Sébastien Ogier (already) alone in the world on the Monte-Carlo Rally

Sébastien Ogier is on another planet. The Frenchman is already in working order to win his ninth Rally Monte-Carlo, the eighth in WRC. Already winner of the first two special stages on Thursday evening, the eight-time world champion was once again a hit this Friday morning: three special stages, three victories! A series all the more impressive as the Gapençais had to drive… without a hybrid system on SS4 and SS5! Enough to disgust his competitors, relegated to more than 30 seconds overall.

“If I look at the result of the morning, I can be happy, Ogier told the midday gathering. It wasn't such a relaxed morning for us because of this problem, so I had to push really hard. So far the result is good. Unfortunately, without assistance there is a good chance that the problem will persist this afternoon”, he added.

Ogier far ahead, Evans trapped

Still building on the momentum of his two successes at the Col de Turini on Thursday night, Sébastien Ogier dominated the proceedings without giving a crumb to his opponents. Only one rider seemed to keep pace with the stage local: Elfyn Evans. If the Welshman was not at the level of his teammate at Toyota, he was still in the mix with just 11 seconds behind before SS5. This was without taking into account the bad luck of the double world vice-champion, who has been chasing him since last season.

Victim of a right rear puncture halfway through the 5th special, Evans had to concede more than 40 seconds to his rival. “I don't know how it happened, but apart from that it was a positive morning, the feeling with the car was good and things were working well, so we just have to try to keep pushing like that”, confided a disappointed but unaffected Elfyn Evans.

The Welshman's misfortunes benefit others. The trio Thierry Neuville – Kalle Rovanperä – Ott Tänak, battling for 3rd place during the first two stages of the day, all gained a place overall. The three men, already left behind by Sébastien Ogier, are held in less than 8 seconds, to the advantage of the Belgian ahead of the Finn and the Estonian. They will have to resist the return of Elfyn Evans, who is not far behind the three men.

End of day for Loubet?

Besides the first five drivers, the rest of the Rally1 field pales in comparison. Dani Sordo, very cautious since the start on Thursday evening, is already more than a minute behind the leader after 5 stages. Esapekka Lappi and Takamoto Katsuta are also already out of the race for victory and will fight for the places of honor in the top 10.

The main victim of the half-day is Pierre-Louis Loubet. The Frenchman, then 7th overall before the start of SS5, lost more than a minute and thirty seconds in the last special of the morning. The Ford Puma's power steering failed following heavy contact at the start of the special. The Frenchman had all the difficulties in the world to reach the finish, and without assistance at midday, it's difficult to see him continue this afternoon on the Monte-Carlo Rally...

The general classification after SS5: 

The WRC2 general classification after SS5: 

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