Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Thierry Neuville (main image) led the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally after Thursday evening’s trio of alpine stages north-west of Monaco as early pacesetter Sebastien Ogier suffered a costly spin.
After a ceremonial start in Monaco’s iconic Casino Square, the cars ascended into the French Alps for the three tricky all-asphalt stages. The night-time action, illuminated by dazzling headlamps and the fireworks and flares of thousands of fans, was perhaps a chance for the headlining Rally1 crews to dial themselves in to their first event with hybrid systems removed and new tire-supplier Hankook onboard. Instead, the intensity and the drama was full-on from the start.
Chasing a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo victory, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver Ogier put down a marker with consecutive fastest times for the opening two stages. But the hopes of the eight-time WRC champ, who was born in Gap just a stone’s throw from the rally’s stages, took a hit in the evening’s final test, the 8.68-mile Avançon/Notre-Dame-du-Laus 1 stage. A wide slide into a fence post cost him more than 20 seconds, dropping him to third, but as the Yaris teetered on the brink of rolling, it could have been worse.
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver Neuville capitalized on Ogier’s misstep to claim the overnight lead with a slender 2.0s advantage over Elfyn Evans’ Toyota. Ogier, meanwhile, trailed 12.8sec further back in the final podium place.
“On the first part [of SS3] I was painting the road, and in the last part I was cleaning the road!” said Neuville after an error-free run on a challenging mixture of dry and damp asphalt plus treacherous patches of ice. “Super tricky to keep it on the road. I’m happy with the first day. Overall, our target was to finish today.”
Ogier counted himself lucky to escape without major damage, saying: “[It was] difficult, of course. A lot of mud on the road and we hit a pole sideways. It’s always lucky to get away with that.”
Local hero Sebastien Ogier took an early lead, but lost time with a tricky moment in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
Hyundai’s Ott Tanak played it steady to secure fourth, 27.0s adrift of Neuville. The Estonian passed teammate Adrien Fourmaux, making his Hyundai debut after switching from M-Sport Ford, on the final stage of the day, with fifth-placed Fourmaux heading to the overnight halt just 3.0s in arrears.
A further 13.9s back was two-time WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera, returning to Toyota for a full-time campaign in 2025 after choosing a part-time schedule last season. The Finn, who’s yet to win an all-asphalt WRC round, admitted his lack of recent experience on the Monte left him on the back foot as he ended the night down in sixth in his GR Yaris.
-M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver Gregoire Munster held seventh, edging Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta – who was battling a bout of the flu – by 4.5s, while reigning WRC2 champ Sami Pajari came in ninth in his first event as a full-time Rally1 driver with Toyota.
Gregoire Munster is the best of the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1s in seventh overall.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Nikolay Gryazin leads the way in his first event since switching back to Skoda after a single season with Citroen.
But with Gryazin, who holds 10th overall, choosing not to nominate the Monte Carlo Rally as one of his seven points-counting events, Citroen C3 driver Yohan Rossel leads the championship-eligible WRC2 cars, just 7.2s further back.
Skoda returnee Nikolay Gryazin heads the WRC2 field, but has elected not to chase championship points on the season opener – annoying if he goes on and wins it? Red Bull Content Pool
The rally continues on Friday with six challenging stages totaling 66.7 competitive miles. Ice could be a factor early and late in the day, but crews the bulk of the stages should be mostly dry, albeit with dirt and gravel thrown onto many of the corners promising some low-grip moments.
WRC Monte Carlo Rally, positions after Thursday, SS3
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 32m58.8s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2.0s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +12.8s
4 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +27.0s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +30.0s
6 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +43.9s
7 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +48.8s
8 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +53.3s
9 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m24.4s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 non-points) +2m16.7s
11 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen C3 – WRC2 leader) +2m23.9s
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