Sébastien Ogier Dominates Monte Carlo Rally, Closing in on Historic 10th Win
Sebastien Ogier stands on the brink of a historic 10th Monte Carlo Rally victory, leading the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship season opener by 20.3 seconds after Saturday's stages.
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The eight-time WRC champion, competing part-time in 2025, masterfully handled challenging conditions in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 despite starting 10th and facing mud and loose stones on the road. His experience and calculated driving style proved crucial throughout the day's six stages west of Gap.
Behind Ogier, an intense battle for second place continues between Toyota's Elfyn Evans and Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux, separated by just 4.3 seconds. Ott Tanak showed impressive afternoon pace in his Hyundai, closing to within 2.5 seconds of teammate Fourmaux after setting the fastest time on the 12.96-mile Aucelon/Recoubeau-Jansac 2 stage.
Two-time WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera holds fifth place, 27.9 seconds behind Tanak, while defending champion Thierry Neuville struggled with power delivery issues, dropping to eighth overall.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel leads convincingly in his Citroen C3, maintaining a perfect record of stage wins among point-scoring drivers and building a nearly three-minute advantage. His brother Leo impressively holds second place in class, just half a second ahead of Eric Camilli's Hyundai.
Current Top 5 Positions:
- Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota) 2h42m48.2s
- Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota) +20.3s
- Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai) +24.6s
- Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai) +27.1s
- Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota) +55.0s
The rally concludes Sunday with three final stages totaling 31.63 miles, including the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage, before finishing in Monaco.
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