日: 2023年1月22日

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Sébastien Ogier celebrated a record ninth triumph at Rallye Monte-Carlo, confirming a lights-to-flag victory at the opening round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship on Sunday afternoon.

Ogier is undertaking selected drives for Toyota Gazoo Racing this year and kicked off his part-time campaign with a stellar performance in the French Alps, mastering twisty asphalt roads to head GR Yaris team-mate Kalle Rovanperä by 18.8sec in a dominant 1-2 for the Japanese squad.

His nine victories span three decades and have been achieved with five different manufacturers. Topping off Ogier’s perfect weekend was the fact that co-driver Vincent Landais celebrated his maiden win at world level.

The Frenchman led the season opener from start to finish after charging to a lead of over 30 seconds during Friday’s first full day of action in the mountains above Monaco.

Rovanperä reduced that deficit to just 16.0sec heading into Sunday’s finale, but Ogier, who was denied glory by a late puncture 12 months ago, kept his cool to maintain the buffer throughout the final four speed tests.

“It’s huge,” Ogier beamed. “I love this rally. It’s the one which gave me the dream right at the beginning and I am so happy for Vincent. For me it’s nice, but for him it’s a dream to take his first win.

“We still need to enjoy these moments and that’s why we are still here [in the WRC], to catch some victories like this. To win a famous one like Monte has no price.”

Rovanperä finished on a high by winning the Wolf Power Stage to add five bonus points to his tally. As the highest-placed full-time driver, the young Finn’s title defence is off to a solid start.

“It was a good one,” he agreed. “I think we can be quite happy with second place.”

Heavy tyre wear prevented Hyundai i20 N driver Thierry Neuville from making any gains on Rovanperä. After 18 stages, the Belgian was forced to settle for third overall, 27.8sec ahead of Elfyn Evans.

For Evans, there were thoughts of what could have been. Were it not for a rear puncture which cost the Welshman over 40 seconds on Friday, a 1-2-3 finish for Toyota could well have been on the cards.

Ott Tänak went easy on his soft compound tyres in preparation for an all-out attack on the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage, but he missed out on the benchmark time by just half a second. Ending his M-Sport Ford Puma debut with a top-five result, Tänak felt like he’d made positive steps.

“It’s a long season ahead but this is a positive start,” the Estonian remarked. “At least we have scored some points already – unlike the previous three years!”

Takamoto Katsuta was lucky to finish the event after limping through the finale with damaged rear suspension. The Yaris youngster held onto sixth overall by 14.9sec from Dani Sordo, whose Hyundai was plagued by a hybrid unit fault all day.

A subdued Esapekka Lappi finished eighth overall on his Hyundai debut, while WRC2 stars Nikolay Gryazin and Yohan Rossel completed the top 10.

The championship switches to Scandinavia next month for the only pure winter round of the season. Rally Sweden takes place in Umeå on 9 – 12 February.

World Rally Championship

Rallye Monte-CarloWRCWRCSEASON 2023SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2023Rallye Monte-CarloWRC00Sunday, January 22, 2023 – 2:45pmSunday, January 22, 2023 – 2:45pm

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Sébastien Ogier sits on the brink of a record-breaking ninth Rallye Monte-Carlo victory after producing another faultless drive in the French Alps on Saturday.

Having built up a sizeable advantage of over half a minute on Friday, Ogier’s attentions switched to lead preservation as the Monaco-based fixture headed into the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence for six asphalt speed tests totalling 111.78km.

With today’s running order based on reverse rally classification, Ogier had to contend with the most polluted road conditions as gravel, rocks and mud were swept onto the stages by those running higher up the field.  

Ogier, who drives part-time for Toyota Gazoo Racing, took a vigilant approach. He was in no mood for risk-taking and desperate not to repeat last year’s disappointment, where a sharp rock caused a late puncture which put the brakes on his victory bid.

But, as a result of his caution, the 39-year-old saw his buffer more than halved by charging GR Yaris colleague Kalle Rovanperä. He heads into Sunday’s finale 16.0sec clear at the top.

Ogier is confident he has enough time in hand but, with four treacherous stages still remaining, anything could happen. Victory here would put him top of the Rallye Monte-Carlo roll of honour, beating the record he currently shares with old foe Sébastien Loeb.

“I think it should be enough,” he said. “The last one was the most dangerous one for punctures so I took it easy and I am happy that stage is over now.”

Reigning champion Rovanperä started strongly and won two of the morning’s three stages to put some distance between himself and Hyundai i20 N star Thierry Neuville.

Neuville responded by claiming two benchmark times himself, but a big push from the former under the darkness of Ubraye – Entrevaux left Neuville 16.0sec adrift of his rival in third.

Elfyn Evans made it three Toyotas in the top four with a solid comeback drive following his Friday puncture. The Welshman leapfrogged Ott Tänak in the day’s second stage and never strayed outside the top-three times for each test, ending 24.5sec off the heels of Neuville.

For M-Sport Ford returnee Tänak there were feelings of both relief and disappointment after a technical fault left his Puma with heavier steering than normal.

Although it left him unable to put up a fight against Evans, the flipside of Tänak’s issue was that the power steering did not fail completely – something he would have been dreading as there was no mid-leg service on the schedule.

Yaris youngster Takamoto Katsuta climbed to sixth overall after leapfrogging Dani Sordo on the first run from Le Fugeret to Thorame-Haute. Sordo, who now holds seventh, continued to feel puzzled by the lack of competitiveness in his stage times.

Eighth-placed Esapekka Lappi made overnight set-up tweaks and felt much more comfortable with his new i20 N. A rear-right puncture on SS12 was a minor source of frustration but, importantly, did not affect his overall standing.

WRC2 frontrunners Nikolay Gryazin (Toksport WRT2) and Yohan Rossel (PH Sport) both moved up the order in ninth and tenth overall respectively at the expense of Pierre-Louis Loubet, who retired with rear suspension damage after hitting a bridge on SS9.

A faultless drive allowed the 25-year-old Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 star to stretch his advantage in the category to more than 45 seconds heading into the day’s final test. However, a front-right puncture around seven kilometres from the end of the stage saw Gryazin’s lead sliced to just 15.2sec over Citroën C3 driver Rossel, setting up a thrilling final day at the championship’s opening round.

In the WRC2 Challenger class, Spaniard Pepe López leads in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, ahead of Czech Republic’s Erik Cais in a Škoda Fabia RS and 2019 ERC champion Chris Ingram from Great Britain in a Škoda Fabia Evo. 

Frenchman François Delecour is at the top of the newly renamed WRC Masters Cup class with a lead of over three minutes in a Škoda Fabia RS over Italy’s Mauro Miele, the 2022 class champion, in another Škoda Fabia RS.

Sunday’s finale returns to the Alpes-Maritimes. The familiar Luceram / Lantosque opens proceedings and is followed by a re-run of La Bollène-Vésubie / Col de Turini, which crews have already driven in anger on Thursday evening. Both stages are repeated once again with the latter forming the Wolf Power Stage where bonus points are available.

The provisional results can be consulted here.

World Rally Championship

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