Sébastien Ogier, in his Gazoo Racing Toyota Yaris, led from the start of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo on Thursday evening, setting two fastest times from the outset. He then recuperated the lead at the end of SS8, on Friday, and kept it till the end. Sunday’s win is his 10th in Monte-Carlo, the new absolute record, nine of them in the WRC (and one in the IRC, in 2009). This is also his 62nd victory in the World Rally Championship, including eight since he became a luxury freelancer in 2021, with Vincent Landais as his new co-driver. And he added a little extra panache by winning the final Power Stage, on Sunday, by just two-tenths of a second. A fantastic champion.

‘What a weekend! We had so many moments. I think my lucky star followed me all the way to the end. It’s the star of my uncle, who died last year. This victory is for him,’ said an exhausted and emotional Ogier on the finish line of the Power Stage. It was his 46th win in a Power Stage and his 106th podium in the WRC since his very first, in 2009 at the Acropolis Rally, in Greece.

Ogier at the top

Ogier, an eight-time world champion, has won many rallies for Citroën, Volkswagen and Toyota. He also drove for Skoda in WRC2, while waiting for VW to enter the WRC. On every continent, he has demonstrated his versatility, racing intelligence, speed and lucidity. He is the all-time record holder for Monte Carlo wins, which is only logical, after all.

To maintain his status as the absolute benchmark in the world’s most prestigious rally, Ogier had to battle for four days against three other World Champions, Thierry Neuville (2024) and Ott Tänak (2019) for Hyundai, as well as Kalle Rovanperä (2022, 2023) for Toyota. It was the strongest line-up in the Principality for nearly twenty years. With the added bonus of two very tough drivers, Elfyn Evans (Toyota), four times runner-up in the World Championship in the past five years, and Adrien Fourmaux, recruited this winter by Hyundai Motorsport, after five podiums last year for M-Sport Ford. Adrien kept up the suspense right up to the start of the final stage.

Thanks to his experience, and even though it was ‘complicated’ from start to finish, as he often stressed this weekend, Ogier held out until this 18th special stage. He had four studded tyres and two super-soft, just like his team-mate Evans, and it all came down to the last downhill portion, after Col de Turini, when the Welshman made a minimal mistake and lost just a few tenths. But the overall win was already decided, as Ogier had perfectly managed his 18.2 second lead, at the start of SS18, throughout the last 17.9 km of this opening event of 2025.

The great lottery of road conditions and tyre choices

In the great lottery of weather and road conditions, which are always very changeable on a Monte Carlo, Fourmaux tried everything he could, but he could not take the first win of his WRC career, after five podium finishes with M-Sport Ford last year. But that’s all in the balance, as he took another podium finish, his 6th in the WRC, and will take consolation in the title of revelation of this 2025 edition, having made very few mistakes in some really tricky conditions.

The final Power Stage (SS18) enabled Ogier to pick up a further 5 bonus points to take the lead of the World Championship for now, and the classification for Sunday’s Super Sunday (also with 5 bonus points) was won by Evans to complete the Japanese marque’s double. This is only the third 1-2 for the Japanese brand in the Principality, after Ogier-Evans in 2021 and Ogier-Rovanperä in 2023.

French grand slam in all classes!

In addition to Ogier and Fourmaux, the colours of French rallying were also brilliantly defended by another handful of talented drivers: Yohan Rossel (Citroën), the 2021 WRC3 champion, won the WRC2 category for the third time in Monte-Carlo, in his PH Sport Citroën C3, ahead of Eric Camilli (Hyundai) and Léo Rossel (C3), his younger brother. As for Sarah Rumeau, competing in WRC2 in another C3, with the support of the French Federation of Motorsport (FFSA), she finished a very respectable 19th overall, out of 68 starters.

Arthur Pelamourgues, in a Renault Clio, won the WRC3 category. Last, but not least, 17-year-old Eliott Delecour, the son of François (winner in 1994), finished in the top half of the table at the wheel of a small Opel Corsa entered in the Rally4 category, with two-wheel drive, having beaten several drivers far more experienced than him, at the wheel of much more powerful cars. From Fourmaux to Delecour, via the Rossel brothers and Sarah Rumeau, the next generation of French rally drivers is ready.

It was also, once again, a memorable event for the organizers at Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM): only one special stage was cancelled (SS5), for safety reasons, and the event was a huge success with the public in all the cities, towns and villages where fans watched the action. This was thanks to the patience and dedication of dozens of ACM volunteers from all professions. Most of them won’t have time to rest, as the 2025 edition of the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique gets underway next Wednesday!

SS18 Results

🌟2025 WINNERS 🌟#RallyeMonteCarlo #WRC pic.twitter.com/FxQWZKwow2

— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) January 26, 2025