Loeb overcomes Ogier and wins an 8th Monte-Carlo

Taking advantage of the misfortunes of Sébastien Ogier during the penultimate special of Rally Monte-Carlo, Sébastien Loeb ensured during his last passage of the weekend to offer himself a first victory in WRC since the Rally de Catalunya in 2018.

This 2022 Monte-Carlo Rally has offered us a leap back in time by around ten years. While a new era in WRC was beginning, that of the hybrid, it is the era of Sébastien that we found again during this 90th edition of the Monegasque classic.

D’entrée, les deux champions du monde se menaient la vie dure lors des deux premières spéciales disputées dans la nuit de jeudi. Devancé par Sébastien Ogier après la première journée de course, Sébastien Loeb impressionnait vendredi en signant 4 des 6 scratchs en jeu pour rentrer au parc d’assistance en tête du général avec 9“9 d’avance sur le pilote Toyota. Le ton était donné pour la suite du week-end.

Freed from his opening position, Sébastien Ogier corrected his situation in the first two special stages on Saturday and came back on a perfect level with the Alsatian setting the pace for the rest of the day. Very fast starting at the back of the peloton, the Gapençais showed his talent and took back control of Monte-Carlo during SS11 before increasing his lead at the end of the day with 21 ahead of Sébastien Loeb thanks to a daring bet (1 soft tires leaving aside the snow) in a special with icy roads.

Sébastien Ogier then seemed to have done the hard part, especially as he widened the gap a little further this Sunday morning after the first two contested SS. With a lead of 24 seconds two stages from the end, the reigning world champion, heading straight towards success, was taking no risks so as not to see his efforts reduced to nothing after an excellent weekend. But now, the vagaries of the race played a nasty trick on him a short distance from the end.

Victim of a puncture in the second part of SS16, the Gapençais decided to reach the finish without stopping, thus avoiding losing around 1'30 overall, the average time to change a tire. On the line, the choice was the right one since he “only lost” 34“1. Overall, however, the loss was more serious. Sébastien Loeb, winner of the special, the eight-time world champion lost the lead to the detriment of the Alsatian who headed towards the Power Stage with a 9" lead. A gift that fell from the sky for the 5nd in the last Dakar who didn't ask for so much.

At the end of a Power Stage where he took no risks, Sébastien Loeb, very well guided by Isabelle Galmiche for their first of the year together, assured himself of victory with a lead of 10″5 over Sébastien Ogier, who received a 10-second penalty during the Power Stage for a false start, to take the 8th Monte-Carlo, thus equaling the record held by Sébastien Ogier since the previous edition.

Returning to the WRC for the first time since Turkey in 2020, Sébastien Loeb demonstrated that he still has a nice steering wheel which allows him to fight at the front, despite these 47 springs. This is the 80th success in the premier category! Sébastien Ogier may be disappointed but the Gapençais offered rally fans a magnificent duel with his former teammate which made us relive the great years of glory of the two men. Their absence during the next rounds should be regretted.

Ce succès marque aussi le retour de M-Sport sur le devant la scène. L’écurie anglaise n’avait en effet plus goûté au champagne de la victoire depuis le succès de Sébastien Ogier au Rallye de Grande-Bretagne en 2018. L’ère hybride pourrait sourire à l’équipe de Malcolm Wilson qui semble avoir développé une bonne voiture après plusieurs années difficiles.

The two Sébastiens allowed us to relive their best years. ©DPPI

New leader of M-Sport, Craig Breen got off to a good start to the season. Far from the two Sébastiens, the Irishman showed great things at the wheel of the Ford Puma and took the last place on the podium after being able to keep away a Kalle Rovanperä who was getting faster and faster as the race progressed. progress of the weekend. Winner of the first special stage of his career on Friday, Gus Greensmith secured an important Top 5 after a very complicated 2021. The new M-Sport mount seems to smile more on the Briton.

At Hyundai, il n’y a pas grand chose à relever si ce n’est des points négatifs. Avec un i20 en dessous des Yaris et Puma, Thierry Neuville was the only driver of the team to complete the Monte-Carlo after the retirements ofOtt Tänak and Oliver Solberg. In great difficulty since Thursday evening, the Belgian is content with 6th place, far from his personal objectives.

The general classification of the 2022 Monte-Carlo Rally