WRC – Ogier extends lead on Saturday and closes on 10th Rallye Monte-Carlo victory

2025 Rallye Monte-Carlo (round 1/14) – Saturday report

Sébastien Ogier is on the cusp of an unprecedented 10th Rallye Monte-Carlo victory after another flawless performance on Saturday, further extending his lead at the iconic French Alps event.

The Frenchman, driving a GR Yaris Rally1 for Toyota GAZOO Racing, heads into Sunday’s final leg with a commanding lead of 20.3sec, having delivered a measured and calculated drive through six challenging stages west of Gap. His and co-driver Vincent Landais’ efforts kept the chasing pack firmly at bay.

Despite milder temperatures offering respite from ice, Ogier had to battle the toughest of the day’s conditions.

His 10th-place starting position meant he faced mud and loose stones left on the road by the cars ahead, yet the eight-time world champion used every ounce of his Monte-Carlo experience to push on, extending his lead which stood at 12.6sec after Friday. Behind him, Adrien Fourmaux and Elfyn Evans continued their fight for second place, while a fast-finishing Ott Tänak also staked his claim for a podium result.

Just 4.3sec separated Evans and Fourmaux at the end of the rally’s longest day, with the Welshman taking back control of second place after a thrilling back-and-forth. Fourmaux, on what has been a stunning Hyundai WRC debut so far, hit top gear in the morning to snatch second from Evans on SS11, but the Toyota driver fought back in the afternoon, edging ahead once more.

Tänak came alive in the afternoon after set-up tweaks unlocked more speed from his Hyundai. He surged past Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä on SS13, then set a blistering pace on SS14 – winning the stage and beating Fourmaux by 13.3sec. Another powerful run on the day’s finale left the Estonian only 2.5sec adrift of his team-mate heading into Sunday.

Two-time WRC champion Rovanperä, who ended 27.9sec behind Tänak in fifth, felt that he couldn’t have done much more. His preference for faster, flowing stages left him at a disadvantage on the day’s tighter, more technical roads.

More than two minutes separated the Toyotas of Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari in sixth and seventh overall, with both drivers relieved to have completed another day without any major drama. The same couldn’t be said for Thierry Neuville, who languished eighth after a power delivery issue on SS10 cost him around 50sec and stunted any hopes of a fightback after his Friday struggles.

For Grégoire Munster, the day was bittersweet. The M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 driver celebrated his first-ever fastest WRC stage time on Saturday’s opener, but after retiring with a technical fault on the final liaison section back to service on Friday, he’s unable to challenge his Rally1 rivals for an overall position. Without the issues, Munster could have been in the mix for a top-five finish.

Puma Rally1 debutant Josh McErlean made huge strides, breaking into the top nine as he gained valuable mileage in the car. WRC2 Škoda Fabia RS Nikolay Gryazin was 10th overnight.

Rossel’s Rampage Continues in WRC2

In 11th overall, Yohan Rossel is on course to start his 2025 WRC2 campaign in emphatic style after further extending his category lead on Saturday.

The French ace has been unstoppable so far and maintained his perfect record of stage wins across all six of Saturday’s challenging alpine speed tests. That relentless pace has seen him build an impressive advantage of nearly three minutes heading into Sunday’s decisive final leg.

Even more remarkable is that Rossel leads a PH Sport Citroën C3 Rally2 1-2 overnight. His younger brother, Léo – making his WRC debut – delivered a standout performance by snatching second place from Eric Camilli’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on the very last stage of the day. The gap between them? A nail-biting half a second.

Jan Černý passed Roberto Daprà to claim fourth, although the Tenerife-based Citroën driver remains over two minutes adrift of the podium. Daprà trails Černý by just 6.3sec as the pair gear up for a tense battle through Sunday’s three-stage finale.

There was heartbreak for Filip Kohn, who looked set to hold sixth before dropping over eight minutes on the final stage when his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 slid into a ditch. That misstep allowed 19-year-old Pablo Sarrazin – another WRC debutant – to inherit the position in his Citroën.

Léo Rossel’s stellar drive also saw him lead the WRC2 Challenger category, which is open to rising stars yet to claim a WRC2 or WRC3 title in a Rally2 car or score WRC manufacturer points. Maurizio Chiarini continued to dominate the WRC Masters Cup category for drivers aged 50 and over.

Sunday’s final leg starts from Gap and includes three more tricky stages as the rally journeys south to the finish in Monaco.