Sebastien Ogier claims Monte Carlo victory

The Irish crew of Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy in their M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 finished seventh on their Rally1 debut on Rallye Monte-Carlo , the opening round of the World Rally Championship. Picture: Janus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.

A virtuoso performance from French ace Sebastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris Rally1) delivered a 10th Rallye Monte-Carlo victory for the Gap native in front of his own adoring fans as the World Rally Championship got underway in style. Co-driven by Vincent Landais and also claiming the Power Stage, they finished 18.5s ahead of their Toyota Gazoo Racing team mates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin. Hyundai debutants Adrien Fourmaux/Alex Coria were 7.5s further behind in third. On their Rally1 debut, the Irish crew of Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) finished seventh.

Ogier, who began Saturday's third leg of six stages with a 12.6s advantage over team mate Evans gave another masterclass performance to keep the opposition at bay. Running last of the Rally1 competitors he had to deal with a lot of pollution on the stages with mud and loose stones brought on to the road as previous competitors took large cuts.

While the French ace extended his lead to 20.3s the battle behind was pulsating as Evans and Fourmaux swapped second spot on several occasions, the former regaining the position on the day's final stage to edge 4.3s ahead in that particular duel. Meanwhile and having tweaked his Hyundai during the midday service, an unrelenting Ott Tanak forced his way into podium contention. A stage win during the morning (SS11) was bolstered by all three from the afternoon loop. The Estonian was back to his best as he declared "I found the rhythm." His performance on SS14 where he was nine seconds clear of the rest was the biggest stage winning margin of the event and helped elevate him to within 6.8s of second placed Evans and just 2.5s adrift of team mate Fourmaux, who was impressive on the morning's trio of stages.

Double WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota Yaris Rally1) ended the day in fifth followed by team mate Takamoto Katsuta and his Northern Ireland co-driver Aaron Johnston.

Meanwhile, Ford Puma Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean and his Cork co-driver Eoin Treacy held ninth place. Their acclimatisation continued on an upward spiral, McErlean reflected on the enormity of their task and the importance of finishing. "It's a big challenge, we got a fogged up windscreen halfway through (SS9). Another day done."

Their team mate Gregoire Munster, who began the day in Super Rally after his Ford Puma Rally1 suffered a technical issue on Friday night's liaison section, gave the M-Sport WRT outfit its first stage win of year on SS12.

Yesterday (Sunday), the battles raged and while Ogier extended his lead on SS16 to move 24.3s ahead of Evans, Tanak moved into third but was back in fourth a stage later with Fourmaux in devastating form regain the position and inching to within 4s of second placed Evans.

Tyre selection with various options of studded, un-studded and super soft compounds - sometimes crossed, added extra intrigue.

Ogier went on to clinch a Power Stage win and his tenth Monte victory and not surprisingly, was somewhat emotional at the finish. "I think I had my lucky star with me this weekend" he said, a reference to his late uncle, who passed away a year ago. Adding "I'm sure he was bringing me everything and this one is for him. I had quite a few moments this weekend. Yeah, like I said, my lucky star was there." 

On his 10th win, "I don't know what it means, but for me, the world. I have no idea if it's my last one now. Maybe it would be a good one to stop." Evans survived a moment on the final stage clouting the rear left of his car off a wall a kilometre from the finish. Fourmaux took third.

After securing seventh, McErlean said, The team have done an amazing job, Eoin (Treacy) on the notes has been superb. Big thanks to Motorsport Ireland and the Academy and everyone at home supporting. It's only the beginning of a big year ahead, hopefully, it gets easier but it's step by step." 

The Irish crew of Eamonn Boland/Mickey Joe Morrisey (Ford Fiesta Rally2) were third in the Masters Cup. Yohan Rossel (Citroen C3 Rally2) won the WRC2 category Rallye Monte-Carlo (Round 1, World Rally Championship) Gap: 1. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h. 19. 06.2s; 2. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+18.5s; 3. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+26.0s; 4.

K. Rovanperä/J. Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+54.3s; 5. O. Tänak/M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+59.0s; 6. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N)+5m. 44.2s; 7. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+10m. 15.1s; 8. Y. Rossel/A. Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2)+10m. 26.8s; 9. N. Gryazin/A. Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+11m. 40.7s; 10. E. Camilli/T. de la Haye (Hyundai i20 N Rally2)+13m. 14.6s.

Drivers' Championship (Positions after Round 1): 1. S. Ogier 33points; 2. E. Evans 26pts; 3. A. Fourmaux 20pts; 4. K. Rovanpera 18pts; 5. O. Tanak 11pts; 6. T. Neuville 9pts; 7. J. McErlean 6pts; 8. Y. Rossel 4pts; 9. N. Gryazin 2pts; 10. E. Camilli 1pt.

Manufacturers' Championship (Positions after Round 1): 1. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 60pts; Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 36pts; 3. M-Sport Ford WRT 11pts.