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The penultimate day of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo ended with another fastest time from Ott Tänak (Hyundai), his fourth in the six stages contested on Saturday. Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), still the leader, now has a lead of just 20.3 seconds over team-mate Elfyn Evans, back in 2nd place overall ahead of the final three stages scheduled for Sunday morning, on the way back to Monaco. Suspense guaranteed, because the final podium will be coveted by four drivers, including two World Champions, and there will only be three places available at the top of the Col de Turini.
‘I found it a bit difficult to enjoy the stage,’ said Ogier, who was a little tired after limiting the damage once again in the face of an unleashed Tänak. The Estonian completed this ultra-fast special stage at an average speed of 100 kph, driving at 190 kph on a plateau very popular with fans, between La Bâtie-des-Fonts and Aspremont (17.85 km).
Once again on Saturday, Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) had to give up 2nd place to Evans, but nothing is lost for Sunday. The biggest risk for the rally’s top three, after 15 out of 18 stages, is that Tänak will be as ‘hot’ on Sunday morning as he was all day on Saturday: ‘I’ve found some new settings and I’m starting to get used to the new tyres, and they’re working pretty well,’ said the Estonian, who was crowned champion in 2019, but has never yet won in Monaco.
‘The conditions are really complicated and I had a bit more trouble with the feeling this afternoon, but that’s fine. It’s my first weekend in the car in the WRC, so it’s really positive,’ admitted Fourmaux before returning to Gap. One thing is already certain: he has negotiated very well his first outing in a works Hyundai, until now. All that remains is for him to score some big points in the championship, especially as the Korean team leader, Neuville, is having a tough weekend.
Everything to play for on Sunday
Tänak is capable of catching Ogier on Sunday, as he is only 27.1 seconds behind the eight-time world champion, but the Frenchman remains confident: ‘It’s better to be 20 seconds ahead (of Evans) than behind, before the final day, but there are still some tricky stages to negotiate’, he stressed, before setting off again for Gap, his home town. The top four in the overall standings are grouped together in 27 seconds, and behind them it’s a different story: the three other Toyota drivers, Kalle Rovanperä (4th at 55 seconds), Takamoto Katsuta (5th at 1 minute 43) and Sami Pajari (6th at over 4 minutes), don’t have much left to hope for, apart from the bonus points on Sunday.
That’s exactly what Thierry Neuville, the winner last year and 2024 World Champion, is aiming for: ‘We’ve made a few more adjustments. We’re moving in a better direction. Will that be enough for tomorrow? I don’t know, we’ll see what the conditions are like tomorrow. If the conditions are complicated, that could be an advantage or a disadvantage for us. The aim is to take a few points tomorrow and then turn the page on this weekend, because there will be more interesting weekends for us.’
Most of the competitors fitted headlamp ramps to the front bonnet of their cars before the start of SS15. They will need them again on Sunday morning, as the first stage is scheduled shortly after 6.30am, between Avançon and Notre-Dame-du-Laus (13.97km). It’s a stage that was already covered on the opening night on Thursday, but in very different conditions. We look forward to Sunday!
The 14th special stage of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo, shortened by 5km as it was this morning for safety reasons, enabled Ott Tänak, the 2019 world champion, to add a third best time to his tally in 2025, his second in a row after SS13.
The Estonian, still 4th in the overall standings, pulled even closer to Elfyn Evans (Toyota), at 8.8 seconds, while Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) provisionally regained second place, 7 tenths ahead of the Welsh vice-world champion. So it’s a three-way battle for two places on the podium behind Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), who is still clinging on to his lead.
‘Ott (Tänak) made a different choice of tyres to us and that’s good for him. It allows him to get away from Kalle (Rovanperä), but it also means that he’s getting closer to me, so I’m going to have to start paying attention,’ commented Fourmaux. He now only has a lead of around ten seconds over his Hyundai team-mate, who has set three fastest times out of five since Saturday morning.
Tänak did better than Seb Ogier (2nd) and Thierry Neuville (3rd) on this stage. ‘It’s more of a gravel rally than an asphalt rally, it was so dirty! I’m happy to have finished this one,’ said Ogier, who now has a 24.4-second lead over Fourmaux.
As for the Belgian world champion, he hit something at km 2, at the very start of the stage: ‘I’m fighting hard, it’s very difficult to keep the car on the road. We’re continuing to fight, trying to improve things for tomorrow. It’s not easy at all. We had vibrations, I think the right rear rim must be damaged or something.’
Night falls very quickly on the Drôme in January, so that the last amateur competitors will have to set up headlamp ramps to negotiate SS15 before returning, at night, to the Service Park in Gap.
Saturday afternoon got off to a good start for Ott Tänak, Hyundai’s other World Champion, who set the fastest time on SS13 between La Motte-Chalançon and Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert (27km). It was his second fastest time of the rally, after ES11 this morning, improving by over 20 seconds on the time set earlier in the morning by Grégoire Munster (Ford Puma) on the first run (ES10).
Thanks to this good performance, the Estonian, crowned in 2019, has regained 4th place in the overall standings which he had already occupied on Friday morning, after SS4. He thus overtook Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota), who really does not feel at ease on this Monte-Carlo, as he much prefers to slide on dirt or snow, but not on icy patches.
‘We had a good pace and fairly consistent [road] conditions. I had a better feeling. The [road] conditions have definitely changed too,’ said Tänak at the stop. As for Munster, he said he was ‘less comfortable than this morning. It wasn’t great, and my four soft tyres tended to overheat, especially the rear tyres’. The Luxemburg driver had set his first ever fastest stage time in WRC this morning.
In another change to the overall standings, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) moved back ahead of Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) to take second place, 18.4 seconds behind Sébastien Ogier, still the leader. ‘I didn’t have a good feeling on this stage, I was too cautious and I didn’t manage to attack enough,’ lamented the man from the north of France, but he was only 1.7 seconds behind Evans after SS13.
The battle continued as the stages progressed, with both drivers feeling more or less at ease. ‘Everything’s under control, I’m feeling better in the car,’ said Evans, who doesn’t usually give away too many details about his state of mind in the cockpit of a WRC car. And it’s hard to imagine the Welshman coming back on Ogier, who is still going strong as an old hand at Monte Carlo: ‘It was a good stage for me, in good conditions, with good grip. I tried to take it easy on the tyres. To win the rally, you have to be consistent’.
Another constraint from this afternoon is to take it easy on the tyres ahead of Sunday morning, when there will be, at best, ten points to take, including a maximum of five for the classification on the final day, and a maximum of five in the Power Stage. Finally, in the WRC2 category, Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3) now has a lead of more than three minutes over Eric Camilli, a former M-Sport competitor in WRC, who is still battling with Yohan’s brother Léo for second place of this class.
A seventh different driver has won a special stage in this 93rd edition of Rallye Monte-Carlo, Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota), taking advantage of his position on the road, just like Gregoire Munster and Ott Tänak before him on Saturday morning in the Drôme. And Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) consolidated his 2nd place, 17.2 seconds behind Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), still the solid leader of this first round of 2025.
This morning’s last special stage, between La Bâtie des Fonts and Aspremont (SS12, 17.85km), was very fast and followed by many spectators who arrived early. It enabled Katsuta to add a 41st stage win to his already impressive collection of five WRC podiums, in the space of 77 rallies since Finland 2016. He is the first Japanese driver to win a stage, ever, in a Rallye Monte-Carlo. And in the history of Japanese rallying, he still has one objective: to win a WRC event, like his compatriot Kenjiro Shinozuka in 1991 at the Ivory Coast Rally (formerly known as Bandama Rally).
‘This was a really difficult stage, I don’t know why, but it was so slippery and at the end of the stage it was very greasy. We had slick tyres and the car was sliding all over the place. It was quite a strange feeling, but I really enjoyed myself. Kalle [Rovanperä] must have enjoyed it as well, the sliding part…’ joked 31-year-old Katsuta, who is now on the honour roll of this 93rd edition, whatever happens on Sunday.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was in for a surprise on SS12, feeling better after an accumulation of problems since Friday morning, and he set the 2nd fastest time without the slightest problem, also on a cleaner road than his rivals: ‘It’s the first stage I’ve really been able to enjoy this weekend to be honest, I felt better in the car, we made a few changes to the set-up. We’re still looking for grip in general, so you can’t be too confident. But the feeling was better. You have to find a balance between grip and car control, and that balance isn’t ideal yet,’ explained the reigning world champion.
In the overall standings, as the surviving competitors returned to the service park in Gap for a welcome mid-day break, Ogier now has a 17.2 second lead over Fourmaux and a 20 second advantage over Evans. In the WRC2 category, the French festival continues, with Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3) the undisputed leader, and a duel for the runner-up spot between Eric Camilli and Yohan’s brother Léo. To be continued.
The 11th special stage of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo, shortened by 5km for safety reasons, enabled Hyundai to score a double success: Ott Tänak, the 2019 world champion, clocked his first stage win of the rally, and of 2025, while Adrien Fourmaux took 2nd place overall, which he had been chasing since yesterday, from Elfyn Evans (Toyota). As for Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), who was not at ease on this stage between Aucelon and Recoubeau-Jansac (15.48 km instead of 20.85 km), he lost a few seconds but maintained his lead.
‘I’m feeling better, it was a comfortable stage,’ soberly summed up Tänak, the 6th stage winner of this rally after Sébastien Ogier (4 best times), Elfyn Evans (2), Kalle Rovanperä, Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster this morning. ‘I didn’t like this stage at all, it was a nightmare for me: too narrow, too slow, very polluted. It didn’t work for me,’ said Kalle Rovanperä, the two-time Toyota world champion, who finished 7th, 14 seconds behind Tänak, over 15km. That’s one second more than his Estonian rival for every kilometre covered.
‘It was very, very dirty, so we drove safely, without taking too many risks. Fortunately, the dangerous part of the stage had been removed,’ said Ogier of this slightly different stage, the second of the loop in the Drôme. ‘It resembled Critérium de Cévennes,’ added Alexandre Coria, Fourmaux’s co-driver. The two Frenchmen from Hyundai are now in a position to threaten Ogier, as they are now 2nd in the overall standings, just 12.3 seconds behind the nine-time winner of the most legendary event in the WRC Championship.
However, nothing is over yet, as Evans is only half a second behind Fourmaux, and Tänak and Rovanperä are just behind, without having given up yet. They have never won the Monte Carlo Rally but they have a lot of talent and there are still four stages to be contested today, plus three tomorrow morning on the way back to Monaco. For Neuville, the reigning world champion, the aim now is to ‘learn the new tires and take big points on Sunday morning’, thanks to the updated WRC’s points system. But that’s another story…
Day 3 of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo got off to a surprise start with Grégoire Munster, M-Sport Ford’s top driver this season, setting his first ever best time in a WRC stage. It came on SS10, between La Motte-Chalançon and Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert (27km), when he was the first to pass on a dry, cleaner road than for his main rivals, as the sun rose over the Drôme mountains.
Munster was first on the road because of a major power failure last night on the road section to Gap Service Park, which cost him a 10-minute penalty in the overall classification. When this happened, Grégoire in 6th place overall, at the end of a very satisfying rallying day.
‘Congratulations to Grégoire. He was fast yesterday and he’s on the right track. But there were big differences in the road conditions between his run and mine,’ said Sébastien Ogier, a good sport but a realist. As leader, and because of the reverse starting order, it was a much dirtier road than Munster, with dirt coming off the ropes, that the eight-time world champion encountered. Hence the small gap in performance at the end: just 8 tenths, over 27 km, but that in no way detracts from the merits of the driver from Benelux.
‘It was really tricky, there was a bit of everything: some wet sections with muddy ropes, then a much faster and wider road. It’s a challenge for sure, and I was happy to be the first on the road for this one. Of course I’m disappointed about yesterday, but the team did a good job and managed the night well to allow us to be here again today, so it’s a good way to learn,’ said Munster at the stop. He then waited quietly in his cockpit to see if his rivals were doing better than him. Until deliverance and a great moment of emotion, alongside his team-mate Louis Louka. Damn dust in the eye.
It was Grégoire Munster’s first ever WRC stage win, but not the first for a driver with a Luxembourg driving licence. Grégoire has dual nationality, Belgian (through his father, a former rally driver) and Luxembourgish (through his mother). And just 48 years ago, at the 1977 Monte-Carlo Rally, two drivers from the Grand Duchy shone: Alain Beauchef, who won the first special stage between Les Chanets and La Vilette in a 2000 Ford Escort RS. Then, at the end of the same edition, Nicolas Koob (Porsche 911 Carrera RS) in SS26, between Roquestéron and Bouyon. To complete the picture, the winner that year was Italian legend Sandro Munari, whose mythical Lancia Stratos graces the official poster of the 2025 Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique (January 29-February 4).
In the overall classification of this 93rd edition, not much has changed. Ogier still leads. Just behind him, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) and Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), battling for 2nd place (1.6 seconds apart), set the same time, to the nearest tenth, on SS10. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), meanwhile, lost another minute after his electronics were completely reset at the start of the stage. When it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.
For safety reasons, Race Control has decided to move the starting point of the special stages 11 and 14 (Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 and Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2), which will take place this Saturday. This will shorten the stages by 5.37 km from the initial start.
The restrictions on public access to these stages areas remain unchanged.
Special stages 11 and 14 length will now be 15.48km.
Another consequence of these changes: first car will leave Parc Fermé at 6:55am on Saturday, 3 minutes earlier than planned.
Sébastien Ogier ended Day 2 of the 93rd Monte-Carlo Rally just as he began the opening night on Thursday, setting two fastest times in quick succession. First in SS8, on his home turf, and then just around the corner in SS9, between La Bréole and Selonnet (18.31km). Two ‘masterclasses’ in a row, in tricky conditions and with all his rivals reduced to the role of extras. But there’s still a long way to go…
‘It was a good end to the day for us, but I fought hard for it. Up until the last two stages, I was a bit on the defensive, but then I felt better. I changed my driving mode’, smiled Ogier, delighted with this fine day of rallying and with his 12.6 second lead over Elfyn Evans, his Toyota team-mate. This should give him plenty to look forward to on Saturday, with two loops of three stages in the Drôme region.
As has often been the case since the start of this rally, Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) was very good, the only driver to rival the eight-time world champion. The driver from the north of France finished 2nd on the stage again, 2.8 seconds behind Ogier, and he will start Saturday’s rally with a clear objective: to catch Evans on a regular basis by continuing to attack as hard as possible… while keeping a small margin for error.
‘It was another clean stage, even if I lost a bit of time when I made a small mistake. It was a really good afternoon for us,’ said Fourmaux before setting off again for the service park in Gap. He is only 14.2 behind Ogier this evening, and especially 1.6 behind Evans, who also put in a great day’s driving.
9 more stages to go…
At the halfway point of the rally, after 9 stages, 8 of which were hotly contested (and one cancelled, SS5 on Friday morning), the balance sheet is in Toyota’s favour, with three Gazoo Racing drivers in the top 4 (Ogier, Evans, Rovanperä), but Fourmaux seems determined and, above all, capable of disrupting the Japanese party. After five learning seasons with M-Sport Ford, the Frenchman seems to have turned a corner by joining Hyundai, and he has negotiated the early pitfalls of this rally much better than his two world champion team-mates.
Thierry Neuville had already been trapped in SS6 at the end of the morning, and this time he was the victim of a puncture of the front-left tyre, on the same stage, which ruined SS9 for him. ‘I don’t know if I should have stopped to change my tyre’, said the Belgian at the end of the stage, having lost a further two minutes in the adventure. He then returned to Gap, with a new wheel, in 9th place overall, 4 minutes behind Ogier. Nothing to be proud of for the new world champion, who has often struggled in this rally (2 wins in 15 appearances).
In WRC2, the final stage of the day brought about a change in the leaders. Yohan Rossel now leads the way in his PH Sport Citroën C3, ahead of Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia RS). There are still 9 stages to go until midday on Sunday. Everything is still possible, the best and the worst…
It was something he really wanted to do, and he did it, at last: on Friday afternoon, home-grown Sébastien Ogier won ‘his’ special stage from Saint-Léger les Mélèzes to La Bâtie-Neuve (SS8, 16.68 km) in front of his family and friends. And as luck would have it, the eight-time world champion regained the overall lead, 6.8 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans, his Toyota team-mate.
“I knew that all my family and friends were there, and I’d never won this stage. So I said to myself that I had to do it one day and I did my best”, a relieved and happy Ogier said after crossing the finish line of the stage closest to his village, where he had just changed his tyres. It was the same ritual as in the morning, except that SS5 had been cancelled at the last minute, and that he had not been able to go for that rather special best stage time.
It was, as expected, a very tricky stage, in which all the top drivers started with four super-soft tyres and zero stud, while the descent offered a long, very tricky section, totally snow-covered and icy, between the trees. They were all very careful, using a variety of different lines, and the only one to get caught out was Evans, who did a half spin without hitting anything and lost a handful of seconds I the process.
After Ogier, neither Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), who came second on the special, 3.9 seconds behind Ogier, nor Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) managed to do better than the Frenchman, and so he achieved his sentimental, symbolic and personal goal: a victory ‘at home’, really, close to the village of Forest Saint Julien, in the Champsaur région, where he often played boule lyonnaise, when he was younger, while taking his ski instructor’s certificate.
It was also his third fastest stage time of the 93rd Monte Carlo Rally, a better score than any of his rivals, for the moment. After SS8, and with just one stage to go in this rather hectic day, two French drivers, Ogier and Fourmaux (in the best Hyundai), are still in the Top 3, sandwiching Evans (2nd).
In WRC2, the soap opera continues: Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3) has clawed back another 3.6 seconds from Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia RS) and is now just nine seconds behind the category leader… who chose not to score any points in this event.
Elfyn Evans (Toyota), who had already won SS3 on Thursday evening, won the first special stage of the second loop on Friday afternoon between Saint-Maurice and Aubessagne (SS7, 18.6km) in the Hautes-Alpes. The Welshman set a time of 10’35‘’6, a good minute better than Kalle Rovanperä’s time on the same stage earlier in the morning. And as he drove 6.4 seconds faster than his team-mate Sébastien Ogier, he widened the gap at the top of the overall standings, with Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) still on the provisional podium.
‘The grip was much better than this morning, but I didn’t attack enough,’ said Ogier at the stop. As for Thierry Neuville, who had bent his rear left suspension this morning on SS6, he began his comeback by setting the third fastest time of the stage.
The Belgian had left the Gap service park with a perfectly repaired Hyundai i20N, and summed up the situation well at the end of the stage: “I really have to thank the guys and I’m happy to be here,’ said the reigning world champion. ‘It wasn’t easy, I had no confidence in the grip levels, there were too many gaps from one section to the next, and it was difficult to drive this stage. As we passed the frontrunners, there was no obvious trajectory in front of us and it wasn’t really comfortable. At the end of the stage, there was a lot of dirt on the road”.
After SS7, the leading trio was still made up of two Toyota drivers, Evans and Ogier at 7.9 seconds, closely followed by Fourmaux, at 7.5 seconds, in the best Hyundai. As for Kalle Rovanperä, in another Toyota, he has climbed back to 4th place by taking advantage of Neuville and Tänak’s problems this morning on SS6.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3) made up six seconds in one go on Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia RS) and is now just a dozen seconds behind the Russian-Bulgarian, who still leads the category.
SS8, which was cancelled on Friday morning, was ready to allow the battle to continue in all categories. Sarah Rumeau (Citroën C3), supported by the Fédération française du sport automobile (FFSA), is still in the top half of the overall classification, for her first international outing in a WRC2, as is Eliott Delecour, François’ son, aged just 17, in his Opel Corsa entered in the RC4 category.
