Thierry Neuville leads the 2025 WRC Monte Carlo Rally after Thursday's opening stages, benefiting from a costly spin by early pacesetter Sebastien Ogier.

The season opener began with three challenging night stages in the French Alps. Ogier, chasing his 10th Monte Carlo victory, dominated the first two stages in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. However, a wide slide into a fence post during the final stage cost him over 20 seconds, dropping him to third overall.

Neuville, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally1, capitalized on Ogier's misfortune to take the overnight lead with a 2.0s advantage over Toyota's Elfyn Evans. The challenging conditions featured a mix of dry and damp asphalt with patches of ice.

Hyundai's Ott Tanak holds fourth position, 27.0s behind Neuville, followed by teammate Adrien Fourmaux in fifth. Two-time WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera, returning to full-time competition with Toyota, sits sixth.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin leads the category in his Skoda, though he isn't registered for championship points. Citroen's Yohan Rossel leads the points-eligible WRC2 competitors, 7.2s behind Gryazin.

The rally continues Friday with six stages totaling 66.7 competitive miles, with ice potentially affecting early and late runs.

Current Standings after SS3:

1. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai) 32m58.8s
2. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota) +2.0s
3. Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota) +12.8s
4. Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai) +27.0s
5. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai) +30.0s
6. Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota) +43.9s
7. Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford) +48.8s
8. Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota) +53.3s
9. Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota) +1m24.4s
10. Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda - WRC2) +2m16.7s
11. Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroen - WRC2) +2m23.9s

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