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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.
