After an unscheduled break due to the cancellation of SS5 (a spectator was injured when he fell on the road), Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) set his first fastest time of 2025 at midday on SS5, between La Bréole and Selonnet (18.31km), while his two World Champion team-mates, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak, were at fault.

‘It was a really nice stage, I had a lot of fun and I was clean from start to finish without making any mistakes,’ enthused the 29-year-old Frenchman after his first best stage time for Hyundai, the Korean team he joined this winter after five seasons with M-Sport Ford. Fourmaux really showed what he was capable of, attacking very hard and negotiating the trickiest section of SS6 as best he could, where some drivers had to slow down a lot because they didn’t have the ideal tyres on their cars.

Fourmaux completed the stage in 11:00.8, so this was 7.9 seconds quicker than his compatriot Sébastien Ogier, who had a minor scare of no major consequence, and 10.4 seconds quicker than Elfyn Evans, the two Toyota drivers who set off on Friday morning in pursuit of Neuville. The chase was brought to a premature end at km 8.6 of SS6 when the Belgian was taken for a ride like a beginner, braking downhill on a completely dry right-hand bend.

‘I think it’s a consequence of our lack of experience with these new (Hankook) tyres. I was fooled and I got caught up in the braking’ summed up the reigning world champion, who lost nearly two minutes in the adventure, and therefore his place in the Top 3. He had driven half the stage with his left rear wheel askew, but firmly attached, and still had to go to the service park in Gap to repair it.

Another Hyundai driver, Tänak, had a very hot moment, driving several dozen metres at full speed in a ditch and turning his i20N into a convertible. ‘I’m missing a few parts on my car, but I’m doing fine,’ said the Estonian, the 2019 world champion, before heading back to Gap where the Hyundai Motorsport mechanics were about to experience a slightly agitated lunch break.

The real bargain of SS6 was Luxembourg’s Grégoire Munster (Ford Puma), who was already very comfortable in SS4 earlier in the morning. His daring choice of non-studded tyres (2 winter tyres and 2 super-soft), and his precaution in the icy section at the end, enabled him to set the 2nd fastest time of the stage and climb to 4th overall, behind Evans, Ogier and Fourmaux, grouped within 6 seconds. In other words, six drivers (and three makes) within 23 seconds of each other before the second loop of the day’s stages. As Ogier already put it, in three words: this is a ‘real Monte Carlo’!

SS6 results

Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota), the two-time Finnish World Champion, was wide awake on Friday morning and won the day’s first special stage, between Saint-Maurice and Aubessagne (SS4, 18.6 km), in the Hautes-Alpes, with a time of 11’38”3. As a direct consequence of this tricky stage, another Toyota driver, Elfyn Evans, took the lead of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo from reigning world champion Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) by just eight-tenths of a second.

“I may have made the best tire choice for these conditions,” said Rovanperä at the end of the stage. “The beginning was quite icy and at the end, the road was dirty,” added the young Finn. He took advantage of his starting position, several minutes after Neuville and Evans, to set a significant time, on a road that was increasingly dirty but also increasingly dry. And he made a fine comeback in the overall standings, in just ten minutes. Rovanperä is still 6th, but 22 seconds only behind the leader, instead of 43 seconds on Thursday night when he went to bed.

Two other drivers took advantage of the rising sun and more favourable road conditions by the minute: Luxembourg’s Grégoire Munster (Ford Puma) and another Finn, the talented Sami Pajari (Toyota), last year’s WRC2 champion. They took 2nd and 3rd places on SS4, ahead of all the other competitors, starting with Ott Tänak (Hyundai), in much better form than on Thursday evening, and the two Frenchmen, Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) and Sébastien Ogier (Toyota).

“I had a clean stage, I had a lot of fun with the car, I enjoyed myself. I just had to guess where the ice was melting,” Fourmaux analyzed at the stop. “The conditions were tricky, it was more like a Monte Carlo, with ice in places, than last night with all the mud on the road,” admitted Ogier, still clinging on to 3rd place behind Evans and Neuville, and just four seconds behind the Welsh leader.

In WRC2, the battle was on again, with Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris Rally2) setting his second fastest time in a row, in the category, ahead of Russian-Bulgarian Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia RS). He also managed a Top 4 overall on this stage, less than five seconds behind Rovanperä, taking advantage of better road conditions, almost an hour after the leaders had set off.

With the top three within 4 seconds of each other and the top six grouped in 22 seconds, Day 2 of the rally is shaping up to be a great one. But SS5 has been cancelled after several spectators had to be rescued on the stage. The third stage of the morning loop, SS6, remains scheduled for the end of the morning, between La Bréole and Selonnet (18.31km).

SS4 results

World Champion Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) was leading the 93rd Monte-Carlo Rally when he reached Gap Service Park on Thursday evening, at the end of a first evening dominated by the Toyotas, in terms of pure performance: 2 best times for Sébastien Ogier and the third for Elfyn Evans. And by the resilience of the Belgian driver, always at the top of the standings and eventually leading when it was time to go to bed.

Thursday’s third and final special stage, between Avançon and Notre-Dame-du-Laus (SS3, 13.97 km), was marked by a superb performance from Elfyn Evans (Toyota), the runner-up in the previous World Championship. “I didn’t feel confident in the first two stages, but I felt much better in the third,” said the Welshman at the end. And with good reason: he had just beaten Neuville, by 5.4 seconds, and Rovanperä, by 10.7 seconds, on a relatively short, bumpy stage that was very dirty in places.

“I didn’t think it would be so slippery. I got trapped, but it’s not so bad at the end,” conceded Ogier, who made his first small mistake of the rally. A big slip midway through the stage almost sent him down an embankment, but his experience spoke for itself. The Gap native stopped his Yaris just in time to get back on the road and finish 23.5 seconds behind Evans. All his efforts on the first two stages had been undone, but that’s the Monte Carlo law. The slightest error is paid for in cash, especially in the evening, when road conditions are very difficult to guess.

Unruly fans, neutralized stage…

As expected, the end of the stage was lit up by a host of smoke bombs and fireworks, as the fans were very numerous in this very fast section. Another driver to lose ground on SS3 was Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai): 27.8 seconds down on Evans, after being hot on his heels after the first two stages. “I was very careful with the ice patches. It’s a very long rally…” said the 29-year-old Frenchman, recruited this winter by the South Korean brand.

In the overall standings, Neuville is in the lead after the first evening and will continue to lead the way tomorrow morning, around Gap. Behind him, two Toyota drivers, Evans at 2 seconds and Ogier at 12.8 seconds, will lead the chase. They will be closely followed by the other two Hyundai drivers, Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux, at 27 and 30 seconds respectively. In WRC2, the suspense is also intact, but Nikolay Gryazin, in his Skoda Fabia RS, dominated the first evening, despite a burst of pride from Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris Rally2), the fastest on SS3.

This SS3 was interrupted, then definitively neutralized after the start of Eric Camilli, entered in WRC2. This was due to a few unruly spectators, who were finally deprived of the passage of some fifty competitors on the most spectacular stage of the evening.

SS3 results

Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) continued imposing an infernal pace on Thursday evening, setting his second fastest time in a row in the second special stage of this 93rd edition, between Faucon-du-Caire and Bréziers (SS2, 21.18 km), the longest special stage of the first evening.

The eight-time world champion completed another faultless stage, but was only 9 tenths ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), now in 2nd place, 5.3 seconds behind the Frenchman. “The conditions on this stage were much more uneven than in the previous one. I was a little too cautious, especially at the end, but it was more complicated to be as committed as in SS1. I didn’t do a good stage, but I set a good time,” said Ogier at the end of SS2.

“This stage was very dirty at the end, so I had to slow down. I think the spectators dirtied the road a bit (by stepping on it),” said Neuville, a two-time winner in the Principality (2020 2024). As for Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai), 3rd on this special stage just 1.2 seconds behind Ogier, the absolute benchmark for Monte-Carlo performance, he is now just two tenths behind Elfyn Evans (Toyota) in the overall standings.

The Frenchman had announced before the start on Thursday on Casino Square that he intended to run a waiting race, in his first race in a Hyundai after five seasons with Ford M-Sport. “The speed at the start of this stage was huge. It was very tricky, with ice here and there. A special stage worthy of the Monte Carlo,” summed up Fourmaux, author of five podiums last year in a M-Sport Ford, and 5th in the 2024 championship.

Behind the leading trio, provisionally made up of Ogier, Neuville and Fourmaux, another Hyundai driver, Ott Tänak, took 4th place on SS2, 6.4 seconds behind Ogier. This was a much better result than Kalle Rovanperä, who was only 9th on the stage, 22.9 seconds behind Ogier, i.e. more than a second lost per kilometer. The Finn, twice world champion, was even beaten by his compatriot Sami Pajari, also with Toyota but a Rally1 debutant.

“It’s not me who’s quicker than Kalle, it’s the two of us who are bad,” smiled the 2024 WRC2 champion, with total humility. In WRC2, the battle continued at the front between Russian-Bulgarian Nikolay Gryazin, in his Skoda Fabia RS, and Frenchman Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3). They finished ahead of Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris Rally2), who went back on the attack after a touch and a wheel change in SS1.

SS2 results

Monte Carlo maestro Sébastien Ogier (9 wins) got the 93rd edition off to a flying start, setting the fastest time in the first special stage between Digne-les-Bains and Chaudon-Norante (SS1, 19.01 km) on Thursday evening.

Fitted with new Hankook super-soft tires, the eight-time world champion’s Toyota Yaris was very efficient, and Ogier’s driving did the rest on a narrow, slippery road that was not yet too dirty. In 11 minutes, 30 seconds and 4 tenths, the Frenchman inflicted 3.9 seconds on Elfyn Evans, his Toyota teammate, and 4.4 seconds on the new World Champion, Thierry Neuville, in the number 1 Hyundai.

“I felt pretty good. I was expecting conditions to be a little trickier. In the end, it was a pleasant stage, in terms of driving,” said Ogier at the stop. The pleasant surprise of this first special was Adrien Fourmaux (4th), the new Hyundai driver, sandwiched between his two World Champion team-mates, Neuville and Ott Tänak (5th). The Estonian, who set the fastest time in the shakedown at Gap on Wednesday evening, has never before managed to win the Monte Carlo Rally.

Another relative surprise was Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota), back full-time in the WRC after a year of semi-rest (7 rallies contested, 2 wins), with a 15.6-second deficit on Ogier. But he wasn’t surprised: “The other drivers did this stage last year, not me,” recalled the young Finn, the youngest double world champion in the history of the WRC, in 2022 and 2023.

In WRC2, the battle began on a high note, with Bulgarian Nikolay Gryazin setting the fastest time in his Skoda Fabia RS. Just two tenths ahead of Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3). Meanwhile, Oliver Solberg had to stop on the stage to change a rear wheel, his rim having been damaged when he hit a large stone. The Swede, son of 2003 world champion Petter Solberg, lost almost 5 minutes in this first special stage. That already makes him a late contender in the race for WRC2 victory. But the rally still has a long way to go.

SS1 results

It’s now a well-established ritual in the Principality’s schools and colleges. On Thursday mornings, just before the start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo on the Place du Casino, pupils from a number of Monegasque schools receive a visit from some very special “teachers”: drivers and co-drivers from the WRC and WRC2!

This morning, eight drivers visited Collège Charles III and Collège FANB, as well as École primaire de la Condamine and the International School of Monaco. Like several Formula E drivers last spring, the kings of rallying were able to talk freely and play the question-and-answer game, followed by a proper autograph session. And no written tests were scheduled by the delighted teachers!

All three top teams were represented, whether Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT (with Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux), Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT (Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta) or M-Sport Ford WRT, represented as last year by Luxembourg’s Grégoire Munster. There were also WRC2 drivers, brothers Yohan and Léo Rossel, and Sarah Rumeau, hours before starting her very first Rally Monte-Carlo.

At FANB College, new Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux and two-time Toyota world champion Kalle Rovanperä spent over an hour in the auditorium with 3rd and 5th graders. “It was really great, very interactive, we had lots of interesting questions,” Fourmaux summed up before leaving for the official start on Casino Square. “They’re all fluent in English, so it was really nice for Kalle. Kalle and I have different backgrounds, because his father was already a pilot. But it’s not essential, and we’re both here in Monte Carlo, having had different trajectories, so it was interesting for the kids.”

One thing’s for sure: all these Monegasque pupils, now very much in the know, will be following the 93rd Monte-Carlo Rally very closely, both on television and on the ACM’s social networks…

The 93rd Monte-Carlo Rally got underway on Thursday from Casino Square, a perfect setting in the heart of the Principality, for 68 drivers and crews, including four world champions (Thierry Neuville, Sébastien Ogier, Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak), who immediately set off on a long road liaison to the first three special stages, scheduled for the evening between Alpes de Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes.

“It’s never easy to start a rally season, especially in Monte Carlo, where nothing is ever the same from one year to the next, even in the special stages we know so well. We will need to avoid all the traps, right to the end, as usual”, said Sébastien Ogier, the eight-time world rally champion and nine-time Monte-Carlo winner (8 times in the WRC, once in the IRC), on the starting podium. His Toyota Yaris, still in a superb matte-black livery, bears his lucky number, 17 (he was born in Gap on December 17, 1983). The Hautes-Alpes driver is no longer aiming for the world title, but only a few rounds each year, just for fun. “I want to spend time with my family, so I mainly look at school vacation dates before drawing up my rally calendar, in agreement with my team,” Ogier added. For the last 12 years, he has always finished 1st or 2nd in the Principality!

Lighter, more agile cars

As of every year, Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) had perfectly organized this top-of-the-range starting ceremony, attended on site by a number of VIPs including Thierry Boutsen, the former Formula 1 driver, and Michèle Mouton, now retired after ten years’ service as head of safety for the World Rally Championship. They watched the parade of 68 superb rally cars, including those in the queen category (Rally1) which, as of this year, are no longer equipped with a hybrid propulsion system.

“The cars are lighter, so they’re more agile, and there are also new tires (Korean tires, supplied by Hankook), so there’s a lot that’s new. I’ve got a new car, I’m in a new team. It’s going to be a long rally, and a long season, so we’ll have to see what the others’ pace is at first…” said Adrien Fourmaux, the new Hyundai driver, before stepping onto the starting ramp. The Monegasque flag was waved by various Monegasque personalities, in front of the 68 competitors. These included five official Gazoo Racing Toyota Yaris, three Hyundai i20Ns entered by Hyundai Motorsport, and two Ford Puma entered by Malcolm Wilson’s English M-Sport team. There will also be 24 cars in the WRC2 category, where the battle will be fierce between a number of young, sharp-toothed drivers.

Three nightly stages as a spicy starter

With the final destination being the service park in Gap, the prefecture of the Hautes-Alpes, everyone set off on a long liaison to the first three special stages of this 2025 edition, covering a total of 54.16 km of timed sections. First to come was SS1 between Digne-les-Bains and Chaudon-Norante (19.01 km). Then SS2 between Faucon-du-Caire and Bréziers (21.18 km), the longest stage on this eagerly-awaited first evening. And SS3, between Avançon and Notre-Dame-du-Laus (13.97 km), where drivers have a good chance of finding patches of snow or black ice, in the middle of the night (first car to set off at 9 pm).

It will be a very short night in Gap, before a long Friday, with two loops of three special stages (SS4 to SS6, then SS7 to SS9, totalling 107 km of timed sections). A full day of fierce battling at all levels of the overall standings. The 93rd Monte-Carlo Rally is off to a good start. Suspense guaranteed, right up to the grand finale on Sunday at midday, on Col de Turini!

Relive the ceremony in full

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

There will be four World Rally Champions, on Thursday, at the start of the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo, that’s two more than last year: Thierry Neuville has finally been crowned at the end of 2024, at the end of a season that was mastered from start to finish (2 wins, 6 podiums), and Kalle Rovanperä , who only contested 7 rallies last year (2 wins), is back full-time. If we add that Sébastien Ogier, eight-time World Champion and nine-time winner in the Principality, remains a luxury freelancer, and that Ott Tänak, crowned in 2019, has no desire to retire, that makes for four World Champions, with 12 titles between them.

Two of these World Champions, Belgium’s Neuville and Estonia’s Tänak, will be driving a Hyundai i20N, while the other two, France’s Ogier and Finland’s Rovanperä, will be at the wheel of a Toyota Yaris. But the Japanese Gazoo Racing will have the advantage of numbers, with Welshman Elfyn Evans and Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta also in their ranks, as they were last year, and a newcomer, Sami Pajari (23), crowned champion last year in the WRC2 category. There will be a total of five Toyotas competing in the queen category, as well as three Hyundai cars, since Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux has joined the Korean team following an excellent season (5 podiums) with Ford M-Sport. To complete the line-up, two Ford Pumas have been entered by Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport team. They will be driven by Luxemburg’s Grégoire Munster and Irishman Josh McErlean, a 25-year-old graduate of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy.

As has been the case since the rally’s return to Hautes-Alpes last year, the service park for this 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo will once again be based in Gap, in the main city of Seb Ogier’s native département. On roads he knows like the pockets of his overalls, the Frenchman from Toyota will be aiming for a tenth Monte Carlo victory, which would be a new all-time record. Provided he negotiates the many pitfalls of the 18 special stages on the menu, totalling 343km of timed sections, from Thursday evening to Sunday morning. Especially if the weather takes part, as snow is still possible in these mountains at the end of January.

A tough route

After the ritual shakedown on Wednesday, on the heights of Gap, everything will really get underway on Thursday, at siesta time, with the start ceremony in front of Casino de Monte-Carlo, broadcast live on the Automobile Club de Monaco’s Facebook account and YouTube channel. Then, in the evening, the first three special stages will total 54.16km of timed stages between Alpes de Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes. The first special stage is scheduled for 6pm between Digne-les-Bains and Chaudon-Norante (SS1, 19.01km). Then the second stage between Faucon-du-Caire and Bréziers (SS2, 21.18km), the longest stage of the first night. And the third, from 9pm, between Avançon and Notre-Dame-du-Laus (SS3, 13.97 km). Before a good night’s sleep in Gap.

On Friday, around Gap, there will be three special stages in the morning (SS4 to SS6) and the same three in the afternoon (SS7 to SS9), totalling 107.34km of timed sections, including Saint-Maurice/Aubessagne, the longest special stage of the day (18.68km). And on Saturday, there will be two more loops of three stages (SS10 to SS12, then SS13 to SS15), but in the Drôme, for a total of 131.4km of timed sections. This includes a very tricky 27km between La Motte-Chalancon and Saint-Nazaire, a great classic and the longest special stage of the rally. All that remains is the final morning’s racing, with 50.9km spread over three stages (SS16 to SS18) between Gap and Monaco. In keeping with tradition, the final stage will be the Power Stage between La Bollène-Vésubie and Peïra-Cava, via the iconic Col de Turini (start 12:15).

Family stories in WRC2

The ACM received 92 applications for 2025. It selected 70 crews, including 47 ‘priority’ drivers designated by the FIA. A word about the growing popularity of the FIA WRC2 category, which features Rally2-type cars that are less expensive to run but also offer excellent performance. The ACM has selected 24 crews for this race within the race, starting with Oliver Solberg, the son of Petter (2003 world champion), in a Toyota Yaris Rally2. There will also be Nikolay Gryazin (Škoda Fabia RS) and Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3), 3rd and 4threspectively in last year’s WRC2 championship. Yohan’s brother Léo Rossel, just crowned French asphalt champion, will be alongside his older brother in the French PH Sport team, while Charles Munster, Grégoire’s younger brother, will be driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2.

Stéphane Sarrazin’s son Pablo, the former Subaru driver turned team boss, will drive a Citroën C3 for Sarrazin Motorsport. Another of the French team’s C3s is entered for Sarah Rumeau and Julie Amblard, an all-female pairing supported by Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA). Finally, because goodness knows no lies, Eliott Delecour, the 17-year-old son of François Delecour, will be making his international debut on this Rallye Monte-Carlo, 34 years after his father’s podium finish in 1991 in a Ford Sierra Cosworth, his first in the WRC. Eliott will drive an Opel Corsa in the Rally4 category.

An army of volunteers

This promises to be a great event, and it will also be possible thanks to the hundreds of volunteer marshals and officials who, among the more than two thousand people mobilised and supervised by the ACM, will ensure the safety and smooth running of this 93rdMonte-Carlo Rally. ‘This is a mythical rally, maybe the most mythical and prestigious of all. Every WRC driver dreams of winning it at least once,’ sums up Thierry Neuville. He’s Belgian, he’s the current World Champion, he’s already won twice in the Principality (2020, 2024). He knows what he’s talking about and he’s one of the favourites…

For this 93rd edition, the opening round of the World Rally Championship will once again have an extensive TV programme. All the stages of the 2025 Rallye Monte-Carlo will be broadcast in their entirety, including the Power Stage, which will be available on free-to-air television.

Once again this year, the Canal Group will be offering an exceptional programme for this legendary event. The Monte-Carlo Rally will be broadcast live every day, with eight-time winner Julien Ingrassia once again as co-driver, alongside Laurent Dupin and Pauline Sanzey. From the first evening (Thursday 23), 2 special stages will be available free of charge and live on Canal+ Sport’s Facebook and YouTube channels. To round things off, the Power Stage La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra Cava will be broadcast free-to-air on Canal + on Sunday 26th from 12.15pm. 

Monaco Info will be watching the Official Start from the Place du Casino on Thursday at 2pm. The Rally Experts (Vanessa Dessi, Christophe Pacaud, Franck Phillips) will be on hand each evening to review the day’s special stages: Friday 24 – 9.00pm / Saturday 25 – 9.00pm / Sunday 26 – 9.00pm.

The awards ceremony on Sunday will be available on TVMonaco from 4.15pm.

The full season on RallyTV

For enthusiasts looking for a more immersive experience, subscribing to the official WRC+ All Live platform is a must. It allows you to follow all the stages live with exclusive content (replay, videos, archives, broadcasts).

The Automobile Club de Monaco will also be broadcasting the Rally Start Ceremony live online from the Place du Casino in Monaco, as well as the Prize-Giving Ceremony. These events will be broadcast on the ACM Facebook and YouTube pages and on our website.