Ott Tänak (Hyundai) got the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo off to a good start by setting the absolute fastest time (2’09″8) in the shakedown on Wednesday evening in the hills above Gap. The 2019 world champion gave a first idea of what this 2025 edition could be: a sumptuous and fierce battle between four World Champions, from Thursday to Sunday, over 18 special stages and more than 300 km of timed sections.

Even if the results of this last practice session before Thursday’s big start in Monaco cannot be considered significant, they will provide food for thought ahead of the start of the first special stage in Digne-les-Bains on Thursday evening. Tänak set the fastest time on his first run, at an ambient temperature of 5°C, before the sun disappeared for good, making it more difficult to improve performance. He was just under a second quicker than Toyota’s two former World Champions, Kalle Rovanperä and Sébastien Ogier, who tied for 2ndplace with a time of 2’10″6. The Estonian had already won the shakedown last year. But he has never yet won in the Principality.

Neuville very close…

Another big favourite, Belgian Thierry Neuville, the reigning World Champion, had to be content with a time of 2’10″9 on his 2nd run (5th), one tenth only behind another Toyota driver, Welshman Elfyn Evans (4th). Nothing to worry about, then. By way of comparison, this time last year, Tänak set a time of 2’00″4 on this 3.28 km section. Since then, the cars in the Rally1 category have lost their hybrid system and thus a few dozen horsepower. Their drivers also have to adapt to the new South Korean Hankook tires, which have replaced the Pirelli tires of recent years.

On the honour roll of this full-scale test session, third Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux, just transferred from Ford M-Sport, was ahead of Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta, at the wheel of Gazoo Racing’s 4th works Toyota. For Malcolm Wilson’s British team, the best time was set by Irish newcomer Josh McErlean, 25, ahead of Grégoire Munster, who is starting his 2nd full season in a Rally1 car. The lowest Rally1 position was taken by Sami Pajari, the reigning WRC2 champion, at the wheel of the 5th works Toyota entered in this 93rd edition.

Solberg fastest in WRC2

The WRC2 will also be hotly contested this year between Gap and Monaco, with 24 crews entered. In this shakedown, Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris Rally2), son of 2003 world champion Petter, was the fastest (2’17″3). Having switched from Skoda to Toyota during the off-season, the Swede was ahead of Nikolay Gryazin and Gus Greensmith, in Skoda Fabias. On the French side, Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3) beat Eric Camilli (Hyundai i20N) and Léo Rossel (Citroën C3), while Matthieu Margaillan (Skoda Fabia) went off the road.

From Thursday evening, things get serious, with three special stages starting at 6 pm in the Alpes de Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes. This will happen after the official start, on the Place du Casino in Monte-Carlo, to be followed live from 2 pm on the Automobile Club de Monaco Facebook and YouTube pages.

🏁 SHAKEDOWN 🏁

Ott Tänak réalise le meilleur temps du Shakedown !
Kalle Rovanperä et Sébastien Ogier terminent juste derrière avec le même chrono ⏱️

—

Ott Tänak sets the fastest time of the Shakedown!
Kalle Rovanperä and Sébastien Ogier finished just behind with the same… pic.twitter.com/bRUJmQBL45

— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) January 22, 2025