Sebastien Ogier claims Monte Carlo victory

Ford Puma Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean and his Cork co-driver Eoin Treacy held ninth place.

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.