WRC – Masterful Ogier clinches 10th Rallye Monte-Carlo victory, Rossel claims WRC2 win
2025 Rallye Monte-Carlo – Sunday report
Sébastien Ogier etched his name further into the history books by claiming a record-extending 10th victory at Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship.
Driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, Ogier secured victory by a margin of 18.5sec over his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans after a nail-biting final day through the French Alps.
Sunday’s decisive final leg threatened to turn the tide. Ogier and his Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans opted to carry four studded Hankook tyres and only two super-soft slicks – an approach that proved effective on the icy roads of Avançon – Notre-Dame du Laus but left them vulnerable on the drier penultimate test at Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante. There, Adrien Fourmaux shone on a full-slick setup, outpacing both Toyotas by a 23.9sec and 17.8sec respectively and momentarily threatening to disrupt the podium order.
Fourmaux, making his Hyundai WRC debut after an off-season switch from M-Sport Ford, had hoped for drier conditions on the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage to maximise his slick tyre advantage. Instead, the icy Col de Turini levelled the playing field, leaving him on the same mixed-tyre setup as Ogier and Evans.
Ogier capitalised with another stage win, while Evans held off Fourmaux’s late charge by just 7.5sec despite a heart-stopping brush with a rock face.
“What a weekend,” reflected Ogier, whose first triumph here came during Rallye Monte-Carlo’s IRC days in 2009.
“I don’t know where to start, what a weekend. I think I have had my lucky star with me this weekend – my uncle, who we lost one year ago. I am sure he was bringing me everything and this one is for him. I have no idea if it is my last [Rallye Monte-Carlo] now. It would be a good place to stop.”
The drama extended far beyond the podium battle, as Sunday’s treacherous conditions wreaked havoc further down the field. Toyota’s Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta both slid off the road on SS17, while Grégoire Munster’s M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 met a similar fate on the very next stage.
Behind Evans, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak ceded fourth position to Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä on the final day due to his own tyre misjudgement. The pair finished just 4.7sec apart, with both drivers now eager to bounce back on next month’s Rally Sweden as previous winners of the snow-and-ice fixture.
Defending champion Thierry Neuville salvaged sixth place after a tumultuous event. A combination of broken suspension from an early crash, a deflated tyre and an unexplained electrical issue cost him over five minutes, thwarting his hopes of defending last year’s win.
M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean impressed with a solid seventh-place finish on his Rally1 debut.
Rossel Reigns Supreme in WRC2
Yohan Rossel’s 2025 WRC2 title aspirations were given an early boost as he wrapped up an emphatic victory in the category on Sunday.
A year ago, the Citroën C3 Rally2 driver edged out Pepe López by just 4.0sec in a nail-biting finish. This time, however, Rossel was in a class of his own – cruising to victory with a staggering two-minute margin over his nearest rival.
Partnered with co-driver Arnaud Dunand, Rossel won an impressive 15 of the event’s 17 stages and leading the field from start to finish. His flawless drive secured a PH Sport one-three finish, with younger brother Léo Rossel topping the WRC2 Challenger category and Eric Camilli slotting between them in second.
Behind the podium contenders, Jan Černy and Roberto Daprà thrilled fans with a fierce duel for fourth. Černy, piloting a Citroën, carried a slim 7.3sec advantage into the final day and stretched it to 26.9sec over Škoda Fabia RS driver Daprà by the finish.
Making an impressive WRC2 debut, Pablo Sarrazin claimed sixth, with Charles Munster, Maxime Potty, Sarah Rumeau and Filip Kohn rounding out the top ten. Meanwhile, in the WRC Masters Cup, Maurizio Chiarini emerged victorious.
Round two of the WRC takes place on the snow and ice of Sweden. The series’ only pure winter fixture is based in Umeå from 13 – 16 February.
