The second special stage of the final morning allowed Kalle Rovanperä to equalize at 1-1 in the final duel of the 91st Rally Monte-Carlo, against fellow Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Sébastien Ogier. Leaving the port of Monaco this morning, the Frenchman had sounded the alarm clock by setting the best time in SS15, extending his lead by 2.7 seconds over the young Finnish star. The reigning World Champion immediately replied in Col de Turini (SS16, 15.12km), on a completely dry road leading to the small ski resort: 1.5 second better than the Frenchman, in order to close the gap again, 17.2 seconds behind the leader.
In terms of stage wins in this rally, Ogier is still leading (8 to 5), and he is only 34 km away from an historic 9th success in the Principality. Behind the two untouchables, Elfyn Evans made a mistake in a hairpin where his Toyota Yaris pivoted too much on the way out. Another few seconds lost which consolidate the 3rd place overall of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Motorsport), on his way one more time to saving big points for the Korean brand.
In WRC2, the battle also continues. Halfway through the last day, Russian Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda Fabia) still has a little leeway against Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3): 9 seconds, it is a little and a lot at the same time.