日: 2025年1月18日

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The eagerly anticipated 2025 FIA World Rally Championship season bursts into life when Rallye Monte-Carlo gets underway for the 93rd time from January 22-26.

Exciting tweaks to the technical regulations, an expanded calendar, a new official tyre supplier and a revamped points-scoring system are just some of what’s in store during the upcoming title chase, which will be contested by factory teams from Hyundai, M-Sport Ford and Toyota.
 
A capacity 70-car entry, out of 92 registrations, including 47 FIA priority crews, has been assembled to compete on the 2025 FIA WRC season opener, made possible as always thanks to the hundreds of volunteer marshals and officials among more than two thousand people mobilised who ensure the safe and successful running of the event.
 
While Rallye Monte-Carlo is a Tarmac event in name, it’s rarely a Tarmac event in nature due to its reputation for wintry weather conditions. Ice and even snow often add to the tough task in hand, as do the inconsistent grip levels that are frequently experienced on the mountain roads. Having taken over from Pirelli as the FIA WRC’s official tyre supplier, Hankook Tire will be providing the spec rubber for all the competitors. It is anticipated that overall grip levels will be slightly lower than in recent years, which will be just one of the many challenges that the drivers will have to adapt to in 2025. For Rallye Monte-Carlo, the company is providing its Ventus Z215 soft and super soft tyre with the i*Cept SR20 snow tyre also available with or without studs fitted. Hankook will unleash its Dynapro tyre for the gravel rounds later in the year.

Lighter, simpler and more affordable Rally1 cars will take to the stages as the WRC’s flagship category, utilising 100 per cent sustainable fuel as they have since 2022, but without the plug-in hybrid units deployed over the past three years. As part of the rule change, the minimum weight of the cars has been lowered from 1260 kilograms to 1180 kilograms. To maintain an equivalent power-to-weight ratio between the 2024 and 2025 Rally1 cars, the air restrictor size has been reduced from 36mm to 35mm.

The allocation of championship points has been modified for 2025 to place a greater emphasis on winning events outright, while ensuring there’s still plenty to fight for on the Sunday of each rally. Points will now be allocated on a sliding scale of 25-17-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 to the top 10 classified finishers. A separate Sunday allocation of 5-4-3-2-1 will reward the top five according to the results of the final leg, while the fastest quintet on the Power Stage will score 5-4-3-2-1 points. Having been able to bank a maximum of 30 points in 2024, a driver winning the rally, topping the Super Sunday order and going quickest on the Power Stage can now secure 35 points.

Contested over 14 rounds compared to the previous 13, the WRC visits the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia for the first time. EKO Acropolis Rally Greece returns to the late June slot it last occupied in 2005, while Delfi Rally Estonia is back after running as part of the FIA European Rally Championship last season. Rally del Paraguay’s inclusion means two rallies in South America for the first time since 2019. The all-new Rally Saudi Arabia becomes the deciding round with Forum8 Rally Japan now the penultimate event of the year.

In a key personnel change for 2025, Nicolas Klinger is promoted to the role of FIA WRC Safety Delegate following Michèle Mouton’s decision to retire following more than a decade of incredible service. Klinger’s Deputy Safety Delegate role is filled by Priit Priimägi from Estonia.

MONACO LAUNCH FOR 2025 FIA WRC SEASON

The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship is being launched this Sunday (January 19) in Monaco’s Casino Square. The ceremony will be inaugurated FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem alongside WRC Promoter CEO Jona Siebel and representatives of the Automobile Club de Monaco. 

The event will officially introduce Hankook as the exclusive official WRC tyre supplier, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the sport. The event will culminate with the introduction of Rally1 manufacturers and their participating crews, followed by a formal drinks reception at the Café de Paris for invited guests.

THE ROUTE IN SHORT

With the city of Gap the event’s home for the second season in a row following a two-year stint based back on the harbourside in Monaco, the 93rd Rallye Monte-Carlo will challenge the stars of the FIA World Rally Championship over 343.80 kilometres. Following the traditional ceremonial start in Monaco’s Casino Square, proceedings intensify with three timed tests run after dark on Thursday January 23 totalling 54.16 timed kilometres.
 
Located in the departments of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Hautes-Alpes, the opening trio of stages include the 21.18 kilometres of Faucon-du-Caire/Bréziers – the longest of the first night – and Avançon/Notre-Dame-du-Laus, which is set to get under way at 21:06 local time over a distance of 13.97 kilometres.
 
The rally restarts from Gap on Friday January 24 with the departments of Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence hosting the action. Three repeated stages and a midday service halt in Gap are included on the itinerary, which covers a competitive distance of 107.34 kilometres. The day-opening Saint-Maurice/Aubessagne test is the leg’s longest at 18.68 kilometres.
 
Saturday’s (January 25) route is centred on the Drôme department with two loops of three new stages and 131.40 timed kilometres on offer. At 27.00 kilometres, the double-use La Motte-Chalancon/Saint-Nazaire stage is the rally’s longest.
 
The deciding leg on Sunday January 26 marks the departure from Gap for the journey south to the finish in Monaco. It consists of 50.90 kilometres divided between three stages. The La Bollène-Vésubie/Peïra-Cava Power Stage, which climbs the iconic Col de Turini, is due to begin at 12h15.

RALLYE MONTE-CARLO DATA 

Stage distance: 343.80 km
Total distance: 1629.37 km
Number of stages: 18

RALLY1 CONTENDERS

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Thierry Neuville defends his world title carrying the coveted #1 on his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, his 12th consecutive season with the Korean manufacturer. The Belgian is joined for a fifth year by Estonia’s Ott Tänak and the team’s French newcomer, Adrien Fourmaux.
 
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Grégoire Munster will be the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team’s most experienced driver when he embarks on his second full season at Rally1 level. Josh McErlean, a product of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, steps up from FIA WRC2 to pilot the second Ford Puma Rally1.
 
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
Sébastien Ogier, the winner of the WRC title eight times, has won Rallye Monte-Carlo on a record nine occasions. While Ogier is planning a partial event schedule for the fourth year in 2025, double champion Kalle Rovanperä returns for a full season after he went part time in 2024. Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and FIA WRC2 champion Sami Pajari complete the Toyota’s five-strong factory line-up in GR Yaris Rally1 cars.

SUPPORTING CATEGORIES
 
The popularity of the Rally2-based FIA WRC2 category is highlighted by a 24-car entry headed by Nikolay Gryazin (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Yohan Rossel (PH-Sport Citroën C3 Rally2), who finished third and fourth respectively in last year’s standings.
 
Léo Rossel graduates to FIA WRC2 as the French Tarmac champion and will partner his older brother Yohan at PH Sport, while Charles Munster, younger brother of M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Grégoire, is entered in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2.
 
Former winner François Delecour’s 17-year-old son Eliott Delecour makes his WRC debut on Rallye Monte-Carlo, as does French federation-supported Sarah Rumeau, who is embarking on an FIA WRC2 campaign with Sarrazin Motorsport – Iron Lynx.
 
After claiming top FIA WRC3 honours on Rallye Monte-Carlo 12 months ago, Jan Černý returns in FIA WRC2 with his opposition including Eric Camilli, Gus Greensmith and Roberto Daprà.
 
Oliver Solberg is the top seed in the RC2 category on his first appearance in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 but hasn’t nominated the event as one of his scoring rounds.
 
Diego Domínguez starts the defence of his FIA WRC3 title on Rallye Monte-Carlo with FIA ERC3 champion Filip Kohn stepping up to FIA WRC2. Rachele Somaschini is also stepping up from the FIA European Rally Championship and will use her participation to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis, the genetic disorder she suffers from.
 
Eamonn Boland is the leading FIA WRC Masters Cup seed, the Irishman competing alongside Michael Joe “MJ” Morrissey, the 2024 FIA WRC Masters Cup champion co-driver.

THE SEASON AHEAD
 

View the FIA World Rally Championship event schedule for 2025 here.

MEDIA INFORMATION

Media accreditation

Media accreditation must be collected in person by accredited pass holders from the Accreditation Desk, Media Centre, Centre Omnisport COSEC, Avenue de Traunstein, 05000 Gap, France.

The Accreditation Desk is open as follows:
 

Media Centre
 
The Media Centre is located as follows: Centre Omnisport COSEC, Avenue de Traunstein, 05000 Gap.

The following opening hours apply:

A subsidiary Media Centre is located at One Monte-Carlo, 1 Place du Casino, 98000 Monaco. It’s open from 06:00 until the last accredited media representative leaves on Sunday January 26.

Media activities and opportunities
 

(All times local, approximate and subject to change)

Media zones

Media Zones attended by all drivers and selected team representatives will operate in the Media Zone area located on the entry to the Service Park (Monaco for TC18A) as follows:
TC3A, 6A, 9A, 12A, 15A and 18A

FIA WRC Meet the Crews live interviews, Place du Casino, Thursday 23 January

13:30 – 13:40 – FIA WRC Drivers (appearing from the Start ramp, Monaco)
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT – Thierry Neuville (BEL), Hyundai i20 N Rally1
M-Sport Ford WRT – Josh McErlean (IRL), Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Sébastien Ogier (FRA), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Kalle Rovanperä (FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
 
13:40 – 13:50 – WRC Manufacturer Team Principals (joining live from the Fan Zone, Gap)
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT – Cyril Abiteboul
M-Sport Ford WRT – Richard Millener
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Jari-Matti Latvala
 
13:50 – 14:00 – FIA WRC Support Championships (appearing from the Start ramp, Monaco)
FIA WRC2 – Eric Camilli (FRA), Hyundai i20 N Rally2
FIA WRC2 – PH Sport – Yohan Rossel (FRA), Citroën C3 Rally2
FIA WRC2 – Rachele Somaschini (ITA), Citroën C3 Rally2
FIA WRC2 – Sarrazin Motorsport – Iron Lynx – Sarah Rumeau (FRA), Citroën C3 Rally2
FIA WRC3 – Diego Domínguez (PAR), Ford Fiesta Rally3

FIA Post-event Press Conference, Place du Casino, 15:30, Sunday 26 January
 
Top 3 drivers in overall classification, winning codriver and representative of winning manufacturer
Winning FIA WRC2, WRC2 Challenger, WRC3 and Masters Cup drivers
 
FIA WRC Meet the Crews live interviews and FIA Post-event Press Conference broadcast on FIA and WRC social media channels.

RALLYE MONTE-CARLO MANUFACTURER ENTRIES

RALLYE MONTE-CARLO ADDITIONAL RALLY1 ENTRIES

RALLYE MONTE-CARLO 2024 RESULTS

RALLYE MONTE-CARLO RECENT WINNERS

World Rally Championship

WRCRallye Monte-CarloWRCSEASON 2025SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2025WRCRallye Monte-Carlo01Friday, January 17, 2025 – 7:00pm

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Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi made history by becoming the first Saudi Arabian driver to win the Dakar Rally. 

The Toyota Hilux driver only won one stage but he led after the ninth day for the first time and then moved ahead on the penultimate stage to clinch a narrow 3min 57sec victory and the early lead in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). 

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings led from the second stage to the eighth and then hit the front again after the 10th stage. But the South African could not prevent Al-Rajhi earning the biggest win of his career and the Saudi’s co-driver Timo Gottschalk from securing a second victory after a 14-year wait following his success with Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in South America in 2011.

Lategan led the race for a total of eight days but just fell short after a superb drive. A delighted Overdrive Racing’s team principal Jean-Marc Fortin said: “What to say? Two and three years ago, one and three, last year second, and this year, one and two. I am so happy. It’s a dream of life that you are winning Dakar. But this one was another test and Overdrive has won the Dakar. It is unbelievable. We are leading the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships. It’s a beautiful day.”

The Japanese manufacturer controlled the race from the start. The team won the Prologue and eight of the 12 stages to seal a fourth Dakar success after previous wins in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

The Ford M-Sport Team picked up a podium finish and two stage wins after a successful two weeks for the new Ford Raptor. The Swedish pairing of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist topped the times on stage 11 on their way to third place, while team-mates Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch finished fifth. Joan Roma won a stage in the third Raptor but was out of contention after a first-week engine block stage and ongoing delays, while the defending champion Carlos Sainz retired before the rest day with accident damage to his car.

Sandwiched between the two Fords in fourth place was the five-time winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his French navigator Edouard Boulanger on the first Dakar appearance of the new Dacia Sandrider. The Qatari was in contention for a top result throughout the two weeks but a costly navigational error and niggling little delays proved expensive and he missed out on a podium finish.

Dacia team-mate Sébastien Loeb was disqualified during the first week after a crash had damaged the roll cage and Cristina Gutiérrez played a supporting role to the Qatari in the third car after her own delays and subsequent time penalties during the first week. 

The French pairing of Mattieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier achieved a career-best sixth-place finish in their Century CR7 and were well clear of Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras, who guided the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas to seventh. 

A spirited second-week performance from the current FIA World and European Baja Cup champions, João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, lifted the Portuguese duo from 11th to eighth in the lead diesel-engined X-raid Mini JCW Rally, despite punctures. Their cause was helped by niggling delays and time lost in the sand for the ninth-placed Toyota Gazoo Racing duo of Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz. The 22-year-old American led the event after stage one and picked up a second stage win before the rest day.

Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer topped a successful two weeks for the Century Racing Factory Team by rounding off the top 10, but they were not registered for the W2RC. The Czech Ford F-150 crew of Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka fended off a challenge from Overdrive Racing’s Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena to grab 11th.

The second week was a disappointing one for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón. They had been in contention for the podium until they lost over two and a half hours with technical issues on stage six and were also penalised an hour for a ‘mobile phone infringement. Moraes finished 15th but had the consolation of winning stages seven and 12. 

Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq started the second half of the event from 10th in their petrol-engined X-Raid MINI JCW Rally, but the Frenchman rolled after just 16km of the sixth stage, complained of neck pain and opted to be airlifted back to Ha’il for medical checks. His 14th Dakar ended with a fifth withdrawal. 

Guillaume de Mévius and last year’s winning navigator Mattieu Baumel suffered transmission woes and several minor time delays and finished 22nd, one place behind their X-Raid team-mates, Lionel and Lucie Baud. 

Toyota’s Saood Variawa dropped out of contention after hefty time losses but entered the history books, at just 19-years-old, for becoming the youngest ever winner of a stage (SS3) in the Ultimate category.

Cavigliasso and Pertegarini romp to Challenger category victory

Argentina’s Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini held a lead of just under 30 minutes after the first week and held on to secure a memorable victory in the Challenger category in their Taurus T3 Max. 

The husband and wife won three stages during the first week but managed to finish 1hr 11min 38sec ahead of Portugal’s Gonçalo Guerreiro and Brazil’s Cadu Sachs after several of their rivals hit trouble during the course of a demanding second week of racing in southern Saudi Arabia. Cavigliasso had won the quad category back in 2019.

Young Spaniard Pau Navarro became embroiled in a fascinating tussle with Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari during the second week and he and co-driver Lisandro Herrera took full advantage of late technical problems for the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA by BFG’s Corbin Leaverton and Dutchman Paul Spierings (engine) to finish third overall and claim a stage win. Al-Kuwari and his brother Nasser secured fourth, despite a 30-minute time penalty, with Poland’s Adam Kus and his navigator Dmytro Tsyro rounding off an all-Taurus top five. 

Last year’s W2RC SSV champion Yasir Seaidan suffered hefty time losses early in the event after steering issues but had the consolation of three stage wins, while Dania Akeel also fell out of contention with a broken suspension wishbone and a fistful of time penalties on stage six but became the first Saudi woman to win a stage on the Dakar in her Taurus T3 Max. David Zille and Leaverton also won a stage apiece. 

Behind Kus, Khalifa Al-Attiyah, Mario Franco, Puck Klaassen, Leaverton, Seaidan and Akeel rounded off the W2RC entrants.

America’s Heger/Eddy win the SSV section: Portugal’s Pinto/Oliveira finish as top W2RC-registered crew in third

The Sebastien Loeb Racing-RXR Factory Racing duo of Brock Heger and Max Eddy dominated the SSV category from the fourth stage to the finish to secure a comfortable win by the margin of 2hr 06min 04sec.

Once their team-mates and early rally leaders, Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet, had incurred a one-hour time penalty and suffered front-end assembly and resultant transmission problems, debutant Heger was able to cruise to the finish to earn the win in a Polaris RZR Pro R Sports to follow up De Soultrait’s success for the brand in 2024.

Heger, 25, won the Prologue and stage two. The American said: “Today’s my birthday, so I figured I needed to treat myself to a good birthday present. We’re the Dakar champions and it’s pretty crazy to think about it. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s a pretty cool accomplishment after a crazy two weeks. We were pretty much near the podium every day. It is something I will never forget.” 

The Can-Am Factory Team’s Francisco Lopez and Juan Pablo Latrach were the quickest crew for large parts of the race in the new Maverick R but lost a lot of time during the early stages. The Chilean won five of the 12 specials and climbed to second place after De Soultrait’s issues.

The Portuguese pairing of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira were the leading W2RC-registered crew on the bottom step of the podium in their Old Friends Rally Team Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR. MMP’s Jérôme de Sadeleer and Diego Gil finished fourth. 

Enrico Gaspari and Fausto Mota were fifth and picked up W2RC points for being the second registered crew to finish with the Dutch duo of Roger Grouwels and Rudolf Meijer coming home third in W2RC.

After a disappointing start, the Can-Am Factory Team delivered some impressive stage performances. Jeremias Ferioli won the seventh and eighth stages and Sara Price prevailed on the fourth and 11th and 12th days to give the Canadian manufacturer 10 successive stage wins.

The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez was forced to retire with sciatica before the restart after the rest day in Ha’il.

Behind, Grouwels, Claude Fournier, Michele Cinotto, Price and Manuel Andujar were W2RC-registered drivers at the finish in Shubaytah.

FIA World Rally-Raid Championship

Cross-CountryAll fia sportSEASON 2025SportCross-Country1SportFIA World Rally-Raid ChampionshipCross-CountryAll fia sportSEASON 2025Cross-Country01Friday, January 17, 2025 – 6:09pmFriday, January 17, 2025 – 6:09pm