The first stage of the afternoon, SS12 between Saint-Jeannet and Malijai, allowed young Finn Kalle Rovanperä to register his name, for the first time in his career, in the list of stage winners at Monte-Carlo Rally, just like Gus Greensmith on Friday. Kalle is Harri’s son, the winner of a single WRC rally (Sweden in 2001), just a few months after Kalle’s birth, in October 2000. Barely slower than the Toyota driver, Sébastien Loeb (2nd, at 2 tenths) managed to regain four tenths of a second from Sébastien Ogier (3rd), who retained the lead before the 13th special, the last of the day.

The second run through col de Fontbelle (SS13, 20 km) is promising and we shall know, around 4, which driver, between Ogier or Loeb, has made the best choice of tires: the youngest Seb, born 38 years ago in the Hautes-Alpes, will have a more daring mixed fit (soft tyres/snow tyres) than the slightly more cautious mixed fit (soft tyres/studded tyres) chosen by the oldest Seb, born 47 years ago near Haguenau, in Alsace…