Thursday
Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier handed Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville the Monte Carlo Rally lead after a small mistake in the final stage of the opening night of the 2025 World Rally Championship.
New-for-2025 non-hybrid powered Rally1 cars and Hankook tyres created plenty of unknowns in the event build up, but it was the familiar sight of record nine-time Monte Carlo winner Ogier topping the times that dominated the majority of Thursday night.
However, after winning the opening two nighttime tests a wild moment on stage three handed reigning world champion Neuville a two-second lead over Toyotas’s Elfyn Evans, as Ogier dropped to third [12.8s].
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera endured a difficult opening night to sit in sixth [+43.9s] behind Hyundai duo Ott Tanak [+27.0s] and new signing Adrien Fourmaux [+30.0s]. M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster [48.2s], Toyota duo Takamoto Katsuta [+53.3] and Sami Pajairi [+2m24.4s] and Rally2 runner Nikolay Gryazin rounded out the top 10.
Friday
Sebastien Ogier capitalised on a mistake from Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans to end an eventful Friday leading the World Rally Championship opener in Monte Carlo.
The eight-time world champion began the day sitting third after a mistake on Thursday night cost him the rally lead. But a strong showing across Friday’s five completed stages hauled Ogier into a 12.6s advantage over Evans, who was left to rue an error on stage eight.
Hyundai’s new signing Adrien Fourmaux ended the day, that included his first stage win for his new team, in third, 1.6s behind Evans.
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera won stage four but largely struggled to find the sweet spot on the new Hankook tyres. The Finn will head into Saturday in fourth [+38.5s], ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tanak [+47.3s] and M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster [+1m33.7s].
Toyota duo Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari held seventh and eighth, while world champion Thierry Neuville and Rally2 runner Nikolay Gryazin rounded out the top 10. Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean survived the day to sit in 12th position.
Munster encountered a problem with his Ford Puma on the road section back to service and has retired.
Drama unfolded earlier in the day as Neuville, who was sitting in second spot and 0.8s behind Evans, hit trouble. The stage was held in dry conditions although crews faced icy patches.
The world champion was unable to stop his i20 N from running on a tight right hairpin which resulted in an excursion into a ditch. Neuville managed to recover without losing too much time but with his left-rear wheel dragging behind him.
Moments later Tanak had a wild moment running wide into a ditch that resulted in the 2019 world champion losing the tailgate of his i20 N.
Saturday
Sebastien Ogier will take a 20.3s lead into the final day of the World Rally Championship season-opener in Monte Carlo after a Saturday afternoon dominated by Hyundai’s Ott Tanak.
The Toyota driver managed to extend his advantage across a second pass of the morning’s stages that had become incredibly dirty. The eight-time world champion made no mistakes to ensure his pursuit of a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo win remained on track.
Behind, the battle for the podium spots raged becoming a three-way fight between Elfyn Evans in second, third-placed Adrien Fourmaux and an inspired Tanak. Only 6.7s separated the trio after Tanak took a clean sweep of afternoon stage wins.
Changes made during the midday service seemed to work a treat for Tanak at the start of the afternoon.
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera continued to struggle, ending the day in fifth [55.0s] behind Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta [+1m43.7s], Sami Pajari [+4m09.9s], world champion Thierry Neuville [5m17.5s], Josh McErlean [+8m25.4s] and Rally2 runner Nikolay Gryazin [+8,33.0s] rounded out the top 10.
Sunday
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 team-mate Elfyn Evans after a nail-biting final day through the French Alps.
Evans came under pressure from Hyundai debutant Adrien Fourmaux but beat the Frenchman on the Wolf Power Stage to hold onto second.
Kalle Rovanpera, making his full-time return to the WRC, found it tough adjusting to Hankook’s super soft tyres, admitting that he needed to change his driving style. It left him mired in fifth for the majority of the but was able to snatch fourth [+54.3s] from Hyundai’s Ott Tanak thanks to a smart tyre choice for the final stage.
Tanak was left to settle for fifth [+58.9s] having put himself in the victory hunt after a clean sweep of Saturday’s afternoon stages.
Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville endured a difficult start to his title defence finishing an eventful rally in sixth [+5m44.2s].
Neuville had held eighth position heading into Sunday’s final three stages but rose to sixth after Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari hit trouble on stage 16.
M-Sport’s Josh McErlean faced a baptism of fire making his first start in a Rally1 car on Monte Carlo’s challenge asphalt roads. The 25-year-old Irishman grew in confidence as the rally progressed, reaching the finish in seventh on debut.
In WRC2, Citroen’s Yohan Rossel claimed victory beating Eric Camilli by 1m23.3s, with Rossel’s brother Leo finishing third to complete the top 10.
