A venerable Renault R12 Gordini from 1972 made experience speak in the Burzet, Sunday, during a SR5 (30,297 km). A safety average had been imposed by the organizers, due to the very slippery conditions in this monument of the “Monte “. At the top of the timesheets, with as many penalty points as the R12 of Italy’s Massimo Canella and Vittorio Berzero, two other cars made their mark: the Peugeot 104 ZS of François Abrial and Michel Perin, as well as the Lancia Fulvia Coupé 1.3S of Switzerland’s Claudio Enz and Cristina Seeberger, who were already very efficient on Saturday. It was a beautiful stage in authentic winter conditions, as it often happens on the roads of Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique.

A famous chef started Sunday by winning SR4: Michel Chabran, entered with his elder son, Jules Chabran, in a 1979 BMW 323i. This happened between Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut and Saint-Andéol-de-Vals, on a very long stage (39.979km). Michel Chabran had already won one stage of E-Rally Monte-Carlo, the electric version of the “Monte”. In this stage, he also had the satisfaction of beating three Porsches fair and square, including that of last year’s winners, Belgians Philippe and Antoine Cornet de Ways Ruart, as well as a… Zastava 1100 dating back to 1979 also, entered by a Polish couple, Stanislaw and Anna Postawka. It was just the start of a busy Day 1 of the Common Leg, with three more SRs scheduled to follow.

La Remise remains an essential stop during a Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. Meeting again with the Jouanny family, especially Yves and Yvette, is always a moment of shared happiness for all rally enthusiasts. This year, for the 25^th edition, almost 260 crews observed a gourmet stopover in Antraigues-sur-Volane, in the heart of Ardèche, for a delicious mix of apple pie and lively discussions with Yves, more than ever the master of the place.

Early Sunday, the Peugeot 104 ZS driven by Carlos Tavares, the CEO of the Stellantis group and an authentic petrolhead, broke down in the first stage, Le Moulinon/Antraigues (SR4). The front right transmission seemed out of order and it looked like game over, before the ritual stop planned at “La Remise”, the famous restaurant of the Jouanny family. However, a man living next to the stage had the same model in his garage, in very good condition. He provided the spare parts needed for an urgent fix and the white 104 started again, in SR5. The next goal on the agenda was to get safely back to Valence on Sunday night.

The Austin Mini Cooper S driven by Giorgio Schon and navigated by Francesco Giammarino, one of the Torino entries, won the laurels in SR2 (15.44km) between Chaudon-Norante and Digne-les-Bains, on Saturday morning, before a short break on Place du Tampinet, in the heart of the Prefecture of Alpes de Haute-Provence. There were a few patches of black ice in SR1, but in famous Col du Corobin, very rarely used in winter, there was quite a lot of snow, especially in the descent to Digne; So that all crews had to watch out, and only one made a spectacular mistake. At the end of this stage, on equal penalty points with the Italian Mini, there were two Italian cars at the top of the results sheet: the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI 1600 entered by the Chiesa couple, Giovanni and Tiziana, already very well placed at the end of SR1, and a Lancia from Switzerland, the 1970 Fulvia Coupé 1.3S with Claudio Enz and Cristina Seeberger on board.

Credit where honor is due, the 2022 winners of Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique were the best in the first Regularity Special (SR) of this 2023 edition, Saturday morning between Briançonnet and Ubraye (18.27 km). A stage used last week in WRC, but in reverse. There were 271 competitors classified at the end of SR1, but the leading duet was made up of Philippe and Antoine Cornet de Ways Ruart, in the same 1965 Porsche 911 that they drove to win the rally in February 2022. Behind the Belgian tandem, the closer rivals were another Porsche 911, coming from Germany and more recent (1982), a 1978 Opel Kadett GTE coming from Great Britain, and two Italian crews entered in a 1975 Lancia Stratos and a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia. Very promising…

A first stage has been completed! For the 272 competitors who arrived in the Principality on Friday evening, their faces showed the level of difficulty for the Concentration Leg. Five of them saw their participation come to a premature end. Some of them left on Tuesday morning from Oslo and the journey to Monaco was a good start before the first regularity stages which will start tomorrow.

He did it, without shaking, by managing perfectly, until the end, the 91st Rally Monte-Carlo: Sébastien Ogier, 39, won his 9th Rally Monte-Carlo since 2009, on Sunday in the Principality, taking half of the stage wins (9 out of 18) and leading from start to finish. This had only happened four times in the 21st century, so the Frenchman was entitled to call this a “perfect weekend”, without any arrogance.

On the list of faultless performances in Monaco, by leaders of a “Monte” from start to finish, Ogier (2018, 2023) equalizes with Loeb (2005, 2007). The only other member of this very select club is Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen (2010, with Ford). So this is an extremely rare performance, once more, that the driver from the Hautes-Alpes, now a luxury freelancer in the WRC, has just completed.

This is the 56th victory in WRC for the 8-time World Champion (vs 80 for the other Seb, Loeb) but it is the very first for his new co-driver Vincent Landais, in only their second joint outing in competition (4th in Japan at the end of 2022).

“It’s never easy here and Kalle (Rovanperä) was only 16 seconds behind me this morning, after taking big chances on Saturday,” Ogier also said. In this opening round of the 2023 season, Ogier faced the reigning World Champion, on equal terms, in the same type of car. There was a game but the Frenchman did not yield anything. He first created a gap on Friday, then he managed it on Saturday and Sunday, trying to avoid a puncture like the one that cost him victory in 2022, in the last stage, at the end of his memorable duel with Loeb. The method reminded us of his recent era of unchallenged domination of the WRC, crowned by eight world titles: from 2013 to 2016 at Volkswagen, in 2017 and 2018 at M-Sport Ford, in 2020 and 2021 at Toyota.

This record 9th win, in a completely dry Monte-Carlo, at the wheel of a dominating Yaris, launched the WRC season perfectly. And the final podium reflects the situation, with a 1-2 for Toyota Gazoo Racing and a deserved podium for Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Motorsport). This is also the first podium for Cyril Abiteboul (ex-Renault F1) as a team manager of the South Korean team, starting a year which will inevitably be marked by a new duel between Toyota Gazoo Racing and Hyundai Motorsport. Behind Elfyn Evans (4th), the last big fight of the weekend pitted another Toyota driver, Takamoto Katsuta, against an M-Sport Ford driver, Estonian Ott Tänak. The 2019 World Champion (at Toyota) won the day, by a minute, although there was only a tenth of a second between the two drivers at the start of SS18. A suspension issue wasted all the progress of the Japanese since the start and gave Tänak a reason to look forward to Rally Sweden in February. In the world championship standings, Ogier the freelancer is in the lead, just two points ahead of Rovanperä who took five Power Stage points for the 12th time in WRC. The young Finn will start Rally Sweden as favorite, since Ogier will be at home with his family. As for the 2024 edition of Rally Monte-Carlo, it may have a certain Seb Ogier on the entry list. “To make it a round figure”, Ogier smiled on Sunday, in Monaco.