Monte-Carlo: Loeb and Ogier meet on Saturday

We expected it to be the Monte Carlo of Sébastien Ogier, it will ultimately be that of Sébastien Loeb également. Pigiste pour M-Sport sur quelques manches en 2022, l’Alsacien n’a pas raté son entrée en matière.

After two great 2nd places on Thursday evening as an aperitif, the nine-time world champion amused and above all amazed the gallery during the day on Friday. Very fast on the icy roads of the Alpes-Maritimes, Sébastien Loeb took control of Monte-Carlo at the end of the first loop (3 specials won) before accentuating his advantage with a 4th consecutive scratch at the start of the afternoon bringing his lead over Sébastien Ogier to 15. What discourages the Gapençais? Not really.

Le Patron est toujours au sommet ! 👏@SebastienLoeb enchaîne et remporte la 4ème spéciale du jour. Il a désormais 14 secondes d'avance sur Elfyn Evans et 15 secondes sur Sébastien Ogier 🚀 pic.twitter.com/XJfzdYt7yZ

- CANAL + Sport (@CanalplusSport) January 21, 2022

Pushed back almost 16 seconds and falling back to 3rd after leading 6” ahead of his counterpart, the eight-time world champion pulled out all the stops at the end of the day. Result ? A 7nd place during SS2 and the scratch during SS7, systematically ahead of Sébastien Loeb, to come back to less than 8 seconds from the lead.

Now in the position of chaser, Sébastien Ogier, after having opened the road all day, could benefit from a better position in the running order to return to contact this Saturday. Last again, Sébastien Loeb could also take the opportunity to mark time definitively in order to get closer to an 8th success in the Monegasque classic.

Derrière, les écarts sont plus importants. Un temps dauphin de Sébastien Loeb, Elfyn Evans pointe au 3e rang à 22 secondes de la tête. La première Hyundai, that of Thierry Neuville, only appears in 4th place and is behind by 47”8 while his teammate Ott Tänak doesn't do much better. Fifth overall, the Estonian is almost a minute from the race lead and has already said goodbye to hopes of victory.

As for WRC2, the Tricolores are in the spotlight. On the podium after the two stages on Thursday, Stéphane Lefebvre had a good Friday with three scratches and above all a leading position at the end. Not enough to claim victory since the reigning champion of the category Andreas Mikkelsen is only 1” behind. Crowned in WRC4 in 3, Yohan Rossel is in the mix in 2021rd position after 3 specials. The Gardois is 8 behind and could very well join the fight for victory in Monte-Carlo by Sunday.

The complete general classification