Some may have had their doubts, but they were soon convinced: no crew on the 27th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique was capable of beating the title holders, Belgians Michel Decremer and Jennifer Hugo, who set off from Reims on Thursday in a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TI and had been in the lead since Saturday afternoon. And as expected, they won, as they did in 2024, on Tuesday night on Col de Turini, winning the last two regularity stages of this formidable 2025 edition, from start to finish.

The 2025 edition began in winter conditions, with snow on the roads around Valence, and ended on a fine spring day, between the capital of the Drôme and the Principality of Monaco, via the Alpes de Haute-Provence. Over the course of the last five stages (RS13 to 17), a few more of the 34 car manufacturers and 25 countries represented were able to add their name to the roll of honour, at the last minute. Just like Citroën, thanks to the superb SM driven by the Raymond family, who tied for 1st place in RS14, between Sisteron and Thoard.

There were 219 crews at the start on Thursday in Monaco, Reims, Bad Homburg and Turin. There were still 188 in the official final rankings, published at midday on Wednesday by Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM). These included two female teams in the Top 100, who battled it out right up to the final kilometres, for the Ladies’ Cup: Switzerland’s Carole Grimm and Belgium’s Ingrid Peeters, in a superb Lancia Fulvia HF 1.6, ended up at the 99th place, just ahead of France’s Marie Douaré and Danièle Denuzière, in another Lancia Fulvia.

The warm welcome from the public in all the towns and villages along the route, the very high standard of preparation of the crews and cars, the intensity of the battles at every level of the standings, resulted in a podium place where experience took pride of place: on top, Michel Decremer winning for the third time (2017, 2024, 2025), the first time with Yannick Albert in the right-hand seat, the other two with Jennifer Hugo, who has won twice in three participation. In this 2025 edition, the crew n. 200 won 4 Regularity Special Stages (RS10-12-16-17).

9 car brands in the Top 10

The final podium of this 27th edition looks very impressive, with Spaniards Luis Climent Asensio and Carles Jimenez Valls (BMW 323i) in second place, ahead of Italians Fabrizio Rossi and Marco Frascaroli (Lancia Fulvia). Closely followed by two other Transalpine drivers, Giorgio Schon and Francesco Giammarino, who finished second last year and have been at the forefront of the battel, from start to finish this year, in their tiny Austin Mini Cooper S.

If we look at the figures for this 27th edition, there are two that stand out: firstly, the presence of 9 different car brands (as of last year) in the Top 10 of the overall classification, published at midday on Wednesday by the ACM; secondly, the fact that 10 car manufacturers (as of last year, too) won at least one RS, sometimes tied with another brand.

In detail, Porsche (6 stage wins, with more than 40 cars entered) finally beat BMW and Alfa Romeo (4 each), while Lancia and Austin (3 wins each), but also Volkswagen and Fiat (2 each) came out on top. The rest of the laurels were shared between Citroën, Opel and Ford, thanks to the Escort of venerable 81-year-old John Buffum.

A huge popular success!

Public support along the route, and the number of spectators on the roadsides, often in freezing temperatures, confirmed the continuing popularity of Rallye Monte-Carlo in all the departments crossed (Ardèche, Drôme, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Haute-Loire, Alpes de Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes), and in all its forms (WRC, Historic, Electric). It will really come to a close on Wednesday evening with a Gala Evening and Prize-Giving Ceremony at the prestigious Sporting Monte-Carlo. Every participant will have to wear a dinner jacket, or a long dress, to honour this great event and its many winners, in the purest tradition of the Principality.

🌟 𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 🌟

🥇 Michel Decremer 🇧🇪 / Jennifer Hugo 🇧🇪
🚘 Alfa-Romeo Giulia TI – 1965

🌟 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 🌟#RallyeMonteCarloHistorique pic.twitter.com/hZNt7INnkw

— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) February 5, 2025