Peugeot hat-trick in Monte-Carlo

His Monegasque success, Sébastien Ogier acquired it during the second stage, taking advantage in quick succession of the retirements of the reigning champion Nicolas Vouilloz, of Juho Hanninen, who made a mistake during the very last special of the day, while he was at the head of the classification general on his Skoda Fabia, and Kris Meeke, impressive at the wheel of his 207 S2000.

In the end he won with 1'43 ahead of the Belgian Freddy Loix and with 2'21 over the Frenchman Stéphane Sarrazin, who for his part distinguished himself by signing five scratch times in total, making him the best performer of rally. Until there, Peugeot only had one victory at Monte-Carlo, thanks to Ari Vatanen and his 205 T16 in 1985.

Leader by default at the end of SS 9, Sébastien Ogier then managed to maintain his position until the end by managing his race perfectly, trying to go as quickly as possible without attacking too much. The Frenchman also set the scratch time for SS 10.

“The last stages were very difficult. I drove really carefully and tried to always keep a little margin, to avoid having to take risks and make mistakes. Everyone else wanted to attack at one point or another and they made mistakes, went off the road… The 207 S2000 is truly a great car. », Confided the Gapençais on the official website of the discipline.

While the favorites gave up one after the other, Freddy Loix, in second position, decided not to risk following Ogier's pace and to make sure he finished the race. Indeed, the Belgian knew that all he had to do was to glean as many points as possible in the title race.

“In this rally, Sébastien was the most consistent. He didn't make a mistake and we lost two minutes due to a puncture. We were fighting for points and we knew that we could lose everything by fighting for a handful of seconds, so we preferred to ensure. It’s a result that remains fantastic at Championship level. », he commented soberly.

Third, Stéphane Sarrazin therefore offers the hat-trick to Peugeot by winning the last step of the podium against a very fit Jan Kopecky and despite a great scare: “I took a lot of risks, I went out twice, Thursday and Friday morning , in particular because of a poor choice of tires. We're on the podium in the end, that's the most important thing. »

Disappointing fifth at the wheel of his Grande Punto Abarth, Italian Giandomenico Basso, one of the favorites for the title, was much less happy with himself: “It's frustration that gets the better of him. In the future I will have to concentrate a little more on my driving and my settings to better exploit the car in these conditions. »

The next IRC event will take place on gravel in Curitiba, Brazil, for the first time in the history of the discipline. It will take place at the same time as the inaugural round of the WTCC championship, from March 5 to 7.