle for consistent pace, ending the day +27.9s off Tänak and a whopping fifty-five seconds off teammate and rally leader Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari would continue their fairly quiet rally with Taka winning SS12 but ending the day almost two minutes off the lead in sixth and Pajari a further two minutes and twenty-six seconds adrift down in seventh. Reigning champion, Neuville’s torrid rally would continue after going wide in SS14 damaging the rear right rim of his Hyundai. He would however finish the day still two minutes ahead of struggling newcomer Josh McErlean. The new M-Sport driver, who made the switch from Rally2 after being backed by Motorsport Ireland, would struggle to finish most stages ahead of the top Rally2 drivers but did well to keep the car on the road and avoid any incidents in icy conditions.
In Rally2 the story was the same; no major drama. Rossel would continue his clean sweep of WRC2 stage wins with two of them being overall Rally2 stage wins. He would end the day almost three minutes ahead of brother Leo Rossel who would go into the final day just 0.5s ahead of Camilli, after sliding wide and losing his rear wing in SS11. Outside of WRC2, apart from going wide and up a bank on SS11 losing the front right section of his front bumper, Nikolay Gryazin showed excellent form on Saturday, winning SS14 and 15 and ending the day as the lead Rally2 car by +4.8s over Rossel.
DAY 4 - SUNDAY
SS16 started in dark and icy conditions, which was bound to catch drivers out - and it did! The first to fall victim was Takamoto Katsuta in his Toyota, who was caught out by a patch of black ice and slid off the road into the bushes where he got his car stuck, therefore having to retire from the rally. Youngster Sami Pajari would pass the stricken Katsuta but would shortly have an accident of his own, hitting a patch of black ice going onto a bridge would be catastrophic for Pajari as he would plow into the bridge's railing and over the edge. Luckily the drop wasn’t far, but his Toyota would be badly damaged and truly unrecoverable. The rest of the drivers would take it slow and steady to make it to the end in one piece, with Ogier taking the stage win. In Rally2 there were no real dramas. Gryazin suffered a puncture and Frenchman Eric Camilli put in an incredible time to get the Rally2 stage win, meaning for the first time we would have someone else other than Rossel getting the WRC2 stage win.
SS17 would be a similar story. After a delayed start, drivers got underway in the treacherous conditions, with lots of black ice making it almost impossible for drivers to push to the maximum. Eventually one driver would be caught out by the black ice, M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster, who hit a patch mid corner causing the car to understeer into the mountain side, which would cause terminal damage and put an end to his rally for a second time this weekend. Fourmaux won the stage overall, with Solberg being the lead Rally2 with a time even faster than some Rally1 cars. Leo Rossel won in WRC2, keeping his podium and even a Citroën and Rossel 1-2 alive going into the final stage.
The power stage was set to be a nailbiter on the famous Col du Turini, with a dry clear road on the way up the mountain but a shady cold section with ice and snow on the other side before becoming dry again for the last few kilometres. There was lots of variation in tyre choices; from all studs or all snow, to cross pattern (supersoft and studded). The top six Rally2 drivers would be the first to go as the rest would watch eagerly to see how different tyres would perform.
Rossel, with his huge gap, only needed to make it to the end of the stage to be crowned Monte-Carlo winner, but that would be easier said than done. Leo Rossel was the first WRC2 car to go, after the runs of Rally2 cars of Gryazin and Solberg who both had very mixed runs with timing splits being all over due to the different conditions and tyre choices. Leo Rossel needed to finish the stage 7.7 seconds faster than Camilli to claim second position. Leo obliterated the times of Gryazin and Solberg, setting the benchmark in WRC2. Camilli started his run on the dry section being around five seconds down, giving hope to L. Rossel. However, by the split after the ice and snow he miraculously brought the split time down to just over two seconds, eventually crossing the line only +1.3s down on Leo Rossel’s time, claiming provisional first and a minimum of second. Yohan Rossel started his run well, with his splits faster than the two before him. However, throughout the stage he would have many scary moments where he would almost lose the car. All he had to do was finish the stage to win but Rossel, in a Colin McRaeesque fashion, pushed all the way to the end, crossing the line an incredible 13.3 seconds faster than his brother, claiming victory in WRC2. An emotional Rossel was interviewed at the finish after hugging his brother saying:
“For my family, too much emotion I think. Before the start I think if it is possible at the end, but during the stage it was completely crazy. Thanks to all my team, it is not the driver that wins this weekend, it is the co-driver, the team, the strategy and the tyre choice.”
Now it was time for the Rally1’s, with McErlean kicking it off with four snow tyres, as others would watch to see how they would perform. Neuville would leave shortly after on four studded tyres, which would lead Fourmaux making a last minute change replacing his front right, at the time unknown what he changed it from and to. Neuville finished the stage just under fifteen seconds ahead of Rossel who had a cross-pattern on his Rally2 Citroën, leading drivers to believe that was the way to go. Rovanperä came out the blocks blisteringly fast with a cross-pattern of supersofts and studs. However, the important section would be how he would perform on the ice and snow. Tänak needed a miracle to get a podium, starting the stage +23.3s behind new teammate Fourmaux. Therefore he took the gamble on a cross-pattern of snow tyres and studded tyres. He was down to Rovanperä by over ten seconds after the first section but would claw back a bunch a time on the ice and snow but would eventually fall short, finishing almost eight seconds slower. This would give hope to Fourmaux, who was looking to claim a podium on his Hyundai debut beating all of his teammates. Fourmaux’s tyre scans did not come through properly but it is believed he was on a cross-pattern of and studded tyres. Starting the stage only four seconds behind the Toyota of Evans, Fourmaux would need to push to try to get second but also required to be cautious and get to the end to claim his podium. Again, the cross-pattern worked wonders on the dry section putting Fourmaux as the fastest man after the first two splits. The ice, beginning to melt slightly in some areas due to cars driving over it, proved difficult for Fourmaux to navigate. He finished the stage in the fastest time, putting himself in provisional first and securing his first podium with Hyundai on his debut. Evans (also on a cross-pattern) started out strong just like Fourmaux, although slower which would give hope to the Frenchman. However, after the section with the ice and snow, Evans crossed the final split four seconds faster! Not all would be over however, as the Welshman would be caught out by a patch of black ice only a few kilometres from the end sending his car understeering towards the cliff side. He pulled off an amazing save only clipping the mountainside before blasting to the finish, 3.5 seconds faster than Fourmaux, where he would state:
“I wasn't expecting that ice there at the end, we clipped the bank. We got through. Looks like it's alright, but it wasn't looking so good about 1km back there.”
It was now time for the maestro, the legend, the GOAT. Ogier had a healthy lead of 18.2 seconds, but as any legendary rally driver would, he would push like hell to get the power stage win. He had a fairly clean stage, with split times consistently slightly down on teammate Evans but he would not give up and eventually crossed the finish in dramatic fashion just 0.3 seconds faster than Evans.
Ogier had done it! Not only won the power stage but the entire rally. Now becoming a ten-time winner of Monte-Carlo, further eclipsing the eight of all-time great Sébastien Loeb. Ogier gave an emotional interview saying:
"I don't know where to start, what a weekend. I think I have my lucky star with me this weekend. It was my uncle, who we lost one year ago. I am sure he was bringing me everything and this one is for him. Quite a few moments this weekend... like I said, my lucky star is there. I don't know what it means, but for me the world. I have no idea if it is my last one now. It would be a good place to stop."
Rally Monte-Carlo reminded us that the French are the kings of tarmac, with a full French WRC2 podium including two Citroën’s and two Frenchmen on the overall podium in Fourmaux and Ogier. While Ogier took a demanding victory in Monte-Carlo, would this be the end of Ogier’s WRC career, or would he be back for another event before the end of the season?
FINAL RESULTS:
#17, Ogier - Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 - 3:19:06.1
#33, Evans - Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 - 3:19:24.6, +18.5
#16, Fourmaux - Hyundai i20 N Rally1 - 3:19:32.1, +26.0
#69, Rovanperä - Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 - 3:20:00.4, +54.3
#8, Tänak - Hyundai i20 N Rally1 - 3:20:05.1, +59.0
#1, Neuville - Hyundai i20 N Rally1 - 3:24:50.3, +5:44.2
#55, McErlean - Ford Puma Rally1 - 3:29:21.2, +10:15.1
#22, Rossel - Citroën C3 Rally2 - 3:29:32.9, +10:26.8
#21, Gryazin - Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 - 3:30:46.8, +11:40.7
#31, Camilli - Hyundai i20 N Rally2 - 3:32:20.7, +13:14.6
#34, Rossel - Citroën C3 Rally2 - 3:32:26.8, +13:20.7
#23, Greensmith - Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 - 3:32:27.8, +13:21.7
#37, Černý - Citroën C3 Rally2 - 3:36:06.9, +17:00.8
#24, Daprà - Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 - 3:36:33.8, +17:27.7
#20, Solberg - Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 - 3:38:33.7, +19:27.6
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