Sebastien Ogier held onto the lead throughout the final three stages of Rallye Monte-Carlo 2025 to secure his first win of the season.
SS16
Sebastien Ogier kicked off the final day of his home event with a stage, something he didn’t get any of on day three. Ogier finished four seconds faster than Elfyn Evans and 13 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä on the stage. With this stage win Ogier also takes an early lead on Super Sunday. Both Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta were forced to retire on this stage after both Toyota drivers got stuck on separate corners.
SS17
Adrien Fourmaux took home the stage win on the second stage of Super Sunday. With a time 4.5 seconds faster than Kalle Rovanperä and 17.8 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans. Kalle Rovanperä claimed the Super Sunday lead on the stage after Ogier finished fifth fastest on SS17. Rovanperä heads into the final stage with a 4-second lead over Fourmaux in the Super Sunday standings.
SS18
Sebastien Ogier capped off the weekend with yet another stage win. As the Frenchman set a time 0.2 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans and 3.7 seconds faster than Fourmaux to take home all 5 Powerstage points. As far as Super Sunday goes Elfyn Evans ended the event at the top of those standings.
Quotes
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal
“I’m really delighted. We could not really have had a better start to the season than this: we got the maximum 60 points as a team, a one-two-four overall and the 10th victory for Sébastien Ogier on Rallye Monte-Carlo, which is a truly amazing and unique achievement. The conditions were very difficult until the end and the tyre choice was stressful this morning because the road was freezing after the route-note crews had passed through. Unfortunately Sami and Taka went off, and perhaps I should have pushed them to take a safer choice, but this rally was all about the experience for them. With our other drivers it worked out well in the end, so thank you to them. At the same time it was a very entertaining rally and I think we have an exciting season ahead.”
Sebastien Ogier – 1st Overall
“It’s amazing to win this rally for the 10th time: it makes me incredibly happy and proud. This rally is the one that gave me the dream to be a rally driver, so if I could pick only one to win in a season, it would always be this one. This year it’s been a huge fight up until the very last stage. We had changing conditions, difficult tyre decisions and pressure right until the end so I’m glad we managed to keep it under control. We definitely had some moments but to win this rally I think you always need a bit of luck too. It’s a perfect start to the year for the team so we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Elfyn Evans – 2nd Overall
“This was a typical Rallye Monte-Carlo, a bit more extreme than in recent years and it was a properly challenging weekend. I’m very happy to be here at the end with a decent haul of points. Today started off with some very tricky conditions, we made a change at the last moment to take four studded tyres and I wasn’t sure it was the right call. In the end it seems there wasn’t a lot between the two choices and we had a pretty thrilling Power Stage to finish: we had a close moment a few corners from the end but thankfully we managed to get away with it.”
Kalle Rovanperä – 4th Overall
“Rallye Monte-Carlo is always tough and it was especially so this year. For me personally it was a pretty difficult weekend. We didn’t have the result that we wanted or the pace that we wanted but we have to be happy at the end to have got some pretty good points. Today was not a bad day for us: we just tried our best, kept consistent and it paid off. A big thanks to the team, now let’s see what we can do in Sweden.”
Takamoto Katsuta – DNF
“This morning in the first stage we knew that the conditions could be quite tricky, but we came to one right-hand corner that was frosty where we didn’t have that information in our pacenotes. We were quite slow going into the corner, but the car went wide and got stuck in a small ditch which we couldn’t get out of. Until then it had been quite a good rally, especially Saturday when the pace was good. It’s a pity but I just need to refocus on the next rally in Sweden and try to do a good job for the team there.”
Sami Pajari – DNF
“The approach for today was the same as before and we were not planning to push particularly hard. There was just one surprisingly icy braking point which just caught us out. It was an unfortunate end to our rally, as it been going according to plan until then. On Saturday especially we saw that the times were getting better and the feeling was getting better and the confidence was rising. Everything felt under control so it’s a pity to end the rally like this, but we will try to learn from what happened and look forward to Sweden.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis
Adrien Fourmaux – 3rd Overall
“Monte-Carlo is always something special, and to have such a great start with Hyundai is really positive so I am really pleased with my weekend. We put a lot of pressure on Elfyn and Seb, but we couldn’t push it that little bit more with that much snow on the road as we didn’t want to risk too much. It’s a shame, but it’s a part of game – we have no regrets. Sweden will be good, for sure; we will be second on the road in the snow and the cold temperatures, but I am really looking forward to it. ”Crew Notes:
Ott Tänak – 5th Overall
“It was quite an entertaining weekend but still lots of positives to take away. We got some good points and can be a bit happier with the road position going to round two. There were some things we couldn’t get right, but obviously the base was there. We will get it sorted and working, but it takes a bit of time. I am looking forward to Sweden, and we will be able to try the upgraded car for the first time so hopefully we will see an improved performance on that side as well. ”
Thierry Neuville – 6th Overall
“All in all it was a challenging weekend for us. It went wrong from the braking in the hairpin on Friday, and then the combination of our road position and the conditions today that didn’t favour us. Today there was less ice than expected, and cars were going faster on slick tyres – it was a difficult Sunday. We can optimistic about what’s coming next in Sweden; we will have a better road position and hopefully a better rally because of it, but we still need to make the most of it.”
Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal and Hyundai Motorsport President
“After a win here last year a third-place finish comes somewhat as a disappointment, but there are plenty of positives to be taken from this weekend. The first one is Adrien’s result in his first weekend with the team, and I am sure we will see a lot more this year as he gets fully familiar with the car and the team. Another positive is that our drivers managed to take the right approach to the challenges they were facing, which will be the key to this long and unpredictable championship. Finally, the car overall has been competitive across the course of the weekend; with the evolutions to come in Sweden and interesting road positions we are all really looking forward to the next round.”